Introduction:
The SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys League has been competing in the Kennedy Cup for the past eight years and represents one of the smallest leagues in the tournament. Some of the most talented players from this season’s Schoolboys leagues have been selected by a panel of coaches to represent West Cork in the 2008 tournament.

Ger McCarthy

West Cork Schoolboys League 2008 Kennedy Cup Squad:
(Click on a thumbnail image below to continue)

West Cork Schoolboys League 2008 Kennedy Cup Squad:
(Click on a thumbnail image below to continue - Thanks to Paddy McCarthy for the images)

Q & A:

Q. How long have you been preparing for this season's Kennedy Cup?
We ran our trials around the beginning of December, start of January and started training by the end of that month. So it will be 5 - 6 months come Kennedy cup time.



Q. How have you been preparing for this season's Kennedy Cup - how many training sessions and where?
This year we have organised two training sessions a week. Either a match along with one training session a week or two training sessions on Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings. Our match opposition ranged from West Cork league teams to Cork Schoolboys League teams and onto stronger opposition such as Cork Schoolboys Kennedy Cup team and last years West Cork Kennedy Cup Team. So the majority of our opposition were U14 teams - a year older age group.

Q. How many players did you look at before settling on final squad?
We looked at in the region of 50 - 60 players. The strongest four from each club plus any other players that showed enough potential throughout the season with their clubs.



Q. How did you get on in your warm-up games?
Right throughout our warm up matches we leaked silly goals. We always seem to be a very nice team to watch as we play a quick short passing game and score goals but unfortunately we lack the discipline when it comes to switching from attack to defense. This indiscipline was punished by the better opposition such as Cork and Avondale. Having learnt very useful lessons from these games we have now made a few switches and hopefully this will help in preventing conceding these very preventable goals.


Q. What do you know about your opposition in the Groups stages of this year's comp?
What we know about our opposition is that none of these teams will allow for any lapses in concentration. Galway will go into the group as favorites and most definitely have the quality to fulfill this tag whereas in Longford you’re guaranteed a very disciplined team that will not gift you anything. NEC - as we found out last year - are also a force to be reckoned with so all in all we have to go into every game fully focused and willing to work hard to earn anything from the game.

Q. How difficult has it been to select a final squad this year compared to other years?
It’s always difficult to decide on the final squad and looking back you’ll always say were they the right choices, but all in all you have to believe that the players you selected can and will produce the goods. You’ll always have a number of players that jump out straight away but then this is a week long tournament so picking a squad and not just a team is very important.

Q. Is the talent pool at U12-U13 level growing in West Cork?
It’s difficult to say yes or no, the amount of talent coming in varies from year to year. I think what is changing is the opportunities that are available to the talent. Hopefully in the next few years it will be the norm rather than the exception that West Cork Players are playing on the representative FAI Regional teams.


Q. What are the side's realistic prospects heading into the tournament?
We’re in a tough group. And being the second smallest league in Ireland we will always be given the underdog's title. We have a chance of coming out of the group (on top) but the other teams have just as good a chance.



Q. Can you briefly outline a typical day at the Kennedy Cup tournament for players and mentors alike?
• Players are woken at half 8
• Go for a walk to loosen out after the previous day and wake players up before having breakfast.
• Warm up for match
• Play the morning match
• Warm down to prevent players stiffening up
• Relax for half an hour
• Go for lunch in the university canteen
• Relax for an hour
• Warm up for evening match
• Play match
• Warm down.
• Head back to houses relax before having dinner
• Maybe head to cinema or play uni-golf to take the players minds of the tournament pressure
• Head to bed at 10
• Lights out at half 10.

Q. Are there any Sponosrs you would like to thank?
The only sponsor ships at present are Declan Croke of Dolphin Transport, UMBRO who provide all out training and playing kits and the WCSL. SuperValu have contributed greatly to the league itself but the Kennedy Cup team most definitely could do with future financial support.

2008 UMBRO Kennedy Cup - West Cork Schoolboys League squad:

The West Cork Schoolboys League Under13 representative side completed their involvement in this season’s SFAI UMBRO Kennedy Cup tournament with back to back wins over the Carlow and North Tipperary Schoolboys Leagues in Limerick last week.

It brought a positive end to a frustrating week for the West Cork outfit who never earned the results their attractive football deserved. Drawn in Group7 along with the North Eastern Counties (NEC), Longford and Galway Schoolboy Leagues, West Cork opened their account with a well deserved draw against NEC on the 9th of June. A tight opening half ended scoreless with little to choose between the sides. The WCSL broke the deadlock a quarter of an hour into the second period with a well constructed goal. Tadgh O’Mahony found the net with a neat finish following good approach play from Conor O’Neill. West Cork failed to capitalise on their lead and allowed NEC to equalise only five minutes after hitting the front. A mix-up in defence allowed an NEC striker to pounce on some hesitant defending to chip Liam Cahalane and tie the score at 1-1. Despite both sides creating a host of chances the game eventually ended in a draw.

The second round of Group7 matches on the 10th of June produced some surprising results. NEC defeated the much fancied Galway and West Cork lost 2-0 to a spirited Longford performance. The WCSL spurned a great opportunity to take the lead during a dominant opening half when Gavin O’Shea saw his penalty brilliantly saved by the Longford goalkeeper. The Leinster side rallied to score twice and take all 3 points following a determined second half display despite West Cork dominating possession for long periods. The early morning results meant WCSL needed to defeat Galway in their final evening Group7 fixture to have any chance of making the Kennedy Cup quarter finals. Alas, the Connacht and top-ranked side in the group proved too strong and emerged with a 2-1 victory. Galway raced into an early 2-0 lead to leave their opponents with a mountain to climb. West Cork put in a terrific second half performance and deservedly pulled a goal back through Gavin O’Shea spot-kick but it proved too little too late.

West Cork emerged from a string of disappointing results in Group7 to face West Waterford / East Cork in the knockout phase of the competition on Wednesday the 11th of June with the two sides clashing in the quarter final of the Kennedy Trophy. WWEC took control of the game early on and enjoyed a 2-0 lead going into the second half. West Cork fought back with another cracking second half performance and took the game to penalties following goals from Conor O’Neill and Ian Falvey. WWEC eventually emerged with the victory following a tense 4-3 shootout to send the WCSL into the Trophy Play-Offs and end their last hope of any silverware. Carlow provided the opposition on the 12th of June in the first of the Kennedy Trophy play-offs. A single Kevin Davis strike earned West Cork their first victory of the tournament and the relief was evident at the final whistle. The WCSL saved their best performance of the week for their final fixture against North Tipperary Schoolboys. Connor O’Driscoll put the WCSL 1-0 ahead in the second minute with a fine effort. North Tipp levelled just before the interval only for O’Driscoll to round the goalkeeper and restore West Cork's advantage early in the second period. The Bunratty United striker completed his hat-trick with a fantastic individual effort midway through the second half to put West Cork 3-1 ahead. North Tipp demonstrated admirable battling qualities to reduce the deficit to a single goal until Kevin Davis made sure of the win in the dying moments of the game and earn West Cork a deserved 4-2 victory.

Some of the individual players who stood out during the competition for West Cork included Adam Collins (Bunratty United) who impressed in his central midfield role in each of the games. Brendan O’Dwyer (Skibbereen) and Martin Scally (Clonakilty AFC) were the pick of the defenders while Kevin Davis (Skibbereen) and Tadgh O’Mahony (Ballydehob) played starring roles in midfield. Conor O’Neill (Riverside Athletic) made a telling contribution when introduced as an impact substitute and found the net during the West Waterford/East Cork game. Conor O’Driscoll (Bunratty United) demonstrated his undoubted skills with a superb hat-trick against North Tipperary and worked tirelessly throughout the tournament in his lone striker’s role.

Finishing 29th overall in the Kennedy Cup tournament is a disappointing result for the West Cork Schoolboys League but the squad can hold their heads high having responded to a poor start to play some of the most attractive football in the tournament. It still proved to be a very enjoyable week for the West Cork squad and mentors who will be back again next year determined to improve on this season’s performance. Coach Martin Henwood best summed up the tournament from a West Cork perspective: “Nerves showed in our opening games but once the side grew in confidence we displayed our true potential and played some excellent football”.

2008 SFAI UMBRO Kennedy Cup Results:
Monday 9th June
Group 7
West Cork 1 NEC 1

Tuesday 10th June
Group 7
West Cork 0 Longford 2
Galway 2 West Cork 1

Wednesday 11th June
Kennedy Trophy Quarter Final
WWEC 2 West Cork 2 (WWEC won 4-3 on penalties)

Thursday 12th June
Kennedy Trophy Play-Offs
West Cork 1 Carlow 0
West Cork 4 North Tipperary 2.

West Cork squad for 2008 SFAI UMBRO Kennedy Cup:
Liam Cahalane, Alfie Hyland (Drinagh Rangers), Martin Scally, Ian Falvey (Clonakilty AFC), Daniel Nyhan (Lyre Rovers), Conor O’Neill, Niall Kelleher (Riverside Athletic), Tadgh O’Mahony, Bosko Minihane (Ballydehob), Gavin O’Shea , Stephen Casey, Ciaran McElhinney (Bay Rovers), Conor O’Driscoll , Adam Collins (Bunratty United), Stephen O’Driscoll (Togher Celtic), Brendan O’Dwyer, Kevin Davis, Daniel Rowell, Brian Leonard and Sean Deasy (Skibbereen).

Mentors: Martin Henwood, Conor Uhl and Paddy McCarthy.

Sponsors: UMBRO, SuperValu and Dolphin Transport Skibbereen.

Ger McCarthy looks back on the SuperValu West Cork Schoolboy’s League involvement at last week’s prestigious Kennedy Cup competition, the process involved in putting the final squad together and a typical day in the life of the Kennedy Cup tournament.

The West Cork Schoolboys League enjoyed mixed fortunes at this year’s Kennedy Cup tournament in Limerick University but the Under13 representative side ended the week on a positive note with back to back victories over the Carlow and North Tipperary Schoolboys Leagues. The Schoolboys Football Association of Ireland (SFAI) organises an annual Under 13 competition known as the Kennedy Cup. The competition is an opportunity for each of the various affiliated SFAI leagues to display their talent at youth level with 32 Leagues represented in Limerick this year. The process to pick a final squad of 20 for the Under13 representative side began 7 months ago.

The WCSL coaches - Martin Henwood and Conor Uhl – invited over 60 players from each West Cork based club and any other individual players that showed enough potential throughout the 07-08 season to Kennedy Cup trials back in November. Conor Uhl explains the difficulty in finalising the squad of 20: “It’s always difficult to decide on the final squad and looking back you’ll always say were they the right choices, but you have to believe that the players you selected are good enough to produce the goods”. The squad trained twice a week on Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings right up until the weeks before the tournament began. Warm-up matches against tough opposition such as Avondale, Cork Schoolboys League and last seasons West Cork Kennedy Cup team were held before heading for Limerick and the big kick-off.

A TYPICAL DAY
The players and mentors arrived in Limerick University on the 9th of June and settled into a week totally immersed in football. From Monday to Friday a typical day at the Kennedy Cup tournament for players and mentors is as follows. Players are woken-up at 8:30 and go for a walk to loosen out before attending breakfast. The full squad take part in a warm up for any upcoming morning fixture, play the match and then warm down to prevent players stiffening up. The squad then relaxes for half an hour before attending lunch in the University canteen. The process is repeated for any evening matches and then everyone heads back to allotted accommodation to relax before dinner. The squad may then head to cinema or play uni-golf to take the players minds of the tournament pressure before heading to bed at 10pm with lights out at 10:30pm.

The Kennedy Cup tournament is professionally organised and carried out, giving any player lucky enough to attend a brief glimpse of the life of a professional footballer. Scouts from Premier League clubs from all over England, Europe and beyond attend the Kennedy Cup every year in search of any up and coming talent. Both the intensity of the competition and quality of opposition increases with every passing season. West Cork is one of the smallest Leagues in the country making any success at such a tournament difficult to say the least.

NERVOUS
West Cork were drawn in a tough opening group in this year’s competition against the North Eastern Counties (NEC), Longford and the Galway Schoolboy Leagues. Day 1 of the competition saw West Cork and NEC play out an entertaining 1-1 draw in Group7 with Tadgh O’Mahony netting for the WCSL after good work from Conor O’Neill. It proved to be a nervous afternoon for the West Cork side who failed to settle into their normal quick-passing game. The following day (June 10th) began on a disappointing note with a 2-0 defeat to Longford. West Cork dominated the match with Gavin O’Shea missing a penalty and Conor O’Driscoll rattling the crossbar before Longford pounced to score twice against the run of play and grab all 3 points. A frustrating day got even worse when later in the evening Galway defeated West Cork 2-1.

The WCSL side put in a terrific second half performance and deservedly pulled a goal back through a Gavin O’Shea spot-kick but failed to breach a stubborn Galway back four. At the of completion of Group7 NEC and Galway progressed to the Kennedy Cup quarter finals while West Cork had to be content with a place in the Kennedy Trophy competition.

HAPPY ENDING
West Waterford / East Cork were the opposition in the quarter finals the 11th of June and the WW/EC took an early 2-0 lead until West Cork fought back with a cracking second half performance. Conor O’Neill and Ian Falvey netted to take the game to penalties only for the WW/EC to snatch a 4-3 shootout victory. Day 4 of the competition on Thursday the 12th proved to be the most memorable for West Cork. Back to back victories against the Carlow and North Tipperary Schoolboy Leagues meant a 29thoverall finish for the WCSL. Kevin Davis struck the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Carlow in the morning game. Conor O’Driscoll inspired West Cork to a 4-2 win over North Tipp with a sublime hat trick and Kevin Davis completed the scoring to make it two wins out of two on the final day of the tournament.

The record books will show 5 games played 2 wins, 1 draw (lost on pens) and 2 losses for the West Cork side who still managed to play some very attractive football throughout the week. Coach Martin Henwood: “We were more than a match for any team when it came to playing football but too often we were simply out-muscled by more physical opponents. We were not capable of competing physically but showed our undoubted class when we passed the ball quickly and accurately”.

The Skibbereen coach added, “The week proved to be an enjoyable one for all the lads with two welcome victories on the final day. We played some teams off the park but got no reward for our efforts which was disappointing. Nerves showed in our opening two games until we finally settled into the tournament and displayed out true potential”.

2008 SFAI UMBRO Kennedy Cup Results:
Monday 9th June
Group 7
West Cork 1 NEC 1

Tuesday 10th June
Group 7
West Cork 0 Longford 2
Galway 2 West Cork 1

Wednesday 11th June
Kennedy Trophy Quarter Final
WWEC 2 West Cork 2 (WWEC won 4-3 on penalties)

Thursday 12th June
Kennedy Trophy Play-Offs
West Cork 1 Carlow 0
West Cork 4 North Tipperary 2.

West Cork squad for 2008 SFAI UMBRO Kennedy Cup:
Liam Cahalane, Alfie Hyland (Drinagh Rangers), Martin Scally, Ian Falvey (Clonakilty AFC), Daniel Nyhan (Lyre Rovers), Conor O’Neill, Niall Kelleher (Riverside Athletic), Tadgh O’Mahony, Bosko Minihane (Ballydehob), Gavin O’Shea , Stephen Casey, Ciaran McElhinney (Bay Rovers), Conor O’Driscoll , Adam Collins (Bunratty United), Stephen O’Driscoll (Togher Celtic), Brendan O’Dwyer, Kevin Davis, Daniel Rowell, Brian Leonard and Sean Deasy (Skibbereen).

Mentors: Martin Henwood, Conor Uhl and Paddy McCarthy.

Sponsors: UMBRO, SuperValu and Dolphin Transport Skibbereen.