The newly formed team travelled to Maastricht last Saturday to compete in the first round of the inaugrual Dutch 7-a-side Championship. The competition includes Den Haag, Amsterdam and Maastricht. In an effort to provide our players more competitive football during the season we requested to be allowed participate and the request was kindly accepted. The competition is structured in a league format with home and away fixtures.

So after two postponements due to waterlogged pitches, it was with much enthusiasim we journeyed to Maastricht. The heavy rain on the way down left us all a little worried about the possibility of a third postponement but upon our arrival we realised everything was good to go. As always, Maastricht G.A.A. had their pitch in pristine conditioned, with goalposts in place and the pitch perfectly lined.

Having commenced training on March 1, we are still very much at the building stage, trying to attract players, gain fitness and improve our skills. In that sense, we couldn’t be sure how our first day would go but we were determined to put in a credible performance in our two games, with Maastricht first up.

Belgium 2-9 Maastricht 0-2

The foundations for victory were laid early in this tie as we found our scoring touch quickly. Olof Gill and Aidan O’Sullivan pointed early to settle their side. The game, and the first half especially, was rife with handling errors and poor decision making. The nuances of 7-a-side and the lack of match practice really hindering us. However, we grew into it as the minutes past and a couple of quick-fire goals, with the first a low drilled shot from Olof and the second coming when Willie Cashin finished off a great move to raise the green flag. This scoring burst knocked the wind from our opponents sails and they received little encouragement when they attacked due to the sterling defensive work of Conchur de Barra and Emmett Devine. Olof was well and truly in the groove as he hit two more points to send us in at the interval well on top.

Maastricht came back at us early in the second half scoring early. However, another point from Olof sandwiched between scores from Tom Lane and Mikey Keane settled us down again. Meanwhile, Kevin Keary was playing a blinder in the full-back line snuffing out the opposition and launching Belgium attacks time and again. It was clear we were taking a liking to the 7’s format and the best example was Conchur de Barra’s point when he came forward from full-back.

Still, we continued to make basic errors such as punching when we should have caught the ball and running with the ball instead of moving it on quickly. This coupled with the 9 wides gave us plenty of food for thought before the Amsterdam game. Never the less, a good start to the day.

Scorers; Olof Gill (1-4), Willie Cashin (1-1), Aidan O’Sullivan, Tom Lane, Mikey Keane & Conchur de Barra (0-1 each)

Belgium 4-8 Amsterdam 0-4

We had a short break before turning around to play Amsterdam in our next game. As they had yet to play a game in the 7’s format we were hoping to catch them on the hop by putting what we had learned in the previous game into good effect.

We flew out of the blocks with Olof launching a big kick over the bar. It was nip and tuck in the early stages but Olof and Aidan were doing a great job at midfield. Aidan especially linked the play very well and kept a good eye on one of Amsterdam’s key players. Emmett and Conchur were doing a tidy job in defence but it was again Kevin who really caught the eye with some tenacious defending. Only once was the backline breached in the opening half but Davy Barrett was on hand to make a good save.

From the let off at our end we worked the ball up the field with a good passage of play. The final ball fell to captain Emmett Devine who unleashed a pile driver to the back of the net. Mikey then hit a quick double as he snuck a goal and kicked a point. The 2-2 to 0-2 interval score left the result far from certain.

We came out in the second half determined to get on the score board quickly and points from Tom and Olof were just the tonic. Emmett took over the goalkeeping duties as Davy moved into the forward line. And it was Davy who then combined well with Aidan for two successive scores which satisfyingly mirrored a training ground exercise of Thursday night. Another Mikey goal put us home and dry. Emmett pulled off a spectacular save late on and we had another let off when they hit the post but the job was done and we took home the points.

Scorers; Mikey Keane (2-2), Tom Lane (1-1), Emmett Devine (1-0), Olof Gill (0-3), Davy Barrett (0-2)

Man of the Day; Olof Gill was a clear winner with Kevin Keary and Aidan O’Sullivan taking 2nd and 3rd. Much more difficult days lay ahead but we tucked into the Vedett in the Hairy and the Oak afterwards and enjoyed our first victories of the season (as well as celebrating Alan Rowan’s 30th Birthday!)

Back Row: Joe McHale, Olof Gill, Tom Lane, Aidan O’Sullivan, Willie Cashin, Kevin Keary, Conán Mac Oscair

Front Row: Mikey Keane, Dave Barrett, Emmett Devine (Captain), Conchur deBarra