by Janelle Mitchell (Ladies Football Officer)
We
had an excellent tournament this past weekend here in Brussels. The
weather held up and we even had a bit of sun to set the stage for a great day
of football.
First
up was Belgium Red (i.e. Tigers) vs. Belgium Grey (i.e. Old School
Jerseys). We were playing 11-a-side for this one and the intensity from
both teams made for a thrilling match. Tied at half, Belgium Red pulled
ahead for the win in the late stages of the game.
Next up, Belgium Red was taking on the ever-competitive Holland. Again,
both teams looked even through half with players like Linde, Maeve, Micheala,
and Rosie stepping up their games both defensively and offensively. After
an interesting switch of positions by Holland (Rose moved back to cover Ciara),
the tigers were able to pull away and put up both goals and points in the
second half FTW (for the win!).
After
this, Holland took on Belgium Grey. Bros made her return up front and
enjoyed all things forwards hope for: points! This match was quite back
and forth and nearing the final minutes of regulation, was all squared up and
tied. With the home crowd on their side and those old-school jerseys to
boot, Belgium Grey was able to come out on top setting the stage for an all-Belgium
final!
The
final: back to 11-a-side with tired legs and minds ready to duke it out for the
title. It was A vs A in goals (Anna vs. Aine), captain Aisling vs.
captain Ciara, Tigers vs. Oldies, etc. And a solid final it was!
Belgium lines up quite well against Belgium - well all know each others
strengths and weaknesses. We know what pisses our opponent off, we know
who is deadly around the goals, we know the little things that we may not
normally know about our opponents. And so we were off, with both teams
converting points and goals early on. As the sun was beginning to
brighten, so did the 'fire' in the bellies of the Tigers and tournament
all-star Anay used her 'spin-a-rama' move to put the points over. The
Tigers pulled away and were able to hold on to the late push by the Greys FTW.
Ladies,
all around a successful tourny. It is a pleasure watching and playing
next to/against each and every one of you. I think the level at which we
played was a testament to the competitiveness and commitment of this
club. Special shout out to all of you who helped out in making the day
run smoothly with all the odds and ends that needed to be done and/or baked.
GROUP GAMES
Belgium A (3-9) – Belgium B (1-5)
Belgium A (1-7) – Holland (1-15)
Belgium B (3-9) – Holland (3-8)
FINAL
Belgium A (0-13) – Belgium B (1-5)
