Ger O'Brien's Euro Insight
Credit:
Fingal defender Ger O’Brien gives a unique insight into the team’s preparations for Thursday night’s Europa League tie against CS Marítimo (courtesy of Sportingfingal.ie and John Fallon)
Travelling out to Madeira well in advance of Thursday night’s Europa League second round qualifying tie against CS Marítimo was the right move.
For us to acclimatise properly to the humidity and altitude we’ll face in the game against the Portuguese side, the full five days will be needed.
Since our arrival by direct flight into Funchal airport on Sunday, it’s been a wide mix of training, rest and non-football activity for us 20 players.
The description ‘non-football’ may infer something altogether different to what players should be doing but I can assure all it was healthy and good for team morale. All will be revealed further down.
We were greeted by a television crew upon arrival and Liam was interviewed. I experienced something similar last season when Derry played CSKA Sofia. When a country’s main sport is football, the profile games like this get is enormous.
The Island of Madeira is no different. A crowd of around 8,000 is expected at this game and they’ll be big favourites to win the game and win well. The pressure is all on them and we’ve got nothing to lose.
I sustained up a groin injury in Friday’s win over Bray, so have only played a limited part in training.
Hopefully on Wednesday night at the match Stadium, I’ll be able to have more of an involvement in our last training session before the first leg.
The scenery around the Island is fantastic and we’ve used two different venues to train so far. It went from a loosening up session on Monday to more of a match-focussed workout the following day.
We’ve spent a fair amount of time studying Marítimo in the dvd analysis sessions put on by Liam, John Devine and Robbie Horgan.
At this stage, we’ve a fair idea of what to expect from them. A team packed with Brazilians are certain to play with pace and technique and we’ll have to work hard in all areas - not just a few - to be in with a shout of keeping the tie alive going back to Dalymount seven days after.
Our season, the first ever for Sporting Fingal in the Premier Division, has gone well but this is a different type of test, playing against players being linked with multi-million moves away to some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
I know, and I’m sure it’s the same for the rest of the lads, that I won’t be overawed by their status. It will come down to putting a lot of effort towards playing to our strengths and, most crucially, keeping possession.
Naturally, there has been quite a bit of free time since landing here on Sunday, which has been put to good use in the games room at our hotel.
Snooker, table-tennis and chess are just some of the pastimes keeping us occupied with some of the squad members faring better than others in those particular games.
John Frost is the undisputed king of the table-tennis court, Shaunie Williams not bad with the snooker cue while I’ve done okay on the chess board.
We’ve also brought out the video games of X-box and play-station. A lot of us play against each other online at home, so these few days have allowed us to face off once again.
The FIFA is the most popular, with Lorcan Fitzgerald and Shane McFaul two of the best, and Glen Crowe is a bit of a shark on the battle games.
Monday night saw the first of our quiz-nights. Liam divided us into six teams of four players each and alongside me were Colin Hawkins, Frosty and Lorcan.
Robbie Horgan was the self-appointed quiz-master for the night which was a mite ironic as I don’t think he even knew the answers to a lot of them.
Liam’s role as the floor supervisor must also be called into question. On more than one occasion, he was found to be aiding and abetting the eventual winners, a team consisting of the UCD graduates, Ronan Finn and Conan Byrne.
Not that I’ve sour grapes or anything. A mid-table finish wasn’t the worst of them but out of respect for their friends and family, the people that came last will remain nameless.
Travelling out to Madeira well in advance of Thursday night’s Europa League second round qualifying tie against CS Marítimo was the right move.
For us to acclimatise properly to the humidity and altitude we’ll face in the game against the Portuguese side, the full five days will be needed.
Since our arrival by direct flight into Funchal airport on Sunday, it’s been a wide mix of training, rest and non-football activity for us 20 players.
The description ‘non-football’ may infer something altogether different to what players should be doing but I can assure all it was healthy and good for team morale. All will be revealed further down.
We were greeted by a television crew upon arrival and Liam was interviewed. I experienced something similar last season when Derry played CSKA Sofia. When a country’s main sport is football, the profile games like this get is enormous.
The Island of Madeira is no different. A crowd of around 8,000 is expected at this game and they’ll be big favourites to win the game and win well. The pressure is all on them and we’ve got nothing to lose.
I sustained up a groin injury in Friday’s win over Bray, so have only played a limited part in training.
Hopefully on Wednesday night at the match Stadium, I’ll be able to have more of an involvement in our last training session before the first leg.
The scenery around the Island is fantastic and we’ve used two different venues to train so far. It went from a loosening up session on Monday to more of a match-focussed workout the following day.
We’ve spent a fair amount of time studying Marítimo in the dvd analysis sessions put on by Liam, John Devine and Robbie Horgan.
At this stage, we’ve a fair idea of what to expect from them. A team packed with Brazilians are certain to play with pace and technique and we’ll have to work hard in all areas - not just a few - to be in with a shout of keeping the tie alive going back to Dalymount seven days after.
Our season, the first ever for Sporting Fingal in the Premier Division, has gone well but this is a different type of test, playing against players being linked with multi-million moves away to some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
I know, and I’m sure it’s the same for the rest of the lads, that I won’t be overawed by their status. It will come down to putting a lot of effort towards playing to our strengths and, most crucially, keeping possession.
Naturally, there has been quite a bit of free time since landing here on Sunday, which has been put to good use in the games room at our hotel.
Snooker, table-tennis and chess are just some of the pastimes keeping us occupied with some of the squad members faring better than others in those particular games.
John Frost is the undisputed king of the table-tennis court, Shaunie Williams not bad with the snooker cue while I’ve done okay on the chess board.
We’ve also brought out the video games of X-box and play-station. A lot of us play against each other online at home, so these few days have allowed us to face off once again.
The FIFA is the most popular, with Lorcan Fitzgerald and Shane McFaul two of the best, and Glen Crowe is a bit of a shark on the battle games.
Monday night saw the first of our quiz-nights. Liam divided us into six teams of four players each and alongside me were Colin Hawkins, Frosty and Lorcan.
Robbie Horgan was the self-appointed quiz-master for the night which was a mite ironic as I don’t think he even knew the answers to a lot of them.
Liam’s role as the floor supervisor must also be called into question. On more than one occasion, he was found to be aiding and abetting the eventual winners, a team consisting of the UCD graduates, Ronan Finn and Conan Byrne.
Not that I’ve sour grapes or anything. A mid-table finish wasn’t the worst of them but out of respect for their friends and family, the people that came last will remain nameless.
