Walking Tall
Credit:
BRIAN de SALVO on why Drogheda is good for goalkeepers.
The emergence of Stephen Trimble as a goalkeeper fast making a name for himself in his first season in senior soccer comes as no surprise to me. Apart from the lad’s potential and determination to succeed, the former Shels reserve has had the good fortune to fall in with some of the domestic game’s best practitioners.
When Mick Cooke was appointed manager of Drogheda United just before the season kicked off I was delighted to have the opportunity of writing a piece for the first match programme congratulating the club on securing his services. With no pre-season in which to set up shop, Cooke had to assemble a squad on slender resources with the Airtricity League programme already underway and understandably the team struggled in the opening series of matches. There must have been some who thought my introductory paean of praise misplaced but Mick is an astute operator and has gradually built a side whose current form looks well capable of delivering on the manager’s promise that the club would not be relegated during this first stage of a massive rebuilding process on and off the field.
One of the players Cooke brought in was keeper Trimble who made his debut in March and four months later kept Drogheda’s first clean sheet for over a year. He has a long way to go to emulate United’s assistant manager Robbie Horgan who accumulated 12 clean sheets in 26 games when Drogheda won the old First Division championship in 1989. When, two years later, the Drogs repeated the achievement, Horgan upped his game to 15 shut outs. Robbie Horgan is clearly a keeper of repute, as young Trimble experienced when the old pro was his goalkeeping coach at Sporting Fingal.
Now the man in charge of his specialised training is the mercurial Stephen O’Brien whose attritional pre match warm up routine at first glance looks more likely to be preparing his charges for the treatment table rather than the kick off. But it soon becomes clear that O’Brien’s hectic programme is designed for instant action. There is no chance of catching Trimble cold when the game kicks off.
Stephen O’Brien claims to be five foot seven and a half inches tall but, at five foot nine inches, I tower over him. I was once referred to as a “short” keeper; David Quirke, Trimble’s predecessor between the Drogheda posts is similar in height to me and earned the accolade “tiny” in one match report. At the risk of being accused of “heightism”, and with apologies to Mr O’Brien, I’m going to review his goalkeeping career, outstanding by any criteria, in terms of his lack of inches and – whisper it softly, I think he’s nearer five feet six than five feet seven and a half.
The smallest goalkeeper in the English Premier is, believe it or not, Shay Given at a mere six feet. The average is six feet three. These days cross channel clubs instruct their scouts not to recommend any keeper under six feet tall; fortunately there was no such embargo when Stephen O’Brien was recommended to Gillingham. The fact that he spent three seasons with the Kent club means that he earned serious consideration. When he returned to Ireland his long career established him as one of the leading keepers of his era.
How did he do it? Speed of mental and physical agility is part of the answer. To survive, O’Brien had to read the game accurately and respond in a split second. It requires extraordinary powers of concentration and the understanding of a mind reader built up over the seasons with his fellow defenders. It also requires the speed of the sprinter and a high degree of courage and determination. By necessity Stephen had to be a sweeper-keeper and his back four had to give him the space to perform this role.
But what about set plays, the free kicks and corners that pin the keeper back on his line? Opposing coaches identified this as a potential weakness in O’Brien’s armoury but rarely profited. Stephen had the ability to considerably out jump conventional custodians and his stocky powerful physique was honed for that purpose. Stephen O’Brien defied both prejudice and gravity. Stephen Trimble is fortunate to have him as his mentor.
The emergence of Stephen Trimble as a goalkeeper fast making a name for himself in his first season in senior soccer comes as no surprise to me. Apart from the lad’s potential and determination to succeed, the former Shels reserve has had the good fortune to fall in with some of the domestic game’s best practitioners.
When Mick Cooke was appointed manager of Drogheda United just before the season kicked off I was delighted to have the opportunity of writing a piece for the first match programme congratulating the club on securing his services. With no pre-season in which to set up shop, Cooke had to assemble a squad on slender resources with the Airtricity League programme already underway and understandably the team struggled in the opening series of matches. There must have been some who thought my introductory paean of praise misplaced but Mick is an astute operator and has gradually built a side whose current form looks well capable of delivering on the manager’s promise that the club would not be relegated during this first stage of a massive rebuilding process on and off the field.
One of the players Cooke brought in was keeper Trimble who made his debut in March and four months later kept Drogheda’s first clean sheet for over a year. He has a long way to go to emulate United’s assistant manager Robbie Horgan who accumulated 12 clean sheets in 26 games when Drogheda won the old First Division championship in 1989. When, two years later, the Drogs repeated the achievement, Horgan upped his game to 15 shut outs. Robbie Horgan is clearly a keeper of repute, as young Trimble experienced when the old pro was his goalkeeping coach at Sporting Fingal.
Now the man in charge of his specialised training is the mercurial Stephen O’Brien whose attritional pre match warm up routine at first glance looks more likely to be preparing his charges for the treatment table rather than the kick off. But it soon becomes clear that O’Brien’s hectic programme is designed for instant action. There is no chance of catching Trimble cold when the game kicks off.
Stephen O’Brien claims to be five foot seven and a half inches tall but, at five foot nine inches, I tower over him. I was once referred to as a “short” keeper; David Quirke, Trimble’s predecessor between the Drogheda posts is similar in height to me and earned the accolade “tiny” in one match report. At the risk of being accused of “heightism”, and with apologies to Mr O’Brien, I’m going to review his goalkeeping career, outstanding by any criteria, in terms of his lack of inches and – whisper it softly, I think he’s nearer five feet six than five feet seven and a half.
The smallest goalkeeper in the English Premier is, believe it or not, Shay Given at a mere six feet. The average is six feet three. These days cross channel clubs instruct their scouts not to recommend any keeper under six feet tall; fortunately there was no such embargo when Stephen O’Brien was recommended to Gillingham. The fact that he spent three seasons with the Kent club means that he earned serious consideration. When he returned to Ireland his long career established him as one of the leading keepers of his era.
How did he do it? Speed of mental and physical agility is part of the answer. To survive, O’Brien had to read the game accurately and respond in a split second. It requires extraordinary powers of concentration and the understanding of a mind reader built up over the seasons with his fellow defenders. It also requires the speed of the sprinter and a high degree of courage and determination. By necessity Stephen had to be a sweeper-keeper and his back four had to give him the space to perform this role.
But what about set plays, the free kicks and corners that pin the keeper back on his line? Opposing coaches identified this as a potential weakness in O’Brien’s armoury but rarely profited. Stephen had the ability to considerably out jump conventional custodians and his stocky powerful physique was honed for that purpose. Stephen O’Brien defied both prejudice and gravity. Stephen Trimble is fortunate to have him as his mentor.
