Belgium Pan-European Camogie & Hurling Tournament

On June 13, Belgium GAA hosted Round 3 of the Pan-European Camogie and Hurling Championship.

Adhering to the club's stated goal of being the GAA club representing the country of Belgium, not merely the city of Brussels, the tournament was held in Leuven, a city with a long and proud historical link with Ireland.

The Irish Institute of Leuven, headed by Malachy Vallely, a former inter-county hurler with Antrim, was most helpful in assisting the club.

Thanks to Malachy & Co's efforts, we were able to secure two magnificent pitches at the beautiful Provinciedomen Park, in Kessel-Lo just outside Leuven.

For a detailed report of how the hurling tournament unfolded, see this excellent blog written by Belgium GAA's own Davey Barrett.

Congratulations to the Belgium Camogie team under the management of Margaret Francois who came third in a tough tournament, and Comhghairdeas likewise to the all-conquering Belgium hurlers who effectively sealed a Pan-European title with their third tournament victory out of three this season. Under the watchful eye of manager extraordinaire Martin "Ayatollah of Rock'n'Rollah" Crowley (pictured), Belgium won every match convincingly.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out on the day, and particularly heartfelt gratitude to Malachy Vallely at the Irish Institute and Oswald de Belder at the Provinciedomein for their assistance in making the tournament an outstanding success.

Belgium GAA looks forward to hosting many future football and hurling tournaments.

Belgium Ladies go from strength to strength

The following are tournament reports from the last 2 pan-European competitions contested, and won, by the unstoppable Ladies football team of Belgium GAA. Enjoy!

Belgium Ladies GAA 2009 - The Journey - Part 1 Den Haag

An army of red and black, marching to domination... or a bedraggled mob of coffee cup clutching, bleary eyed scruffs? Yes, Belgium Ladies Football team had arrived.

Due to the unholy earliness of the hour of departure, your correspondent doesn't actually remember anything from the morning, save for a vague recollection of Coach W's flash car at Schuman roundabout, so we'll have to skip over that bit.

In fact, much of the day passed in a bit of a blur for your correspondent - possibly related to complications from a food ingestion incident at an early stage - but what I can't remember I'll make up.

As the ball was thrown in for Belgium's first match - the championship team taking on European stalwarts Holland - Coach W cut a nervous figure, restlessly pacing the sideline. Having suffered a string of devastating defeats in the pre-season under the rookie captaincy of Míde 'Parsley' Ní Shúilleabháin, Coach W - a hurler from Tipperary with self-proclaimed zero experience in ladies football - was drafted in to save the reputation of the team that had taken Europe by storm in 2008. Now his own reputation was on the line.

Pre-tournament omens weren't good. Two of the stars of the 2008 season, Stephanie 'My husband says that looking at the cakes doesn't make you fat' (henceforth to be known as 'Cakes') Dunn and Ana 'Rrreferreeeee!' Rios could barely walk, let alone run; the lynchpin of the team had was missing in breast-feeding action; and the Bomber Brosnan, Jane 'Butter wouldn't Melt' Brennan, Clare 'Forrest Gump' Appleby and Winner Wynne were unavailable.

With the midfield partnership of Cuba and Parsley carrying on a long-established family tradition of sending every single ball that came their way wide, the girls didn't make it easily for the anxious Craobh Rua onlookers. But this team had something to prove.

Up stepped Cork natives Sylvia 'Butterfly' McCarthy and Clare 'Kip' Brennan. "I love Cork," cried Kip Brennan as she launched yet another attack at the wavering Holland defence. "I love to party", thought the Butterfly grimly, as she foiled yet another opposition attack. Playmaker Emily 'The better half' O'Reilly ran the defence ragged, and cast an occasional smug glance towards the lads' team on the neighbouring pitch. "You watching now?" she telepathically communicated to the Cluxton formerly known as Kearney as she spearheaded the Belgium Ladies domination of the game.

Caragh 'Feck her, now none of us can have babies because she's put us to shame with her netballing-footballing-and-probably-dancing-days-after-Daragh-was-born antics' O'Connor was a revelation in goals and proved a more than adequate replacement for Alex 'Loca' Martin. In fact, sources suggest that 'Baby' O'Connor enjoyed the experience so much that she wishes to play in that position for ever

If we're talking of revelations, the Development team was a revelation in itself. Ably led by Mary 'the B stands for don't mess with me' Walsh, Belgium's Ladies Development squad exposed the weaknesses in its far more experienced opponents. Holding former European champions Paris scoreless for large periods of the game, this first foray into competitive football for most of the players was a testament to their determination and tenacity. Rosine 'it's the quiet ones' Bacon, Karen 'the Dub'' McHugh and Maria Paola 'MP' Napoleone fought for every ball and more often than not beat their markers to possession. Rafi 'Cherman' Sebestyen and Jess 'Happy' O'Flynn brought speed and agility to a Belgian side that grew in confidence with every game. Valérie 'the only real Belgian on the Belgium team' Malice showed that she is ready to challenge for Baby O'Connor's place in goal, and impressed the opposing teams so much that she was later co-opted into action for one of them. Bozena 'he's just my flatmate' Jarmontowicz marked her presence with some intelligent positioning and positive aggression, Dominique 'worst week ever' Sanders used her height with good results and Lorraine 'soon to be a cripple no more' (NdlR: bear in mind that this report was written well after the events described) Baldwin created space and movement for the Belgium attack.

And then....drama. The championship captain collapsed in a heap on the sideline in a suspected case of parsley poisoning as a bemused Coach W looked on and wondered why he'd got himself involved with this shower who only ever shut up talking when they were choking on parsley or drinking.

This initial drama paled into insignificance, however, compared to that which occurred when the two Belgium teams met.

Previously unsuspected and undetected tensions bubbled to the surface when Austrian native Worst Week Ever Sanders found herself marked by the Cherman. Reports of the events that unfolded differ wildly, but what we do know is that when the dust had settled the Austrian was prone on the ground, blood gushing from her eye, and had to be escorted to hospital.

Strange days indeed. Karen 'the Dub' doing a turn in goal, "Rreferrrreee!' Rios finally getting herself a place in the forwards and La Whisk trying out every position on the pitch to see which she liked the best. All returned to normality, however, with Belgium winning the final, in no small part due to Baby O' Connor's kick-outs and Belgium's superior fitness. L'Union fait la Force, as the Belgian motto goes.

Belgium Ladies were, as is their trademark, somewhat late for the dinner that evening, and all were, as is also their trademark, stunningly attractive, if a little sun-kissed. Cuba Ní Shúilleabháin showed why she is named after an island that likes to party as she led one of the more demure squad members, Cakes Dunn, very far astray.

After the day's events I tried to catch up with the successful manager, but Coach W - suffering from sunstroke - was unavailable. Instead, one of the more needy players offered herself for interview.

Me: So, what are your thoughts on today's football?

Laura Whiskerd: The Whisk had a great game. She was terrif. Brill. She was ever so fast and her eyes sparkled like a radiant sun. I love Gaelic. Sigh. I love babies. Double sigh.

Belgium Ladies GAA 2009 - The Journey - Part 2 Luxembourg

Departure: Schuman 07h45

We all gathered ourselves at Schuman in our usual tired manner. Of course there was a very excited Maria Brosnan to wake us all up with her renditions of Beyonce etc, the usual carry on! ;-). We split off into our different cars to head down to Lux. Big thanks to Clare B for driving the mammoth mini-bus to and from Lux - a few slight issues as to where to find the petrol cap, however, after having done so all went smoothly!

For this particular tournament we had an extra special guest travelling with us. Stephanie Dunn (don't ask me how or why) had somehow managed to acquire a Paris Hilton style lap dog in a shoulder bag whom she felt would benefit from being brought to a GAA tournament. Don't ask me why. If she had turned up with that at Croke Park I can only imagine the looks she would have got ;-)

So anyway, we all set off with the mini bus, Beyonce and Penny (the lap dog) down to Lux...

Matches:

For the second tournament in a row, Belgium Ladies football have been lucky enough to have enough players to send down two playing teams. This is a fantastic achievement in itself seeing as last year we only just started up as a club. It is also hugely beneficial because at these tournaments people (as we witnessed) tend to drop like flies due to injuries and the heat and having as many good players as we do this year is brilliant!

Belgium's A's matches:

First up was Rennes - opposition which had started out with a fairly weak team last year. Needless to say this year they had definitely improved, with some very fit French players who were able to give us a run around. It took us a while to wake up and settle down but we beat Rennes handy enough, and as our captain pointed out 'even when we play badly we can still win...' ;-) We knew that we would have to up the pace against other teams; however, Rennes was certainly a good match to have at the start of the day to get us into the swing of things.
Next up was Munich. Munich is one of the other strongest team in the competition this year. They have clearly been training very hard and I think they have made it their one goal this season to beat Belgium! They have very fit players and certainly know how to work the ball out of the back line. After a great inspirational speech from Coach Willie as to how to suss out Munich's tactics we were able to beat them - but not by very much. They certainly gave us a shock, and had it not been for some brilliant saves from super goal keeper Caragh we might not have won the match. I think we won by 5 points to 2. Needless to say it was a close match.
Next up Luxembourg. Some of us have fond memories of playing against Lux in the infamous final in Munich last year, which went to extra time and seemed to last an eternity (Mide was practically in tears when the final whistle blew and we had beaten them by 2 points). With Luxembourg you never know what to expect - at certain tournaments they have a very strong panel, but at other times the opposite is the case. This year they have two very good players who are stagiaires from the University of Limerick, but even still they did not pose a threat to our team. At half time Willie made some changes to positions which threw us slightly, however, we dealt with it and were still able to win the match. This meant we had come top of our group and were up against Holland in the semi-final.

We knew the semi-final against Holland was not going to be an easy match, but having gone from strength to strength throughout the day (due to those lovely watery jam isostar drinks – personally I have never tasting anything so rank in my life) and inspiration from star supporters Lorraine, Penny and Darragh (no Jane, I didn’t try to steal him)… we felt confident. Having lost Clare Brennan due to a sprained finger and generally being a little sore and broken we were determined to not get any more injuries. This was easier said than done as Ana had to come off after half time due to a bad fall and a very painful knee injury. We all still have our fingers crossed that you will back soon Anay!!
Despite these set backs we beat Holland well and secured a well deserved place in the final. Paris and Munich were in the next semi-final after us and so we knew we would be facing one of them!

The final was against Munich. This was Munich’s first time (that I can remember anyway) in the final and we knew they would be hungry for it. I don’t want to get all cheesy but the final for me was really a great display of how great a team Belgium GAA ladies football really is. It was not just due to the effort of those players on the pitch that we won, but because of the panel of all 20-something of us that travelled down that day. Girls were ready to come on from the side-line throughout the match, which is what team sport is all about. Steph was next to go with a hamstring injury and Caragh also suffered a nasty hit in the face from one of the Munich girls. However, in our true form and with some great goals from the Bros, Cuba, Mide and everyone else we won the final, and the tournament! Victory number two for Belgium GAA ladies! Hats off to Munich for providing a good game in the final – they will definitely be ones to watch, especially at their home tournament in July.

Belgium B’s matches:

As I said I unfortunately did not get to watch all of the B’s matches – however, all I can say is that the amount of improvement since the first tournament, in the words of the Bros, is ‘unreal’. Seeing as almost everyone played on both teams throughout the day there is no real divide between the ‘As and the Bs’, and to have so many players is something we should all be proud of. The B team put out a great performance against our favourite rivals, Paris ;-), with some fantastic saves with upcoming super goalie Valerie and some great defending from Jess (keep an eye out for copies of ‘Jess and the Giant Parisian’ coming to a bookshop near you ;-)). There was nothing in the match against Rennes and I am sure – as was pointed out by numerous others, that come the end of the year we will be witnessing a Belgium A vs. Belgium B final!!

Special congratulations should be given to Stephanie Dunn (and her lap dog) for winning player of the tournament. Steph – you were awesome and I hope the hamstring is better soon!

I did not stay up to witness the evening’s festivities as I, along with some other mentalists – Clare A, Rafi and Cuba came back to Brussels to run the 20km on Sunday, however, I believe that Sylvia and Rosine were spotted in the early hours of the morning staggering around Lux somewhere after getting in trouble with the police for trying to flog pirate videos of a certain ‘Phil Roche’ performing a ‘dance off’.

Back in Brussels on Sunday evening everyone gathered again for a bbq in the Michael Collins. It was great to see so many of us there and great to have a bit of ‘craic’ as you Irish would say with the lads (even though they smell, we love them really – especially in those super sexy 70’s blue jerseys). One word can be used to describe Sunday evening – BALOOBAS. That is all.

I would list all the players here but there are so many I don’t think I can!
A big congrats to each and every one of us on another fantastic day out and great display of football from Belgium GAA. Bring on the Paris tournament at the end of June!

Euro Hurling and Camogie tournament Saturday June 13

Belgium GAA is proud to host the next round of the European Hurling and Camogie tournament in Leuven, this Saturday 13 June 2009.

Europe's finest gaelic sportsmen and women will be taking to the field from 10.30 and will be playing all day.

All welcome for a great day out!

The location of the tournament will be in Leuven, at the Kessel-Lo city park complex. The address is: Beemdenpad Kessel-Lo, Leuven 3010 Belgium. Leuven is about 15k outside of Brussels in Flanders (so the Flemish speaking region). If coming by car, you need to park in Car Park 3 (P3) in the Provinciedomein, you will see signposts for this once you enter the Provinciedomein complex.

First Winner of Belgium GAA Lotto

Just a few short months after the introduction of the Belgium GAA lotto, we are proud to announce that the jackpot has been won for the very first time. Amounting to €1,300 in the month of May, it was won by fiery Canadian club member Adrian Hiel (pictured wearing his trademark 'game face'). Said Hiel at hurling training on Tuesday night, "This is a very exciting moment for me. I hope I can be an inspiration to everyone else who plays the GAA lotto." An unidentified player was heard to mutter somewhat bitterly, "That Adrian is living the dream right now. The least he could do would be to offer a round of drinks to the fundraising committee".

The lotto draw took place amidst a delicious barbecue in the Michael Collins on Sunday evening (31/05/09), and the club would like to thank everyone who came along for their support and participation, from the man with the lucky hands, Mikie Keane, who drew the winning numbers from the hat, to the swan-like captain of the Belgium Ladies football team, Mide Ni Shuilleabhain, who presented her team with their medals, won at the Luxembourg tournament on Saturday. A special mention must be made of Stephanie Dunn, who was presented with her well-deserved Player of the Tournament trophy. The hard-working staff of the Michael Collins must also be acknowledged for keeping everyone fed and watered, in spite of their enthusiasm for herding the masses in from the terrace before our beloved Chairman, Olof Gill, had the opportunity to serenade his people. His rendition of Roy Orbison's hit song, I Drove All Night, is a current favourite, and when his dulcet Clare Island voice units with the husky Midleton tones of Ms. Clare Brennan, the united heart of Belgium GAA skips a beat.

Needless to say, while a lotto winner every month is not guaranteed, the success of Sunday's barbecue can and will be repeated at the end of June. More details on this are forthcoming, as the fundraising committee liaises with the social secretary of the club, Clare Appleby. But there is plenty to be done in the meantime. We urge you to sign up to the lotto online, if you haven't already done so. The beauty of having a link on the Belgium GAA website is that family and friends in Ireland, Belgium and further afield can become directly involved in the club. So please click HERE, pass it on, and keep your fingers crossed.

For further information on the Belgium GAA club, visit our website or Facebook page .

Another disappointing day for Belgium - Benelux, Rd 2

The men of Belgium fielded 2 teams for the second Benelux tournament of the European season, and hopes were high that a resurgent Belgium A would improve on the disappointing performance in Amsterdam, where an under-strength side finished bottom of the pile.

Six teams were divided into two groups:

Group 1: Amsterdam, Belgium B, The Hague A.
Group 2: Belgium A, Luxembourg, The Hague B.

Belgium A 0-7, Luxembourg 0-7

The Belgium first team was, arguably, lucky to draw this battle after a poor game in which the defending European champions performed terribly. Belgium A's game was characterised by over-carrying, poor passing and inadequate finishing. While some key players underpeformed, others did just about enough to salvage a point and ensure the team remained in the running for a semi-final spot. Special mention to debutant Eoghan Kelly who kicked some great scores, especially the pressure kick right at the end to guarantee the draw.

Belgium A 10-11, The Hague B 1-1

This one-sided match was over as a contest within the first 3 minutes. The rampant Belgium forwards had a field day, picking off points and goals at will. A margin of victory of at least 13 points was needed to top the group above Luxembourg, and Belgium finished the job in ruthless fashion. While the margin of defeat is a fair reflection of the difference between the two sides, it is to The Hague's credit that they could muster enough numbers to field a second team.

Having topped the group, Belgium A now faced Amsterdam in the semi-finals.

Belgium A 0-6 , Amsterdam 1-4

One that got away. Amsterdam, who, having been 6 point behind and regrouped to beat Belgium A in the 3/4 place play-off in their home tournament in April, are arguably the rising force in the Benelux region.

This was a tightly-fought, intensely physical game that went right down to the wire. However, as in the April encounter between the 2 sides, Belgium allowed a soft goal to prove their undoing. Despite a valiant fight-back, including a gallop towards goal that was ended with a stray knee which may have broken Eoin Sheanon's nose (again), Belgium were beaten when a last-gasp effort that would have pushed the tie into extra-time sailed just wide of the uprights.

Amsterdam went on to the final where they were beaten by home team The Hague A. Their second consecutive victory over An Chraobh Rua this season left the men of Belgium with their tails between their legs and plenty of food for thought.

3/4 place play-off:

Belgium A 2-8 , Luxembourg 1-4

In this game, Belgium finally began to play like something resembling their former selves. An angry, aggressive back-line led from the front by Phil "The Crusher" Cushen gave the forwards a solid platform to go in search of scores. Eoghan Kelly, playing in his first tournament, again hit some lovely scores while Micheál O'Floinn excelled. Lux fought valiantly but were undone when Belgium's talisman Emmet Devine rifled an unstoppable shot into the top corner to end the contest early in the second half.

Analysis:

Having dismissed their Amsterdam disaster to early season jitters and a lack of manpower, the men of Belgium had a rude awakening in The Hague. With virtually their entire starting team in position, the A's failed to achieve anything close to their barnstorming form of late 2008. The Chraobh Rua boys will need to ask themselves hard questions if they are to rediscover the aggression, physicality, fluidity and good old-fashioned hunger that saw them crowned Euro Champions in 2008.

Report reveals Killer Bees let loose in Europe

Saturday saw the kickoff proper of the Belgium GAA B-team’s foray into the Benelux tournament.

The panel, which was a mix of youth and age, was:

Aonghus
Martin - Johnny
Conor - Alan
Dave - Dominic
Ruairi - Ollie
Bobby - Mikey

Bainisteoir: Conan

Conan and Dave had us well prepared for the day. We had an early setback when we were robbed for the 1st game of our wily corner back Martin Crowley due to transportation issues on the Red Cow roundabout just outside Den Haag.

This meant a re-jig to the lineup and a recall into the corner back slot for the Baniestoir/Maor uisce and all round GAA man Conan Mac Oscair.

Our first match was versus Amsterdam, a solid team and with a few good additions from 2008. It was part of the learning curve as we found over the course of the match that changes in positions were needed, meaning a switch from backs to forwards for Alan and Bobby going in the opposite direction and also some fine tuning in our approach.

In the 2nd half Martin, having negotiated the traffic issues slotted in and solidified the full back line with Johnny, resulting in less scores conceded. In the end Amsterdam ran out winners with our sole score coming from the reliable boot of Mikey Keane.

Our 2nd match was against the pre-tournament favourites, Den Haag A. Having learned from the match against the Dam, we settled on a better lineout and despite coming out on the losing end we had Den Haag rattled at points in the match and they were made fight for every score. The back line put up intense pressure and this caused Den Haag to send a lot of efforts wide of the target.

Dominic and Conor also put in a lot of heavy hits in the midfield, Aonghus and the defence were solid and by the end of the match we’d taken enough of positives to allow us to go into the 3rd match with increasing confidence.

The break between the initial 2 matches and 5th/6th playoff enabled us to regroup and review what went well and where we needed to improve. In the first 2 matches we were undoubtedly up against better/more experienced footballing sides and this showed in the distribution of our ball from time to time. They did the simple short passing, whereas under pressure we resorted to a long clearance more in hope than intent. In the half forward line we also needed to improve on winning the kickouts and give Aonghus more options.

Den Haag pulled a stroke in playing one of their A-team in the playoff and despite a diplomatic delegation trying to overturn this, the powers that be decided to allow it. This resulted in a non-diplomatic / this-is-how-we-deal-with-this-in-Finglas team talk from Martin and words from others, all of which had the effect of bringing the team together more.

We tore out of the blocks in this match with the plan to work together as a team and support each other in moving the ball forward. We clocked up some early scores giving us further confidence and with Conor, like a typical Meath man putting in tackles which Graham Geraghty would be proud of we started to win a lot of midfield ball. Dominic was also bursting forward and taking time out along the way to let the Den Haag lads know he was in town for the day. Johnny was like a conductor in defence and with Martin, Ollie and Bobby taking man, ball and all else with them we nullified all the Den Haag threats thrown at us.

With the increased confidence we started to execute our short passing game well and this resulted in a nicely worked move out of defence resulting in a layoff from Conan ‘the Gooch’ MacOscair (who had come on for Dave who’d taken an injury) laying off a pass to Ruairi to finish to the net via a Den Haag deflection. We mixed this with direct balls into the FF line and Alan and Mikey were winning all balls going into them. One of these long balls resulted in Dominic punching :-) our second goal. Between this we tacked on a few nice points and ran out 2-8 to 0-1 winners……and 5th place

All in all it was a good learning experience and while we had 2 defeats, we can take enough from the improvements throughout the day to go forward to Luxembourg and beyond with increased confidence.

Amsterdam Tournament - Benelux, Rd 1

The Belgian GAA team had an inauspicious start to the 2009 season on the first Saturday of April as they returned empty handed following the 2 hour trip to Amsterdam. Observers of the days events may have thought the Belgian lads had sampled some of the city's famous wares the night before but, alas, no such excuse can be given for the three defeats suffered by the defending pan-European champions. However, it was the first time for many of the team to play together and hopes will be high that performances will improve from here on in.

The first match for Belgium was the old foes, Luxembourg. Belgium started with a new-look team with debuts for the likes of Johnny Phelan, Martin Crowley and Oliver O'Callaghan. However, optimism was high as the team was backboned by a number of last years' star players including Stephen 'Cluxton' Kearney, Olof 'Brolin' Gill, Eoin Sheanan and Micheal O'Floinn. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was the appearance of Sheanon in the backs – presumably in the hope that he would be more likely to pass rather than try to run the ball over the line all by himself from the half-back line.

The change in personnel affected Belgium though, as they were very slow out of the blocks and were picked apart after only a few minutes by a slick Luxembourg move which ended with Cluxton picking the ball from the net. Showing great spirit however, the lads rallied well towards the end of the first half to trail by only a point at half time following some fast interplay between Messieurs Sheanon, O'Floinn and Gill. A large number of changes at half-time, however seemed to affect the balance of team as Luxembourg kicked on while Belgium were unable to put their normal fast game. While trying to push forward, Belgium were caught on the break on a number of occasions - the most notable break bringing a second goal which effectively ended the game.

Next up was Den Hague - where it was obvious the men in yellow were eager to make amends for their two defeats to their rivals in the final tournament of 2008 in Maastricht. And so it proved as Den Hague played some excellent football, taking full advantage of the inexperience in the Belgium ranks to score four unanswered points for a comfortable half time lead. The second half saw more of the same with Belgium competing in the middle third – with Micheal O'Floinn again prominent, but unable to build any momentum and often being found out in possession. The defence was under severe pressure and only for another storming performance from Captain Phil Cushen, the damage could have been far greater. Den Hague, on the other hand, were moving the ball very well and took their chances when they came to ensure a final result of 8 points to no score.

The final game was against Amsterdam and also counted as the 3rd/4th place play-off. This was a keenly contested affair between two well-matched sides with plenty to play for - Amsterdam aiming to claim a significant scalp in their home tournament and Belgium aiming to avoid a whitewash. Amsterdam had the best of the first half however with Belgium again failing to click into their normal fast game and the lads found themselves down by a point at half time. Stirring words from the injured Davy Barrett at half time did the trick though as Belgium roared out of the blocks in the second half with 6 great points. Micheal O'Floinn and Sheanon were again prominent while Mikey Keane also popped up for his customary vital point. At this point though Belgium took their eye off the ball and let Amsterdam in for a soft goal suddenly balls started to go astray and runners failed to pick out supporting players. Then disaster struck as Amsterdam snuck in for a second goal and suddenly the game was wide open. At this stage though, the 'Dam had their gander up and struck for a couple more points towards the end as a tired Belgium pushed forward. Despite our best efforts to get back into the game it wasn't to be, as the hosts held out for a good victory over the boys from Belgium.

And so Belgium had only the wooden spoon to show for their efforts on the day. However, as was pointed out after the game, there was no disgrace in this defeat as Belgium fielded a team with as many as six players making their debut over the course of the day. Much was learned over the course of the three games and certainly players like Johnny, Martin, Mattie, Oliver, Ruairi and Dominic learned much that ever could be learned on the training field of Parc Cinqentanaire. Last year's players too learned that there a number of newer lads pushing hard for their places and that performances will have to improve if places are to be kept.

Next up is the second round of the Benelux Championship in Den Haag on May 2nd. The aim there will be to have a number of players back as well as some newer lads such as Eoghan Kelly and Ciaran Hudson, in making an extremely competitive panel. We hope also that this will give us the numbers we need to enter 2 teams to carry the Belgian flag. Unfortunately we will not be joined by Galway's own Ryan McMenamin - aka Kevin Keary, who is stationed back in Cork canvassing for a job.

Finally, congratulations to Micheal O'Floinn who picked up the 'Player of the Tournament' award (his second in only three tournaments!!) in recognition of his outstanding display on the day. A special word also to Conchur deBarra who, having left the field injured against Amsterdam, found out afterwards that he will be in plaster for two months after breaking bones in his ankle. He can be comforted by the thought that Eoin Sheanon has kindly offered to go round for a cup of tea and a chat about Dublin football. The lucky fella!

Craobh Rua abu!