Above is a phrase often heard in the NFL,or the NFC North Division in fact.It says what it means,tough hard nose grind it out football by...
Above is a phrase often heard in the NFL,or the NFC North Division in fact.It says what it means,tough hard nose grind it out football by both teams.That’s what was displayed in the City of Drogheda on Sunday the 5th of May.
The Drogheda Lighting were the host to the Waterford Wolves on an overcast day with a wind blowing across the field of play. Both Coaches figured it was going to be a tall order to pass in such conditions and so it was to be proven to be just that.The Wolves lost the coin toss and started the game on Defense.From the very start all who were there knew this was going to be a battle of attrition as both teams gave as good as they got.Hard hits,great tackling and some last gasp defending by both teams meant the scoreboard wasn’t under treat up to and including half time.
We on the Wolves sideline knew we had to make adjustments as there were area’s of our game that just needed tweaking and we could see there were area’s to exploit on the Lighting Defence, needless to say the Lighting Coaching staff were feeling the same way about their game plan. I knew the Lighting Coach Russell Kerley from a Coaching Course we did a number of years ago together, it was no surprise that we were getting the type of effort from his team as we had talked about this on the journey up on the bus from Waterford that morning. The Lighting have a reputation of playing good solid football and have a number of years under their belts.They have some really solid people involved with the team and it showed on the playing field.
The third quarter started with some offensive output by the Wolves and their TE David Kelly moving the chains with a number of fine catches in weather that would challenge a receiver with a lot more experience.We had to suffer the loss of our starting QB Eoin Reinhardt to a hip injury after he was hit while scrambling out to the left .Our back up QB Aaron Walsh did a fine job when he was called upon and kept the chains moving with some steady play calling. The Lighting Defence did a fine job of bending but not breaking. Their big Nose Tackle was holding up under a lot of pressure from our interior linemen and did a manful job holding his ground.The Trenches was a battle of smash mouth football as a number of players on both sides had their bell rung as the hits came hard and fast. The Officials it must be said did a great job, and the standard has been very good so far as they all should be very proud of the effort put in by their crew while working this game.
The winning score came on a drive that started on our own 30 yard line,we had a number of passes completed on the drive as both David Kelly our TE and Keith Reilly our up and coming WR did some fine work with their hands.We made it all the way to the Lighting 11 yard line and on our first two plays gained 3 yards.Then on 3rd down ,,BANG TD by David Kelly who made an amazing catch look routine.The 2pt conversion failed by inches on the attempt by Aaron Walsh.
It was back to knocking the stuffing out of each other for the rest of the game as both Teams dug in and never gave any momentum away until the final whistle blew.We knew it had been a real battle as we expected it to be.There are no easy wins in this League as you earn every inch you play for with bruises and cuts and hard effort.
We have to say the Lighting were great host and it was a pleasure to talk to a number of their back room staff after the game.It’s great to see like minded people with the same drive and passion for the game.This has been the hallmark of the teams we have played so far and it shows in the way they play the game.
This game was our first to be broadcast live on Radio as we had both Gerard Heine and Russell Dalton do a great job commentating and giving our fans back in Waterford and around the World a play by play insight into what was happening up in the City of Drogheda. This is but the start of the Radio broadcasting as we have a number of games scheduled to be covered by the “ Deadly duo” Russell would normally cover Waterford Utd Soccer games with his radio broadcast,but thankfully he has now taking to doing Wolves games with Gerard,who I might add is a sports nut,name a sport and I’m sure at some stage Gerard has had the pleasure of watching it. It’s this kind of fan support that will help the Wolves grow into a solid Football team playing for the City of Waterford.
The Motto "YOUR CITY YOUR TEAM YOUR EXPERIENCE" is what this team is about.
Coach Collins
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