Elmes eager to leave mark
Bright start for new boss
THERE WASN’T much looseness around Ferrycarrig Park last season, as the whole club was a stressed up, constipated mess. Clashing of ideas, of personalities, of priorities, they all hurt the team unit, they drained the fun out of life at a football club.
So, having the chance to watch the last training session before Wexford Youths Women opened their season up against Limerick recently, it was encouraging to see a team having fun and enjoying themselves and their surroundings, even if the method was a little unorthodox.
Less than 24 hours ahead of kick-off, their first chance to set the tone for the season, Youths were playing a mangled game that somewhat resembled Olympic handball.
Vagaries of the rules disregarded, it was pretty much just controlled mayhem with some heading thrown-in.
But the players seemed to enjoy ‘Elmesball’, even if they didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing. Tom Elmes, the man in charge of the league champions, is certainly a popular figure in Ferrycarrig at the moment, and not just for the wacky training breaks.
‘We put in a tough pre-season,’ explained The Ballagh’s Nicola Sinnott. ‘Management has settled in well, brought in some new players, it’s a really good set-up, really professional, really organised.’
‘For Tom, he’s played League of Ireland for a number of years,’ said Rianna Jarrett. ‘ He knows what it takes, he’s involved in the college in Carlow so he knows a few of the girls and he’s been involved with us before, so it’s just about building.’
Building is something Tom is keen to do, and he’s clearly aware that it’s an expectation in the dressing-room.
‘I know the girls won the league last season,’ Elmes said. ‘ They have expressed to me that they felt they did win the league but they could have done it better. That’s obviously what we are going to look to try and do.’
He will have to do it without a couple of stalwarts. Jess Gleeson’s loss is eye-catching but it shouldn’t be forgotten that the two best defensive performances this team has put in in the last few seasons - the Shelbourne play-off for the title in 2016 and Peamount at home last November - came after the Waterford native cried off with early injuries.
The loss of the experienced Linda Douglas, however, might prove a little more difficult to overcome. ‘Linda’s come in and spoke to us,’ explained Elmes. ‘She has never not played football, she just wants a little bit of time to herself, away from it, she needs a break, it’s been very full on for her.
‘I know she did a lot of travelling last year and it took its toll on her in the end. She was very upset in her decision but we had a good chat about it and the door is always open for Linda if she wants to come back and get involved.’
New signings have come in, with Becky Conroy and Rebekah Carroll both putting in impressive minutes on their debuts.
Meanwhile, former Kilkenny youngsters Ciara Delaney and Cliona Ní Shé will continue to wait for their chances. Jarrett has been impressed by what she has seen of her new team-mates so far.
‘I feel that the girls we’ve brought in can, and have, brought something to the team already, especially looking at the young girls coming from Kilkenny.
‘They know they are coming into a team that is more prepared than what they were, and from day one they have come in and done what they have been asked.’
So what kind of football can the Ferrycarrig faithful expect from Elmes’ side this season? ‘One thing we have worked on with the girls is we are going to make ourselves as hard to beat as possible, that’s something we have worked a lot on over the pre-season,’ he said.
‘But also going forward we’re encouraging the girls to get forward, get into areas of the pitch that before they might have been told to hold back from.
‘We encourage them to go and play football but at the same time it’s got to be positive.
‘We’ve got some great players in our attacking unit, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to play some good football going forward and create more goalscoring opportunities and score more goals in general.’
Jarrett agreed with her new boss. ‘We are looking to play better football, we do believe that there is more to come from us as individuals and collectively as a team.
‘Hopefully the new management will bring it out, not only of themselves but us as well.’
First impressions were certainly good for Wexford against Limerick. Bigger tests might harness the attacking waves a little but anybody who ventures out to Ferrycarrig this season will likely get their money’s worth and more. They might even get to see some ‘Elmesball’.