I didn't make it onto the pitch for our game on Monday since we got so many new additions to the panel this year. That's fair enough as I only took up the sport last year and while I do try hard I'm never going to play the same as guys with thirty years under their belt.
Also I don't have any age or fitness advantage since I'm the same age as the rest of them and wasn't playing any sport for along time before this so I'm playing catch up from all sides.
But with all that said my skill and fitness has improved massively since last year. We have played a few challenge matches before the championship and I was on the pitch for nearly all of it.
Last night we had agree to play one against Gort who are in a different county and different championship but are just over the border from our parish so we have a lot of connections with them.
We had enough players with a full squad of 19 and I started and finished corner back for the game. Our biggest problem was the pitch after two months of drought was like playing on concrete.
Every ball was bouncing hard and it was tough to keep up with the pace of play. For reference hurling uses a small baseball sized ball that is
A standard official GAA Sliotar Information has a diameter of 69mm to 72mm (excluding the rib) and a mass between 110 and 116 grams. When struck by a hurley, it can reach blistering speeds of up to 150–180 km/h.
- Regulation Dimensions
- Diameter (excluding rib): 69mm to 72mm
- Mass/Weight: 110 to 116 grams
- Rim (rib) height: 1.8mm to 2.6mmRim (rib) width: 3.6mm to 5.4mm
- Cover thickness: 1.8mm to 2.7mm (leather or synthetic)
I had a good game against my first marker who was a few years older than me but lots of skill. At one stage we were going for a 50/50 ball and I caught him with a lovely shoulder just as he was about to get the ball. Knocked him out past it and lifted it to give a lovely handpass to mossy, up to the half forward and over the bar for a point to us.
They swapped him off me soon after and I got a young lad of about 19 full of running and skill which made for a much harder game. He should be playing a few levels higher but was just brough in to make up numbers for the challenge.
I did what I could against him but he had twenty years and a lot more skill on me. I did well and did what I could but he still took me for 1-3 after that which isn't a bad result but not what I want for a defensive performance.
After all that my body is on bits today and i'll have a day or weekend off after it to go to my sisters 40th tonight and that means no exercise for the next two days since we will be on the pints.
A good result for a Friday evening, even if we did lose the match by three points in the end. Without 12 of our starting team I would consider it a win and a handy win if we fielded full strength.
