FIRST XV MAINTAIN WELCOME PROGRESS By Dermot Keyes Record-breaking UCLA Basketball coach John Wooden is a man whose words of wisdom I have come to increasingly consult in recent months on a wide range of fronts. From a Carrick-on-Suir RFC perspective, his thoughts on what he labelled ‘The Guaranteed Dividend’ seemed particularly opportune. “I believe one of the big lessons of sports for dedicated individuals and teams is that is shows us how hard work, and I mean hard work, does pay dividends,” said Coach Wooden. “The dividend is not necessarily in outscoring an opponent. The guaranteed dividend is the complete peace of mind gained in knowing you did everything within your power, physically, mentally, and emotionally, to bring forth your full potential. “I see the same self-satisfaction occurring in every area of our lives when we strive mightily to do our best, whether it’s working in a business or community or raising a family. “The great satisfaction that comes from trying to do your best is the guaranteed dividend.” For our First XV, after the decision to field the side in J2 Section C this season, 2014/15 was all about consolidation. About putting in place some building blocks. About looking down the line. About building a competitive future. About re-introducing a sense of fun, as well as spirit, when pulling that red and blue jersey over one’s shoulders. In the wake of the 31-5 defeat to Waterford City on November 1st, by some distance the team’s poorest display of the campaign thus far, the need to re-focus and to ditch any notions of self-pity hardly needed too much broadcasting. And while the following weekend’s match ended in an 11-point defeat to Waterpark (17-28), a challenge made all the more difficult by playing an hour of the 80 with just 14 players. “Of course it was disappointing to lose, but the commitment from the lads was brilliant,” said captain Sean Fitzpatrick. “I couldn’t have asked for any more from them. We put together some great passages of ball retention and worked the ball through a few phases, which was something that we certainly needed to sharpen up on; that we did that was satisfying even if the result went against us.” Sean added: “We were down a few lads on the night; we hope to have them back next weekend for the City match, but this was a big step up on the previous weekend and I just hope we get the win that our commitment deserves.” And that’s exactly how it turned out today in the return fixture with our neighbours from Kilbarry, as the lads picked up a deserved first win of the season to win by 19 points to 17. “We did something a lot of Carrick teams have done down through the years,” reflected Sean Fitzpatrick; “we conceded a try inside the opening five minutes”. He added: “But for the remainder of the half, I felt we controlled the match, and thanks to some great attacking play from backs and forwards alike, we got back into the match and scored a few fantastic tries. “During the second half, I have to admit we fell asleep at times and that allowed City to get back into the game. But when we had to defend well in the final quarter of the match, and when we needed to keep our discipline, we did just that, which was really satisfying. “Winning today was great, but we need to build on this now. We don’t want this to be as good as it gets for us for the remainder of the league. We let a win slip on the first weekend of the season against Clonmel and look at the way they kicked on from that, having won five out of five so far. “So we’ve got to build on this now and the best way of building on this is to go out next weekend when we visit Waterpark and beat them. That’s got to be the aim for us.” Looking through the past two team sheets, it’s enormously encouraging to see some young players stepping up to the plate, some new faces from across the Suir in Portlaw and a few experienced heads re-emerging! “It takes time to adjust, there’s no doubt about that, but with every game, the new players are improving and that’s helping the team to improve,” said Sean, who has put in a sterling shift as skipper to date this season. That ‘guaranteed dividend’ John Wooden once spoke of is slowly but surely emerging in the Carrick First XV ranks once more, and that bodes well for the challenges which lie beyond the current campaign. Hon Carrick! Team v Waterpark: Dermot Lanigan, Conor Power, Paul Moore; Darren Long, Andrew Norris; Kevin Lanigan, Ed O’Donnell; Scott Wheeler, Daniel Ronan, Deckie Robinson, Peter Boylan, Brian Phelan, Sean Fitzpatrick (C), Eddie Rockett, Ed Hearn. Team v City: Billy Power, Conor Power, Paul Moore; Darren Long, Kevin Lanigan; Ed O’Donnell, Charlie Boland; Daniel Ronan, Jack Murphy, Deckie Robinson; Peter Boylan, Brian Phelan, Sean Fitzpatrick (C), Eddie Rockett, Ed Hearn. Replacements: John Phelan, Evan Stanley, Dermot Lanigan, Jamie Steele, Josh Eade. Results to date: Carrick 10 Clonmel 21 Cashel 20 Carrick 8 Waterford City 31 Carrick 5 Carrick 17 Waterpark 28 Carrick 19 Waterford City 17 Remaining fixtures: December 7th: Away to Waterpark December 14th: Home to Cashel December 21st: Away to Clonmel
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 21:44:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015