Joe and Gerry’s under 12’s had their first away trip and what a cracker it was.  4 days in Bavaria including 2 matches against local opposition organised by Willi Schiller (Schiller International Tours)

Day 1 – Arrive in Munich and visit Olympic Village

It was an early start as we assembled in Dublin Airport at 5.30 am.  We were happy to leave behind the bad weather and following a smooth flight got to Munich in good time.  We spend a pleasant afternoon strolling around the scene of the 1972 Olympics including the tower and stadium.  However the highlight was our visit to the Olympic Swimming Pool.  The kids didn’t fancy the 50 Metre lengths but the diving boards were a big attraction.  If the guys pack in the football they have careers in diving and Ross in particular had some great dives off the highest level.  But Gerry and Joe settled for a couple of “belly flops” and will stick to the day job.  We headed south of Munich toward the Alps and stopped off after 45 minutes at a wonderful Greek Restaurant in Gauting where kids and adults enjoyed a super meal (and some of the elder lemons had just the odd “Ouzo” to settle our nerves).   We arrived at the Hotel Keppeler in Peiting at around 10 pm where Orla, Sandra, Lucy and Imelda helped to settle down an excited group of kids while Gerry and Joe went downstairs to discuss tactics and selections with some contributions from Damien, Robert and Florin.

Day 2 – Neuschwanstein Castle and Match 1 v Hohenfurch

It was an early start and blue skies greeted us on our trip south to Hohenschwangau, village which adjoins the famous castle (don’t ask me to spell it again) built by King Ludwig of Bavaria in 1869.  It was spectacular and the kids were fascinated by the guided tour (or maybe it was the tour guide’s accent) as we learnt about Ludwig’s love of Wagner’s music and Swans.  We stopped by the beautiful town of Fussen and swung by Austria before the real business and our first game against Hohenfurch.

The guys were really up for this game and settled quickly as Nathan slid a ball through for Sean Gibney to open his and Parmo’s account on 5 minutes.  Sean finished with “Aplomb” as he steered the ball into the bottom corner to score our first (and possibly the club’s first) goal in Germany.  Scott worked a short corner and hit a wonder strike from 20 yards and the lads were on their way.  You had to feel sorry for the home team as Parmo set about their task and Nathan (2), Ross, Amy, Eric, Gary Chulainn and Owen all got on the score sheet and Rangers ran out comfortable 10-0 winners.

The home team offered refreshments and Lieber Kaisse (Liver cheese) but it tasted quite good and Derek offered a few words of encouragement for the home team as we wrapped up the speeches and fond farewells. 
Back to Peiting where Willi arranged a TV viewing area to allow the kids witness Messi’s wonder performance for Barca, our Arsenal contingent were not happy but Barca Fan, Amy was not complaining. 

Gerry and Joe were obviously not totally happy with the performance and stayed up late discussing tactics and team selection for the big one on Wednesday against Schongau.

Day 3 – Alpine Ski-Jumps and Match 2 v Schongau

Annette looked after the group on Wednesday 7^th April as the sun again shone brightly and we meandered towards the magical Alps.  We rolled through the Winter Olympic village of Garmich and took a cable car to the 2000 m Mountain Lodge.  The kids didn’t need their Ski gear as they made a bee-line for a hill of snow and spent 90 minutes in snow fights and on snow jumps in brilliant sunshine.  We enjoyed an excellent lunch before heading towards Wellenberg where adults lounged in warm water in the outside pool whilst the kids couldn’t be dragged away from the water slides.

We kicked off our match against Schongau at 6pm and swimming pool exertions plus sunshine took its toll as the guys were quite lethargic for the opening 10 minutes and Schongau took advantage to score early on.  However the guys got their act together and driven on by Derek (“De-Rock”) who had a great game at right back and with Paul in flying form on the wing we created chances but just couldn’t get the equaliser.  Eric slid in Nathan for a great chance late on but the keeper pulled off a great save.  Suddenly the home team broke and on the stroke of half time scored the second.  At this stage the guys only needed a goal and some self belief.  However within 5 minutes of the second half  Schongau scored a well worked goal and the fat lady began to sing.  But the 2010 edition of this under 12’s team is made of sterner stuff and pushed on by Gary and Ross in the middle we raised our game and created chances.  We pulled back a goal through Eric, and then Nathan hit the second. They guys pushed on for the equaliser although injuries to Sean, Owen and Scott didn’t help our cause as we struggled.  Mark was in good form as he covered the central defence and Amy played a blinder at sweeper.  However as we pushed on for an equaliser, the home team broke and their excellent centre forward scored with a great header for 4-2.  Sarah-Jane who was excellent throughout in goal had no chance and there it finished.

It was a superb contest and could have gone either way, but it was a great game of football played between two excellent teams.

Schongau treated us to excellent Schnitzel and spicy wedges with refreshments and Mark thanked all on behalf of PRFC.  We thought Irish hospitality could not be beaten but the managers and coaches in Schongau were first class and looked after us really well.

It was back to Peiting to catch the Man Utd v Bayern Munchen match and again some disappointment for the United fans, but in truth most of us will support Bayern after our Bavarian experiences.

Day 4, Last Day but no blues

Thursday and we hit Munich early and the kids enjoyed seeing the Bayern Training ground and picked up their new Bayern Soccer Jerseys.  However the first team were still en-route from Manchester but some Squad and reserve players were happy to sign the kids’ shirts.

We managed to fit in trips to Munich Zoo followed by a trip to the Allianz arena with excellent guided tours in both cased organised by our hosts, Willi and Annette. 

As adults and kids hit the Airport for the return we reflected on what was a great experience where we packed lots into 4 days but also had a wonderful experience on the football pitch.

The Under 12’s are a wonderful group of kids who represented their club in Germany with great dignity and are a credit to their parents and guardians.

Adults and kids involved in the trip were greatly appreciative of the effort and hospitality of our trip organisers Willi and Annette Schiller who delivered us a wonderful Football Holiday.