Back Row: Joe McHale, Mairtin O’Coinceanainn, Kevin Keary, Pat Ahern, Paddy Condon, Tom Lane, Aidan O’Sullivan, Al Rowan, John O’Donnell, Darragh Cotter, Conán Mac Oscair (Bainisteoir)

Front Row: Olof Gill (Captain), Conchur deBarra, Mikey Keane, Dualta Doherty, Dave Barrett, Declan Hillary

Amsterdam Tournament – Saturday, April 26th

Belgium’s Gaelic Footballers travelled to Amsterdam on Saturday last in fine fettle. With a travelling party of 19, hopes were high that we could announce our arrival on the European scene with a reasonable amount of plomp! However, the day didn’t start well when our Bainesteoir Conan woke up to find Betsy (his 10yr old fiesty) had been nicked. However, completely unshaken by this trauma, he headed on up to Shuman. Seating arrangements were adjusted and the bleary eyed travellers set off shortly after 7am. Deccie and co spent the journey teasing The Kid about whether he knew who Radiohead were and whether he remembered the 1990 World Cup. The blank look on his face suggested not. They even fitted in a game of Gaelic Football whilst waiting for their McMuffins en route. One observer did note that it was the highest quality of football the four managed all day. A less enjoyable journey was had by Conan, Joe, Micky and Alan. They were stopped by the police outside Antwerp and Alan’s car was repossessed as he didn’t have all the required papers!! Of all the lads, he should know better! So the lads were left stranded at the side of the road to walk to the nearest train station. They eventually arrived via a train to Amsterdam Central and a taxi to the pitch.

With their delay we went into the Amsterdam game a few men down. Our opponents had the benefit of having played once already and it showed. We were sluggish and ragged. Despite this ‘The Kid’ did manage the first goal of the game but the dam reacted quickly for a goal and point of their own. Too often we looked for the back of the net and after kicking a few scoreable frees wide the dam took control to finish us off 1-4 to 1-1 with ‘The Kid’ getting our other score, i think. Darragh Cotter had showed well at midfield and Olof was his usual self despite some close attention.

Heads were down after this but the calvary arrived just as we started our game against Maastricht. This proved a straight forward assignment as Dave Barrett pointed early. Pat Ahern then chipped in with a couple of scores before ‘The Kid’ missed a penalty. Tom Lane knocked one over and I reckon Olof tucked one away too. Patrick Condon, on his debut showed some nice touches and linked the play well at times. Not sure who got the goal but Micky knocked over a few good frees. Final score of 1-7 to 0-0 was a little flattering as we did everything we were asked not to do during the game and our opponents were made up mostly of Dutchmen.

Luxembourg were up next and despite their quicksilver forward line, they had been struggling to kill teams off. Not us though as we gifted them 3 early goals. Defensively, we were all over the shop and our lack of experience caught us badly. Despite this, Kevin Keary did a good marking job on one of Lux’s most dangerous forwards and Conchur de Barra was demonstrating his much improved tackling. At the other end, Dave and Micky tacked over a couple of points. Half-time score was 3-1 to 0-2. We rallied in the second half and got a goal through Olof (i think). This was followed by a Tom Lane point and then one from Dave. Micky’s free taking continued as it started but unfortunately these scores were nearly always sandwiched between Lux scores. We were in earshot of a few Lux subs who were making some smart arse comments about Gaelic Football in Belgium and we are sure to bank those for another day. Hopefully the sub who made them might be on the pitch next time rather than on the bench after getting a bit of a roasting from his man!!! Anyway 4-5 to 1-4 was how it finished but it highlighted alot of our weaknesses so we can take that from it at least.

Last group game was against Den Hague and with not a whole lot riding on it, each side rested a couple of players. Micky’s early frees were giving us hope and it was not long before our opponents sprung their aces from the bench. With the score 0-2 to 0-2 at half-time we brought ‘The Kid’ into the fray. We also released the beast John O’Donnell into the full forward line in this game and his ball winning was a revelation. He was an example to the rest of us in terms of showing for the ball and laying it off. Scores from Tom and Dave and two Micky frees had us leading 0-6 to 0-3 with time up. However a lapse of concentration from a twenty yard free with the last kick of the game cost us the win as the hague rattled the net to gain a draw. Highlights in this one were Deccies breaks from the half-back line and Kev’s harassment of anyone and everyone who came near him.

Despite the disappointment of not sealing victory we had a steely detemination to get revenge against Amsterdam in the 3rd/4th place playoff. We started off at a canter after Olof got a well deserved belt in the nose. This riled him into action and he fittingly blew two balls wide before tucking over the opening score. This was quickly followed by a tremendous score when Dave planted a 40 yard blazing shot into the top corner, ha hmm…its how you choose to tell it. This gave us a handy lead but of course the terriers from Amsterdam wouldn’t lay down. Our backs were well up for it though and Dualta and Bull were unbeatable at the back. Couple this with Kev’s trademark defending and with Dec now in full swing, it was hard for the dam to see the light. Micky and I think Tom, got the scores to drive us home in a tight second half on a scoreline of 1-4 to 0-5.

3rd place in our first outing wasn’t bad and in some ways its good that we came home disappointed as it means we are not content with playing poorly and not competing well. The day highlighted alot of areas to work on but also showed at times that we can move the ball well and create openings. So its heads down now and with an even stronger panel expected for the Luxembourg tournament, we will look to improve on the weekends performances and try to give the likes of Den Hague and Lux more problems.

After tournament activities saw a split in the camp as some stayed but some had to return to Brussels. Those who stayed got off to a good start but upon arrival at the hostel it went t1ts up. The hostel was overbooked and the story goes astray there! Those who returned to Brussels joined in a party at Dec’s before heading to two of the FC Irlande lads birthday party (Sigve and Alec). Whilst there Olof was seen falling asleep as Kevin ranted and raved and Davy was seen trying to charm the soccer lads into playing a bit of gah, in his own little way!

The End.

Roving Report