The lads run through another few skills and I can hear them shout excitedly as I outline the instructions for the Barcelona drill. This is a favourite even though it’s overly complicated for their little bodies to get to grips with. It’s all about the glamour. I blow the whistle and shout, normal. The lads start playing as if they are playing an ordinary game. I shout out, possession, and they have to keep the ball in their side and they cannot take shots on goal. After a while I shout, Barça, and this time they have to keep the ball in the other side’s half. I’m beginning to get a stitch from all this running around and the lads look half-dead. I call time out and I make my way over to Maurice while the boys spray each other with their water bottles.

Maurice asks me if I heard about the family whose house was burnt to the ground in Shankill back in July. He’s at it again getting the tragedy juices going. I tell Maurice that I have indeed heard about it and that it’s a bloody awful thing to happen to anyone. And this admission of mine leads to a discussion about dodgy domestic boilers. This moves us on to the dangers of electrical appliances that are reaching the end of their lives in general terms; Maurice is particularly interested in washing machines. It seems that Alison is on at him to buy a new machine and he describes how he’s refusing to budge. As I holler at the lads to stop mucking about, Maurice is listing the benefits of Calgon to me and revealing what he terms the truth – that washing machines really do live longer with it. And now the jingle is stuck in my brain.

We talk about the wonderful spirit and about the strength of our team considering the age of the lads. I think about the horror wreaked on the family from Shankill. Three kids now without a mother. I look over to see Joey lying on the ground, clutching his ankle. I can tell he’s faking, call it a father’s intuition. I go over to him and I tell him to stop messing or he’ll lose his chance. I tell him to be ferocious. Joey asks me what ferocious means and I grunt at him. Martin Coyle, the selector, is watching, he’s the guy to impress and I look Joey in the eye and I tell him to cop himself on.