Pressure is a privilege
As I walked across the pitch at the end of yesterdays game in The Markets Field, I couldn’t help but wonder, if in ten years’ time, as I sit at a bar counter, supping on another pint of Guinness while regaling tales from the early 2020’s, of all the things I had seen while covering the adventures of the CCFC Women senior football team, would declaring that I commentated on Fiana Bradley’s first senior goal be met with gasps of awe?
A 3-1 win away from home capped another impressive display from CCFC Women in Limerick yesterday, one change to the starting X1 from last week’s game, saw Lauren Walsh come in at right back as a direct replacement for Alix Mendez, but her inclusion didn’t in any way weaken that City back 4.
I spoke last week of the importance of winning back to back, to break a duck, yes, but more importantly for confidence and belief, to prove to themselves as much as anyone else that this squad has the ability and the mental fortitude required to win games, and therefore deserves to have the respect of its opponents, something which I think many believe was lacking from DLR the previous weekend.
From the minute Fiana Bradley finished a lovely City move, instigated by Jesse Mendez with a ball into the feet of Christina Dring, which allowed her to turn and drive at the Treaty defence, before finding Chloe Atkinson wide on the right, who’s first time cross into the box broke to Bradley, which allowed her to rifle an emphatic finish into the top corner, the result looked in little doubt. City had dominated that opening spell and I think Kiera Sena, who had another great game on the left yesterday, will probably be disappointed to not have put City a goal up in the opening 20 seconds. Again, it was a Dring through ball which caused confusion in the Treaty defence and ended up breaking to Sena, who just put her finish the wrong side of the near post.
Fiana Bradley celebrates scoring her first senior goal for CCCFCW. Photo: Kevin BarryDorney
Eva Mangan was running the game from a deep lying NO.6 position and if Aaron Rodgers is only half as successful delivering balls from his QB position this season, then the NY Jets may just win their first Superbowl in 55 years. Yes, she was given the time and space by a Treaty side who never got to grips with her influence on the game, but you must still have the confidence in your own ability to be able to exploit that space and punish your opponent for the failures in their set up. All together now,
🎼Give her a ball and a yard of grass, she’ll give you a move with a perfect pass.🎼
A 28th minute Christina Dring goal, was a fitting tribute to two excellent performances so far in this competition, which saw her cooly slot past Katie Irwin, following good work and a nice through ball by Bradley. That gave the feeling that the game was already settled as a contest. The question was, how many more would City get? The answer was one, a superb individual effort from Eva Mangan which capped a POTM performance from the City captain, the crossbar denied Dring a second, while following a brilliant move, started by DB in midfield and continued by Sena on the left, Ellie O Brien who had replaced Dring in the 61st minute, hit the junction of bar and post. Singleton also replaced Bradley in the 61st minute, while Alix Mendez, Burke and Mackin replaced Lauren Walsh, Mangan and Jesse Mendez, respectively in the 70th minute. Singleton might have scored with her first touch, it wasn’t to be as she dragged her shot just wide of the far post, it’s fair to say that the final score may have been a tad generous to Treaty United.
Eva Mangan scores City’s third. Photo: Kevin Barry Dorney
Eileen Ring once said “Every goal is preventable”, but sometimes its not that important, this was the case yesterday with Michaela Cumes late consolation for Treaty, Ciara Mac covered round and defended the situation exactly as you would want, her back pass was perfect, rolled to Abby’s right hand side to allow her to clear with her stronger foot, Abby’s positioning was also as you would want it and when Abby takes a step and slips on a greasy surface, there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it, least of all Abby. Its just one of those things, so put it down to bad luck, and park it with all the other things in life that we don’t care about, it happened, so what? Credit should go to Cumes though for the perseverance and diligence in chasing a lost cause that ultimately brought about her first senior goal for Treaty.
Success comes in many forms, and what is described as success for one, may in fact be failure for another. That’s why there is a train of thought that says, don’t measure your success and failures against what others do, but rather against your own expectations and targets. With that in mind, would losing next week and failing to qualify on the back of two group wins, still make this a successful Avenir All Ireland Cup campaign? I would argue NO. I don’t know what expectations this group had when the draw was made, but I would be surprised if the over riding one wasn’t, this is a group we can win. Now heading to Belfast only requiring a point to qualify for an open semi final draw, the expectation will ramp up a bit and with that comes our old friend, Pressure.
As you walk onto centre court in Arthur Ashe stadium, home of the US Open tennis championship in New York, there is a plague on the wall, which is the last thing players see as they leave the tunnel, it comes from a famous Billy Jean King quote, and simply says Pressure is a privilege, the full quote states “Pressure is a privilege, it only comes to those who earn it”. Losing is easy, far easier than winning anyway, winning brings expectation but it also sets standards, standards that you must reach each week to win again. There are no standards in losing, yes, it’s tough mentally at times but what sets top players and teams apart, is the desire to keep setting their own standards at a higher and higher level.
The last two weeks have seen City set standards that have eclipsed those previously set, the key now is to set and achieve higher standards week on week. City head for Belfast on Friday before staying overnight in Newry, to allow the best possible preparation for Saturdays game. The club to be fair have done everything asked of them, its now up to the players and management to deliver. Hopefully they will embrace the newly found expectation and pressure. Danny Murphy is a league winning player, it is nothing new to him but this is a very young side facing a new situation, it will be interesting to see how Danny guides his young charges through a new experience.
I mentioned last week that the 26th of September 2020 was the last time City won back-to-back games, that was actually the final win of a run of five back-to-back victories, if we are now two wins into another run of five back-to-back victories, then a piece of history awaits, but as I said pressure is a privilege.