Munich Tournament Report: The Ladies

(Editor's Note: the following is the Munich tournament report detailing yet another triumph for Belgium GAA's footballing women, written by the irrepressible Whisk)

Belgium A + Belgium B + injured supporters Ana & Lorraine + Coach W + Avril Brennan = Ladies Winners of Munich tournament 2009!!

Well, where to start – yet another incredibly successful tournament for Belgium GAA Ladies footballers!

We all set off for Munich on Friday at various points throughout the day – most of us by plane. Some of the less fortunate among us, namely young Avril Brennan, who has been taken under the wing of Belgium GAA ladies, had to travel in a car for 11 hours with some of the Belgium boys (names cannot be revealed for legal reasons). Needless to say upon her arrival at 3am she was so disorientated that she woke up myself and Jane saying that she could not go to sleep in her room with Rosine as somebody else was in her bed. Note: there was no one there. Sigh.

We awoke bright eyed (well some of us) on Saturday morning with a long day ahead. After breakfast at the hotel we set off to the pitches. As we do every year, we made friends with some randomers at the U-Bahn station who it appeared were just returning from a night out, and a little ‘off their faces’ on some form of illegal substance. We were nearly successful in convincing them to be our supporters for the day, however, we lost them on-route – probably due to our rendition of ‘Heal the World’ on the underground. That would be enough to scare anyone off.

Right, I should get down to the actual football part. As usual I take it very seriously and got very stressed out (along with Coach W, who actually threw his cap on the ground at one point as a mark of respect for the referee – who, in the words of Brüno was ‘fantastisch’), so I cannot remember the specific scores. In any case, both teams (the A and the B team) had a great tournament.

The A team were up first against Holland – a team who were also able to travel with two teams to the tournament, a great indication of how much ladies football is really developing throughout Europe. It was a great match, and even received comments as being one of the best games of ladies football that has been seen in Europe for a while. The A’s comfortably beat Holland, and moved on to face our own B team in the next group match. The Belgium B team has come such a long way since it first started up this season. It is always easier to become distracted when playing your own team mates, however, the B’s certainly put the A’s to the test and it was a very challenging match. Even though the A team won, I have every confidence that before this year is out we will witness a Belgium A vs Belgium B ladies football final!

Belgium A were up next against Munich in the semi-final. Munich is a team that keeps going from strength to strength and certainly shocked us in the first few minutes. Not only that but due to the schizophrenic weather (blistering heat one minute/monsoon the next – note the weather in München is nicht always fantastisch), the pitch was nice and wet and muddy and the ball was more difficult to move around. Needless to say with some great defending in the back line and co-ordinated movement amongst the midfields and the forwards we were able to recover quickly and win the match. Only a few minor incidences occurred – namely a small temper tantrum displayed by a player of English origin (more commonly known as the Whisk) who in fact threw the ball almost hitting the referee (and surprisingly thereafter was taken off by Coach W).

Belgium B’s next two matches were against Holland A and Holland B. Belgium’s B team were a little less fortunate than the A’s weather wise and did get caught in one of the monsoons, however, this did not stop them from putting up a great fight against Holland A and from beating Holland B to secure a brilliant 5th place out of the 7 teams that competed at the tournament! This proves the determination of all the players and how much improvement has occurred since the beginning of the season.

The final was as usual a bit of a blur. Luckily for Belgium neither Paris or Munich made it into the final, which is very good for us in terms of overall points in the League. Belgium A were up against Holland A, who as I said have come a long way since the first tournament. There is not really that much to say – after encouraging words from Coach W and Mide, Belgium ladies went out and did what we do best: WIN! Special mention should also be given to Clare B for her amazing kick outs and saves in the goal (or goals as Irish people say – I’ve never really understood why it becomes plural??). Everyone played very well so I will not pick out individual players – as that is not what Belgium is about – both teams together play as a team, and throughout the day B team players helped the A team out and that is what makes us such a successful squad! (I think I even saw Willie shed a little tear…). Thank you also to the lads for supporting us from the sideline. Even Davey Barrett commented – ‘Like, the girls are actually pretty good, like.’ Note: When I heard this I nearly fell over.

Thus another successful tournament for both teams and another great win under the belt of the A team who are in a good position to go on to become European Champions 2009! As we headed back to the hotel to get prepared for the night’s festivities (along with Coach W who has set a new trend in the world of fashion – GAA shorts and business man’s shoes), all I could see was happy faces.

Again the night’s antics will not be delved into too deeply for legal reasons, but hats off to Munich for putting on a great evening. The food was delicious and the location was perfect to cope with what seemed like millions of drunken Irish people (no offence, I realise other nationalities were also involved). The night should have ended in the restaurant/bar – yet the more determined (or should I say demented) among us decided that the night needn’t end at 4am – there was more fun to be had. All I remember is trying to get into a dog kennel with Jane and being adamant that the ‘alleged’ night club that was being spoken of would be easy to find. Needless to say upon arrival at the said destination we discovered that there were about 46 nightclubs all in a row. I therefore spent the evening with a group of Belgium GAA individuals (including Colin Byrne who has perfected the art of sleep dancing and Dave Barrett who should never be allowed to go near a camera, EVER) in the WRONG nightclub, only to discover that the next morning the ‘craic’ had gone down in a bar around the corner. You will have to ask those more successful than myself as to what went on in the correct vicinity. Nonetheless as Belgium GAA always do, we managed to create our own fun and returned home in broad daylight. That is all.

As Sunday unfolded and people went about getting their various flights etc, a group of us gathered in the centre of Munich (Phil Roche made us go on an expedition in search of Bratwurst or something – most of us were not so impressed due to the combination of 38°C heat, severe drunkenness/hangovers/sore muscles and a very unfriendly hotel receptionist) to spend the afternoon there before catching the flight back to Brussels. It was nice to have a beer (again) and recap on the previous day before heading off to the airport.

We all returned safely to Brussels… and now have our sights set on Copenhagen! Bring it on!

Special mention should be given to Clare Appleby who actually managed to forget her suitcase in the hotel lobby and only realised upon arrival at Munich airport that she had done so. She also discovered she was still in possession of the hotel room key. Clare A, I love you, please never change. Ever.

ENDS.

Annex:

RIP: Cuba’s camera. L

Players:

Mide, Caoimhe, Clare B, Grainne, Steph, Clare A, Laura, Jane, Sylvia, Bros, Barbara, Caragh, Jess, Rosine, Dominique, Rafi, Maz, Emily

Injured players:

Ana, Lorraine

Adoptee:

Avril Brennan

Player of the tournament:

Hats off to Clarissa from Munich. Some of us felt that Grainne should have won the prize even though she is unable to call a dog ;-)

Player of the night:

Sylvia McCarthy for her speech which did not thank the hosts; referees or congratulate the other teams. ‘Wahoo Belgium!’ would suffice as a summary. Also ‘clink clink’, that is all.

I am very sorry if I have left anyone out – this is not at all intentional!! I have problems.

Belgium's King Poc

As well as playing a central part in helping Belgium's hurlers sweep to an unstoppable 2009 European Championship victory, Meathman Conor Aylward secured even more silverware for the club in July when he won the European Poc Fada competition.

Aylward, pictured here demonstrating his unique Poc Fada stretching technique to Maria "Bomber" Brosnan, beat all comers to take the title, ritually humiliating the club's many Corkmen who have since threatened to go on strike.

Well done Conor.

Munich Tournament Report

The following is a tournament report from the first Pan-European Football Championship of 2009, held on 25 July in Munich, Germany. As usual, the organisation of the tournament was a triumph from start to finish - many thanks and well done, Munich GAA!

Editor's note: this post concerns only the matches played by the Belgium GAA men's 'A' team. Reports from the Killer 'B's and the Ladies to follow soon. This post by Belgium A Captain and goalkeeper Stephen 'Cluxton' Kearney.

26 Belgium lads headed by various means to Munich last Friday (24 July) to play in the first round of the Pan-European Football Championship and Shield. In total, some 50 Belgium GAA footballers and supporters travelled - by far the biggest contingent of any European club.

The A's were drawn in a small group of 4 teams who would contest the Championship.

First up were Den Haag who had performed well in the regionals. As usual we started off slow conceding a goal in the first few minutes which put us on the back foot for the rest of the game. This was the first and only goal we were to concede that day. Despite the set back we never gave up and with good work out of the backs from John Quinn especially and typically tenacious tackling from Phil Roche we were well in the game until the end. We had a golden chance to get back into the game when we won a penalty, however it was well saved by the Den Haag keeper and unfortunately we lost out by a solitary point.


Final score 1-05 to 0-7.

Next up was Paris who we have had a number of great close games with over the past year. They had also lost their first game which meant it was a must win game for both sides. Unlike our first game it was Belgium GAA that started the fastest out of the blocks and quick goals from Davy Barrett and a typical screamer from Emmet Devine sent us on our way to a convincing 3.06 to 0.4 victory. However we did have a lot of wides in the game and there were other times when we could have taken a simple point but unnecessarily went for goal.


Final score 3-06 to 0-4.

Newly crowned Benelux champions Luxembourg were next in what was effectively a semi-final after they had also lost to Den Haag. As usual this was a tight affair, however we were the better team throughout and won a competitive match 0.7 to 0.5. Special mention goes to Enda Rice for putting his body on the line to ensure victory.


Final score 0-7 to 0-5.

Belgium GAA were back and into their first final since Maastricht in Oct. 2008 after a poor regional tournament. Due to Paris beating Den Haag in the final round we ended up topping the group and were to play Den Haag in the final. After our earlier game with them we knew there was nothing between the teams and went into the game confident of a win. However after a promising start we let Den Haag back in as their free taker and eventual player of the tournament punished every free conceded inside our half. At half time we were 3 points down and still in the game and had a chance to go one point ahead when we won another penalty. However it was saved again. We got back to within a point but after conceding some late frees Den Haag ended up deserving winners by 3 points 0.9 to 0.6.


Final score 0-9 to 0-6.

Special mention of thanks has to go to Phil Cushen who was great on the sideline, calling everything from the start.

According to Belgium A Captain and goalkeeper Stephen 'Cluxton' Kearney, "there were a lot of positives to be taken from the tournament". Kearney went on to list these using the "banker's best friend," bullet points:

* Topped the group
* Scored the most in the group
* Conceded the least in the group
* Best points difference
* Only conceded one goal all day
* First final
* Only lost final by one score
* Defence worked the ball out well
* Best movement in the forwards we've seen to date

However the negatives were a poor return from our free taking, and giving away too many frees in kickable areas when playing against teams that will punish you. We still seem to hold onto the ball too long when a quicker ball into the forwards would be more effective.

These areas can be worked on in training between now and the next tournament.

All in all it was a huge improvement since the Regionals and when are backs were to the wall against Paris and Luxembourg we came out fighting.

Roll on Copenhagen.

Belgium crowned European Hurling Champions

Better late than never (!), here is the official tournament report from the 11 July Hurling tournament in Zurich, where the men of Belgium sealed the European Championship title with a hard-fought victory.

Many congratulations to the hurlers, who under the steady guiding hand of manager Martin Crowley have been unstoppable this season.

Belgium hopes for new heights as the European Football Championships begin

The long-awaited European Gaelic Football Championships begin in Munich this weekend, and over 50 Belgium GAA players will fly to the Bavarian capital tomorrow to go to battle in the first of the four pan-European tournaments.

26 lads and around the same amount of lassies will travel. These impressive travelling numbers are a great indication of the rapid growth of our club, and a credit to all concerned for their dedication and team spirit. Belgium will be the only mens team to enter a team in both the Shield and the Championship sections whilst only Holland can match our Ladies in entering two teams in the Ladies competition.

The very best of luck to our warriors for the first pan-Euro showdown of 2009. An Chraobh Rua abú! Match reports to follow next week...

(for more analysis of the Munich tournament, see the latest inimitable blog from Mens team coach Dave Barrett)

Come out and support the Dubs in Leinster final

Boys & Girls,

This Sunday is the Leinster SHC final, Anto Daly's young Dubs v The Kats.

Cody's all-conquering Kats are on the trail of immortality as they attempt this year to capture the Liam McCarthy for the fourth year in succession. If they achieve their goal they will emulate the heroics of a Christy Ring-inspired Cork, who won titles in 1941, '42, '43 and '44 – the rationale behind Barrett being a Dub for the day.

The Revolution will be televised from 16h30 in The Old Oak, Schuman – throw-in at 17h00.

Sporting blue & navy guarantees you Premium Seating, Table Service, etc...

Black & amber guarantees you zilch. No I lie, a surefire guarantee of the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f86styquT4w&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffodh.ie%2F&feature=player_embedded

Suas na Dubs!

An Chraobh Rua Dublin Supporters Club.


* A special thanks to at Kevin Flynn at www.flynnsolutions.ie for allowing us to use the Che Daly graphic

www.fodh.ie