First Entry will be on Friday July 29th. Probably.
Thanks for all support from Team Ireland @ EUC 2011!
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Saturday 5th
Apologies for the lack of post yesterday, it was a busy one - Friday saw us play our last games - 2 repeat opponents and two very different games. The first was a battle against Italy, who had beaten us by 2 points in an ill-tempered affair earlier in the week. We started strongly, went up a couple of breaks and were playing with a swagger and tempo they couldn't match. We took half and looked to be in the driving seat until the very end when they capitalised on some errors to take the final 2 points to win by 1.
MVP: Brian T O'Callaghan
Brian Begley on O vs Italy
The second game was a routine win against a Netherlands team that never really threatened us. Both teams looked tired and it was tough to get up for the game, but we won well. 17-11.
MVP: Rory Kavanagh
Conor Hogan with a great grab vs Netherlands
We ended in 11th place. The Women won their last 3 games in a row to come 9th and the Mixed team came an amazing 6th, narrowly losing to Germany in their last game. Way to fly the flag Mixed team!!
So, the party was last night and we all had a riot. It was a brilliant way to celebrate the week. Stories, fun and photos to follow. Now its bed for me, then a week sailing around Croatia. A well earned break!
Cheers!
Thursday 4th
It's late, I'm really tired, it's been a tough day and we have to do it all again at 9am tomorrow. In short, this post will be, well, short!
Me, after another disputed call in the Russia game
The Russian game - a tough battle was how their captain called it, a missed opportunity is how I see it. We'll be licking our wounds for some time after this one - a game we bossed until the late stages only to see it cruelly taken away in a winner takes all point at 14-14. We put our hearts, bodies and everything else into this game and looked to have it in the bag but they came back strong and stole it. There were calls, some ludicrous, some fair and most very heated but in the end, in that cold harsh light of day we didn't convert the lead we built and that's the tough bit. As Niall said afterwards, we couldn't have asked for more. This teams big - we'll come back...
MVP - Enda Naughton
Sam, about to throw a goal vs Russia
MVP - Cian O Morain
Brian MacDevitt on D vs Latvia
Elsewhere the Women bashed the French by 10points and the Mixed team lost their 1/4 final to the British in a somewhat unenjoyable affair apparently. All three teams will be giving it loads tomorrow to get the wins to finish as high as we can.
Teams Night In
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Wednesday 3rd
The early starts are a killer. A humid night with restless sleep and then up at the crack of dawn - 6:30am, to get breakfast on board by 7am. Then a wait for a bus, a trip to the fields to get ready for the warm up. We throw for 10-15min before a full 40min warmup before each game. At least the suns not at it's hottest at 9am I suppose!
Anyway, we played Finland on Pitch 1, the show pitch. It's a lovely surface, with stands on both sides and made for a great venue for a proper battle. Despite our warm up, a strong team talk and a good attitude we just didnt get into D in the first half. We threw eveything we could at them but to no avail. They attacked deep and shallow, the swung the disc aggressively and seemed to ghet free at will. We were a frustrated D line. the O punched in their goals to keep us in the game but at half we were 3 down. We spoke about the strong 3rd quarter after the half and came out guns blazing. Soon the game was ours for the taking as we broke back a couple of times. The scores were soon tied at 13s then 14s. Game to 17 called at 15-14 Finland and despite some great O and D we lost the final 2 points. It was another cruel loss, much like the Italian one, but we learned from it and will be stronger from it. We're not out of the tournament and feel good so the focus and desire for the morning is all there. Russia await - it will be a belter.
Cian O Morain on the attack
MVP David Misstear
James Finn looking upfield vs. Austria Mixed
Amy Moffat throwing a huck vs. Czech Republic
The tournament has thrown up some string of upsets this time with all of the top seeds losing to one another and supposedly weak teams thumping the 'big' teams. It's exciting and we want to be a part of it. Here's hoping tomorrow will go our way and we'll get stuck into the trouble making! :)
Sweden vs. France, a one-sided callfest dominated by the Scandanavians
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Tuesday 2nd
A lie-in - sweet sleep, and 9 hours of it too. A brilliant part of these tournaments is that your body has simple demands come down time - 1, shedloads of food - healthy, sugary and even junky and 2, sleep and lots of it. Last night we slept like babies. We had a game at 4pm so had ample time for a leisurely breakfast, some faffing and even ball games at the bus stop before heading to the fields. We arrived in time to support the Womens team in an epic battle with the Lativians, a team they'd beaten the previous day by just 2 points. We went on a long jog, stretched well then cheered from shade/umbrellas. The sun was high and hot! Unfortunately for all of us, the Latvians capitalised on some uncharacteristic Irish mistakes and wont he game by 2/3 points. It was a tough loss on the girls but they're a tight knit crew and will bounce back. (They did too, beating Austria in the afternoon!)
Captain Laura McGrath offloads the disc
Before we headed to the new pitches, located half way up a mountain!, we went to cheer on the Mixed team who looked strong against a Slovakian side who had surprised many. We left and the score was 6-3 Ireland, apparently the Slovaks fought and fought until it went to 17 all sudden death. A cagey Irish offence was shut down once but a huge D from Donal Murray, a big huck from Ian French and a winning grab from captain Pete Forde won them a 1 point victory! Delighted.
Seamas Kinsella gently warming up his broken shoulder
Keith Mernagh with the huck
We faced the Czechs, a team we beat 17-0 in 2007, when their strongest men played for the Mixed team, who made the Mixed final! This team is different - they had enticed the men back onto the Open team and looked hungry. We had all prepared well and came out strong, Niall's pre-game words ringing in our ears. Tight defence, clinical offence and some huge grabs across the team saw us blast through the first half and go into the break 3 points up. It could've been more too. We felt comfortable and focused. The second half was a different affair as the Czech D started getting some joy from a few odd turns on our part. We conceded a couple of points on the trot but came back strong. Another big D run and the game was almost ours. The O line went in for the final point and a big huck from Dave Misstear was taken down for the win by Enda Maughton, who had a fine game.
MVP - Conor Hogan
Brian T gets a huge goal line D
Hogi on D
MVP: Conor Hogan
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Monday 1st
A big day for us with our last two pool games deciding whether we went up to the power pools i.e. the top 6. We were facing the Netherlands, who had taken 12 off GB and looked decent, in the morning and the old rivals Italy who had looked very strong thus far.
The morning game went as expected - we ended up winning well after an early dogfight then a strong second half. We stepped up our D after taking half at 9-7 and went on to only concede 2 in the second half. Our O was slick, and only used twice after half. The Dutch ran hard but with only 14 were always up against it. We had done what we needed and our attention was now on getting ready for the afternoon game.
MVP - Brian T O'Callaghan
Brian O'Callaghan
Elsewhere the Mixed team got their first taste of victory with a 3 point win against the Mixed Dutch team. They were 12-10 down going into the home stretch and put away 5 on the trot to take the win. The Womens team had a tough fight with Latvia but prevailed to set up a pre-quarter type, must-win game. We went for a wander and got food, some shade and kept piling the water into us. Italy were in our sights...
Dane going high for a score vs. Finland
We warmed up well, having seen the Danes beat the Finns in a cracker, in increasingly hot weather - humidity high and the sun peaking at 1:30pm. We started slowly and went a couple of point down but broke back soon enough and the game traded. Italy were playing hard and right on the line of legality with calls contested loudly and aggressively. They actively looked to bully us but we saw through it and stuck to our game. The D line got a couple of breaks, but the Italians got them back and a tight first half closed 8-7 to Italy. The second half began with us going a few points ahead. We were fired up and they had nothing to answer us with. The whole team was on fire and the score was soon 13-11 Ireland. Unfortunately Italy had other plans and upped their intensity again. We coughed up a few unlucky turns and the game was in the balance again. 15 all and game to 17... Itlay scrapped and converted once and then again to take the game by 2. We were gutted.
MVP - Cian O Morain
Brian passes on the MVP Bow Tie to Cian
It now means we are in a pool with the 8th and the 10th seeds. The winners of the pool get an easier pre-quarter. In short, we need 2 wins to get a better chance of getting into the quarters. Tomorrow is likely to be against the Czech Republic at 4pm (their pool is not yet complete). We've the morning off
so a great chance for a lie-in and relax before another big game.
Unfortunately the Mixed team lost to the Belgians, a team yet to lose a game, and the Womens team lost a right battle 17-11 against Denmark in horrible conditions.
Liz Schaffalitzky throws a goal vs. Denmark in the rain
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Sunday 31st
Today we finally got onto the pitch, played our first two games of the week and got a chance to size up our opponents. First up were Belgium - 13th seeds. We knew the game was one we had to win - both for the team's confidence and for the chances of us progressing and started strongly with a few big Ds that we converted to take a 3 point lead early doors. We kept up the pressure and took half 9-5, conceding some speculative long shots but in control of the game. The 10mins half took the edge off our game and we conceded 3 of the first 5 points after half. But our D came back on after some calm O and ramped up the intensity. We ran out 17-9 winners.
MVP Cian Quinn.
Ireland and Belgium
The Mighty Quinn
Louise McKeown gets a huge D
Ireland Women after the GB win
We'd a long break, got hydrated and had some food before getting ready for the big game of the day - our own bottle against the British. We knew a lot of them from Tour and were keen to get amongst them. We started slowly, going 2 or 3 doen but as expected, the run came and we took half 8-7 with both lines motoring. Out on O in the second half and 9-7 up we went. Then GB upped their intensity on D and we started making some pressured mistakes. The tide turned and we could do little to stem it. We threw the sink at them but still the turns came and they converted incessantly. A 17-11 loss was a disappointing return for the work we put in but going forward its good know we can go toe to toe with a team expected to challenge for medals. If we meet them again it'll be serious case of unfinished business.
MVP Dave McAlester
Super Dave McAlester
The show game featured the Irish Womens team, who faced their old enemies the Italians. The ladies were cheered on by the Mixed and Open teams but it wasn't to be as the nifty Italians showed an impressive range of throws, but some dodgy calls!, in an 8 point victory. A tough finish for the girls in green after such a big start to the day, but they're made of strong stuff and will attack tomorrow from early no doubt.
Ireland Women set off to play D
On the mixed front they lost narrowly to Poland in a tight 14-10 affair and were then outclassed 17-10 by the highly skilled Germans. Much like us and the Womens team, we expect them to bounce back and smash it tomorrow. Big day ahead...
Right, it's bed time. Up at 6:30am so every minutes precious at this stage. Day two promises more excitement - will keep the Twitbook updated where possible! :)
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Tournament Gear
Sat 30th
So the first entry's a day late - it's been busy! Arrived yesterday and checked in to the dorms. Pretty standard affair - rooms with two single beds, wardrobes and a decent desk. We're opposite a large LIDL so sorted for most things foodwise. The dinner was grand - bit short on the auld meat but grand. A few of the lads got a shock from the polenta (no, it's not spuds boys) but they survived. Good kip and then up early for the Captains Run - well, in honour of him anyways! 19 of us took to the pitches for a light run, some throwing and a few drills. We looked good, felt good and executed well. Niall would've been proud. Great to get a bit of energy out on a run and get the disc through the hands. All primed.
Podger & Ferguson during the Captain's Run
Wandering through the town
A few hours off then to the pitches again for a very short, rain delayed and uninspiring Opening Ceremony. The highlight was probably the Israeli guy who could freestyle! We all received our player packs - usually they're full of gifts, this time just a disc and some stickers but nice nonetheless.
Israeli Freestyle
The show games was a huge mismatch with the Mixed Division number 1 seeds Great Britain flexing their muscles against the hosts and bottom seeds, Slovenia. 17-2 in a rain-soaked and error-ridden affair. GB will be tough to beat ans no doubt Slovenia have more to offer.
GB on the attack
A long wait in the rain for a bus then back home for a feed. Bolognese kept the hungry team well happy. We met for a team meeting and went through our goals, what we're going to focus on this week and had a chat about some logistics. The teams ready, there's a really good feeling that something special could happen when we click this week - I'm proud to be a part of it.
So much hard work has been done but tomorrow we start translating that into results. We cannot wait.
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