The premise of Hanover's trip to Ireland was for a bunch of players to get ready for the season ahead by playing better teams that would push them around and teach them valuable lessons, with a castle and a church or two thrown in for good measure. It's a formula that has worked in the past. Thus, rallying from two goals down to tie Corrib in the first match was a pleasant surprise. Coming back from a goal down in the second half to beat Mervue and earn a rare win was icing on the cake. Playing the Salthill Devon U16s, the defending Irish Cup holders, was supposed to be the toughest test. So it's fun to report that after being pushed all over the park in the first half, and with no subs left on the bench at the start of the second (lots of little nagging injuries, nothing major), Hanover scored three goals to earn an impressive win, and close the playing part of the trip with a flourish.
All week long, Salthill Devon has been hosting the Galway Cup, a major youth tournament on the European club calendar. Many international teams have participated every year, and the standard of play is very high. Five years ago, we lost ever match when we played in the U16 bracket. There is no older bracket this year, but we still felt part of things, living in Corrib Village at the University with many of the teams. On Saturday, we rolled into the parking lot at Dorm, the fabulous soccer facility owned by the club, just as the Championship matches were being played. We found a great vantage point on the second floor clubhouse, with huge glass windows overlooking the four immaculate full-sized pitches. It was raining lightly (have we mentioned that it rains a bit here?), but the quality of play was impressive. Then it got ridiculous. We watched an Irish U16 player take the opening kickoff of the second half and score directly. This was no parabolic moon shot, but a driven ball that dipped and sank and handcuffed the poor goalie. As they say on late-night tv, but wait! That's not all. Five minutes later, the same player his a perfect bike for his second goal in a short span and eighth goal of the tournament. This is not rec soccer. We got the word that we would be playing on Drom's fabulous, amazing, brand-new astroturf pitch. It's huge and beautiful, with no competing lines for other soon-to-be obsolete parochial American sports on it.
We warmed up and lined up and played most of the first half on our back feet, hosting off the skillful and strong Salthill lads. Our back four of Kyle Doucette, Judd Alexander, Dylan Kotlowitz and Tucker Monson were playing well in front of Andrew Enelow in goal, giving ground but not conceding and close range shots. Things got a little dicey when Monson and Tony Correa rolled their ankles and were lost for the rest of the match, but we made it to halftime with the match scoreless. We had mustered a few looks at goal, but had been clearly outplayed. There is a real risk in telling oneself "Oh, we're a second half team". That might work some of the time, but it's a dangerous habit to have to depend on giving ground and then rallying. Nevertheless, that's what happened. Hanover started the second half with more confidence and calm, and began stringing passes together. Ten minutes into the half, we seized a half chance and made the most of it. Play was stopped by the referee (switching balls, we think), and we were given a drop ball top restart. Charlie Adams, who can suss out the best way to gain an advantage in any sport played (having added hurling and Gaelic football to this list earlier in the week) quickly fed a through ball to Eli Stack, who raced ahead of the defense and beat the goalkeeper with a shot that rolled slowly toward the goal line. Just in case, Charlie caught up with the ball and pounded it into the net. The referee requested a VAR review, which confirmed that the ball had crossed the line nanoseconds before the well-intentioned poaching attempt, and Stack was awarded the goal. Predictably, Salthill pushed back, but by now the energy was on the size of the mason-clad visitors. Several stalwarts played valiantly in different positions. Mitchell Rowley gave a great account of himself at right back. Charlie Adams dropped to holding center mid, and Jack Gardner became a midfielder, flanked by the tireless Eric Ringer and Nathan Subrahmanian. Predictable, Hanover didn't sit back and play defense. With 15 minutes to play, Adams beat a defender on a run down the left side and went a ball into the box. Jack Gardner dummied perfectly, and a swooping Blake Palmer blasted the ball home with his nearly-forgotten left peg. A few minutes later, Eli Stack beat his defender to a through ball and was in along before being thwarted by a nice save by the Salthill goalkeeper. He would not be denied for long, subsequently racing free on the left flank and centering the ball to Palmer, who crashed it home for his second goal of the day and third of the tournament. Both teams played hard until the final whistle, and Kyle Doucette saved the shutout when he made a goal line save on a close in shot that resulted from Andrew Enelow making a rare error and spilling the ball from a corner kick. Enelow's clean sheet was well-deserved.
It was an exciting result for a crew of players that has come together all in a short time, and still managed to learn valuable lessons, despite not losing. On Sunday the team will rest, and after eating out at Malone's a favorite local restaurant and pub, that will hopefully have their TVs turned to the Man. U v. Chelsea match, we'll head to the big hotel in Salthill and enjoy the spectacular Trad on the Prom. You should google this show. It's all of the best traditional Irish musicians, with Riverdance principals, pipers, fiddlers, and much more. It's one of the most popular stage shows in Europe. We're lucky to be going. Then we'll head home and pack and begin the long flight home. Look for us at Midnight at the Dartmouth Coach depot in Lebanon if you want to have a parade or something.
Goodnight!
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