1. Dribbling
This was based on Jesper Blomquist. The idea was to dribble in and out of seven manikins within 30 seconds. For every second under 30 you received 10 points and vice versa.
2. Control
This was based on Dwight Yorke. You simply had to keep the ball up with toe taps while travelling fifteen metres, control it and race back to the start and start the whole process again. The time allowed was 1 minute. For every full run you got 50 points.
3. Lofted Pass
The final skill test was a lofted pass based on David Beckham. The idea was to knock the ball past a manikin and chip it on the roll onto a mat with a big patch for 30 points, a smaller patch for 40 points, a very small circle for 50 points and hit the manikin for 100 points. At the end when they gave us our final talk it included the announcement of the winner of the prize. I was quite confident of victory as I had done well during the two days. At the end of the talk the winner was announced as myself, Richard O’Farrell. I had won the trip to England! I couldn’t believe a dream was about to come true.
On November 10th we took the ferry to Holyhead & arrived at Manchester after a slight detour. After settling into the city where dreams were made I had a good night sleep. Little did I know it would be the last I'd get for a while. In the morning after a light breakfast my Dad and I headed to Hopwood Hall. After a welcome speech we got going starting with a new passing test based on Roy Keane. The idea was to pass the ball through four small gates within a half a minute. Next we tried another new skill test based on Andy Cole shooting. The idea was to drill the ball into a one-metre goal. Then we moved onto the dribbling and finally the lofted pass.
After lunch we headed for Old Trafford on the coach. After getting our boots on we got onto the famous Old Trafford pitch and completed the final skill test of control. After receiving a giant cheer from 67 thousand people we were escorted to our seat beside our parents. The organiser told me then I’d won my age group and to leave my seat ten minutes before the end of the first half. I did what he said and we walked right up to the dugout and waited patiently until the first half was over. At half time we were introduced to the massive crowd on the stadium public address. We were then given a ball each and we entertained the crowd for ten minutes with our own favourite ball skills. Then we received our trophy and were taken back to our seats to watch an impressive United demolish Middlesborough.
After an exciting game we headed back home after a truly amazing trip.
Martin's Men Make their Marks
... When the Leinster Schools rugby side travelled to Yorkshire earlier in the season, it included wing three-quarter Jamie Waldron (Blackrock Coll.) centres Niall Kearns (CBC), Ken Kennedy (St Michaels), John Ronan (Blackrock) and out-half Keelan McGowan (Blackrock). This famous five started by playing for Granada under Martin Carney. The team got to the final of the James Lee Cup in 1995. Kearns was 'Mr Versatile' and 'The Enforcer' playing at centre half, in midfield or in goals if needed. Ken Kennedy was a striker while Waldron was the wide left man. McGowan was a tenacious right sided midfielder and John Ronan anchored the middle. These lads started at under 9 and four of their original team-mates are in our current u17 squad - Stephen Walsh, Mark Ryan, Stephen Ryan and Brian Keogh.U12 Cup: Granada 6 - 1 Firhouse Carmel - Owen Healy scores five goals
After a scrappy first 10 minutes the teams settled down and Owen Healy scored his first of five goals for Granada. At the back, Barry Keane and Ciaran Lynch challenged well and stopped the opposition from getting any ideas of raiding down the wings, while Sean Brosnan and Sean Wymann were solid as a rock in the centre of defence.
The midfield was well marshalled by Kevin Brett(solid and tenacious), Kevin Dalton, Paul Murphy (improving with every game), and Owen Healy. Owen bagged five good goals, four from play and a further one from the penalty spot.
Kevin Dalton skipped through the opposition's midfield and defences with some great turns and fancy footwork. He well deserved his goal in the second half, although luck played its part as the Firhouse goalkeeper spilled Kevin's long distance shot into his own goal.Up front Jason Brown and Gerard McNamee were the unluckiest pair on the park. Seldom would a striking partnership have so many attempts on goal rebuffed by the opposition keeper, who despite the scoreline made some excellent saves.
Stephen Irvine replaced Paul Murphy at the beginning of the second half. He slotted in well and immediately forced the Firhouse keeper to save low to his left from a long distance speculative shot.It was only late in the second half when the back four (who were rock solid until then), had a rush of blood in attack and let Firhouse in for a late consolation goal.
Scott O'Farrell in goal and suffering from the flu, had little to do during the match and although conceding that late goal, he pulled off one great save five minutes earlier.Without a doubt the man of the match had to go to Owen Healy who seemed to be everywhere and absolutely deserved his bag full of goals. He popped up in so many places around the park, one would wonder if he had a twin brother and that we were really playing with twelve.