Belgium Ladies traveled to Maastricht on
Saturday last for the first Pan euro tournament of the year.
We had a strong panel of 14 traveling who were
very happy with the reasonable time of departure from Schuman compared to
recent trips!
It was a glorious sunny Saturday and we were
looking forward to the day ahead.
Our first match was against Paris Gaels, a
tough start to the day. We got off to a good solid start and played with
intent. We were switched on from the beginning which was great to see compared
to tournaments in the past. We scored some wonderful points and were patient
with our general attacking play. Mids supported both backs and forwards
superbly with the backs even getting on the score board often! We didn’t
switch off once even towards the end with the backs and goalkeeper minding
the line very well. We won 0-17 - 0-2 with plenty to take from the
performance, especially the high amount of points and the determination to stop
Paris scoring.
Next match - Holland ladies. In fairness both
Paris and Holland were missing players, but it was up to us to push on and take
advantage of this. We were wary of Holland’s forwards and midfielders, not
knowing where certain players would line out but knowing we had to quality and
strategy to tackle that wherever they did.
We lined out 7 a side so we expected an intense
match. We started well with the backs taking some nice points. Holland were not
winning their kickouts ( our kick outs were strong credit to goalie!) and we
punished them. At half time we were not as far ahead as she should have been
but in the second half we drove on winning 4-15 - 1-4. Holland threatened to be
dangerous on the attack so we were kept on our toes right to the finish. As we traveled with a big panel we had the big advantage of players coming on and
off, therefore keeping the legs fresh. Next up after a rather tasty lunch break
was Luxembourg. A team in development with another Waterville
woman! ;-) We decided to change it up a little bit position wise. We
still went into the game with the right attitude as it was our last
match before the final. We won 5-10 - 0-2.
So again we faced Paris Gaels in the final who
for sure were fired up to have another go at us. We knew that we were in a good
position given out strong performances throughout the day. We were doing the
simple things right and taking some good scores. However, Paris started the
brighter with us a little slow off the mark. Nerves perhaps. We were a bit
hesitant. However Grainne Ni Fhlatharta burst up to take a well-timed goal
which settled us massively. We drove on from there despite Paris taking some
nice points. We didn’t slow down and they didn’t either. It was a heated affair
at times but that’s to be expected against Paris. We kept the heads. Gradually
the scores came with some more nicely taken late goals and we ran out 4-11 -
0-6 winners in the end.
It was a good solid victory and great to get the first
pan euro under the belt. Sadly, it was the final tournament for three
ladies who were excellent on the day (even for 6 long years :) Maria, Brighid
and Sorcha. We will miss ye greatly on the pitch and certainly off
it! A big congrats to Maria who won player of the tournament for a great day in
goal and up in the forwards!! Many thanks also to John Brennan (accompanied by
Mary) and Pete for helping us so well on the sideline. Thanks to Sylvia who
agreed to play with another team, Lux, which helped with numbers and to all the
girls in general for having the right attitude on a day where we ended up
playing mainly 7 a side with a large team. Every girl played good football
and gave a super example of playing the game in the right spirit.
So now off to Paris on September 14th for what
will surely be a tougher day out. Let’s keep it going and build from a
good team performance in Maastricht!!
Aisling and Ciara
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