Training resumes, Thursday 4 September at 4.00

Training is currently planned for boys and girls to take place on Thursday evenings from four until five.  The pitch has been reserved for this time each week from now until Christmas.  There are currently no after-school meetings scheduled for Thursday afternoons between now and the Christmas break so we’re looking at an unbroken run of fifteen training sessions, all things going well.  We are able to change plans if necessary.  If the boys have an excess of matches then we can alternate and have girls training one week and boys the next.  Any issues or concerns please don’t hesitate to speak to Ms. Brady or Mr Culleton.  Please do encourage friends and classmates to come along.

For this month we’ll be concentrating on ball handling and defence.  Passing, catching, moving the ball with confidence on the pitch, and so on.  Defence isn’t just about the tackle though.  Working as a team, communicating with each other being aware of your team and your teammates, as well as cutting someone in two with a tackle.

This will show why defence is important.  The boys won most almost all of their matches last year, but these statistics are quite telling.

St Mac Dara’s	2	4	Balbriggan
St Mac Dara’s	4	3	Pres Carlow
St Mac Dara’s	7	3	Castleknock
St Mac Dara’s	5	3	St David’s
St Mac Dara’s	4	4	Scoil Chonglais
St Mac Dara’s	6	2	TCS
St Mac Dara’s	7	1	Colaiste Chiarain
St Mac Dara’s	6	2	Salesians
	Five Wins	Two Losses
Tries Scored	41 5.8 per match	22 3.1 per match	Tries Conceded

On average we leak three tries per match.  The Balbriggan game was our first of the year and so the number of tries conceded there probably reflects our rustiness as much as anything else.  There’s nothing wrong with our scoring ability; scoring nearly six tries per match.  We know how to cross that line.  Imagine if we could tighten up our defence though and concede one less try per match.  No defensive line is ever impervious, but there’s a couple of times where it could have made a difference last year!  Let's keep that in mind as league and cup matches are on their way