For those of you familiar with European GAA and the format of tournaments you’ll agree that they are short matches of furious pace and effort punctuated by periods of waiting, stretching, stiffening and watching. By the time of the final at the end of the day the toll exacted on an athletes’ body is a very heavy one indeed. Well, when a final gets extended into three extra periods as happened at the Luxembourg tournament (hosted just over the border in Arlon, Belgium) there can be no doubt that every player involved has gone back to the well time and time again searching furiously for any remaining scraps of drive.
But many hours prior to the epic final the day started slowly for Belgium, went horribly bad and thenthrough work rate and skill got slowly better.
The opener was against Den Haag – a team with a proud history who simply hadn’t performed up to their own standards in Paris. It was clear they were out for redemption on the day as the lead at the half 1-7 to 1-0. Belgium woke from the slumber caused by the 6am start and with a few changes began to close the gap. In the end the ran out of time and lost the opening match 1-7 to 1-4.
More importantly than the loss of the match was the loss of defensive rock Phil ‘Crusher’ Cushen. The Kilkenny man was, without question, the most admired man of the Belgian squad for the ferocity, tenacity and sheer gutsiness of his play. Alas, that unyielding spirit ran his knee into an immovable object and just like that the hardest man on the pitch was off to the hospital with an agonising knee. Tests later confirmed a partial tear of the ACL and a torn miniscus.
Shaken, but awake to the reality that the day would not be won as easily as was done in Paris, the Belgium squad regrouped to face the defending European champs, Luxembourg. Missing several starters, including the top scorers from Paris and Zurich the year previous, meant that getting points was a serious concern on the day.
Despite a lack of pure goal scorers, solid play and a much higher work rate than seen in the opener assured that balls consistently made their way upfield for the Belgians and enough went over and in to ensure a comfortable victory of 3-10 to 1-02.
"Get out of my way before you get hurt, son."
By this stage of the game young Dutchman Maurits had already distinguished himself with fearless harrying on the full forward line causing chaos for the backs and ensuring loose and broken balls abounded. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes a constant threat to put the ball over the bar everytime he’s on the pitch. Yann, who played through the first two matches in considerable pain from a recent knee injury, was able to come off after a gutsy display for the third match against Paris and save himself from further injury with the tardy arrival of Canadian sniper Jarrett at the pitch.
"You are weak...and so I crush you."
There was a long line of distinction on the day as the depleted Belgian squad called on everyone to give their all. Eoghan Kelly was relentless on the day as he selflessly dedicated himself to shutting down the opponents primary targets. Seconding him in that role was Declan who, in the finals in particular, let everything hang out as he marked his men out of the closely-fought match.
Put it Over!
But before the final the Belgians had to take on the combined squad of Paris and Zurich. With some decent players between them it was uncertain what calibre of play would be seen. In the end, Paris managed a point and a dodgy goal as Martin, who had been rock solid earlier in the day in goal, was played outfield and substituted by Adrian. To this Belgium put over a credible 3-12 in a convincing win that say Willie bravely stare death in the face as he dodged a thrown hurley whilst patrolling the backs and providing breathing space with his long clearances.
Into the final at last in a showdown with Den Haag. Den Haag, who had gamely played through the day with the bare 11 were ready for action and not prepared to cede an inch to Belgium who began the match with one sub on the bench. Outfield Conor Aylward looked to build on a strong day that saw him play almost every position available aside from keeper. His booming strokes welcome and accurate from all over the pitch. Pearse, only the second Kilkenny man to play for Belgium GAA, made his debut for the squad in Lux and was being counted on to continue his strong play in the final putting over quality points from the half-forward line.
Jarrett would begin at the full-forward line with his relatively fresh legs and hot off his first goal against Paris. Beside him was Adrian who nursed a sore hamstring to create the all-Canadian full-forward line. Also on the pitch was Emmett, whose powerful runs through midfield and field direction continued to give the opposition fits, and Aidan who moved between half-back and half-forward on the day putting up some fantastic scores from both positions.
Aidan finds a position where he's comfortable
Martin was back in goals where he was his reliable self and Davy was in the backs, as he was the rest of the day, directing the attack from the back line forward and feeding in ball after ball – as well as taking his own chances now and again.
In the end the final was epic. There’s simply no other word for it. Neither team was willing to give an inch, neither team would back down. There were some superb individual plays, eventual player of the tournament Sean Simpson of Den Haag was always a threat while Davy appeared from nowhere to clear a ball off the Belgian line to keep the stalemate going.
Tippin' and Tappin' from Tevez
In the end it took two full periods and then three periods of extra time to determine the better team on the day – and even then it was by the slimmest of margins in a match that could have been ended at numerous times for either team. But through the exhaustion and fatigue Belgium GAA were the team that got to celebrate on the long drive home while Den Haag could only think of what might have been.
The tournament win itself was also key in the development of the championship as it was the third successive trophy for Belgium after taking the first two tournaments of the year and building a strong lead in the standings with three tournaments remaining in the year. The third one goes ahead on June 13th in Leuven, just outside Brussels, and on home turf Belgium must finally deliver a victory for the home crowd after four straight losses dating back to 2005. It also represents Belgium’s best chance to field their strongest team of the year although long term injuries to Conchur, Seamus and now Crusher continue to test Martin’s managerial ability.
The Greatest Victory
A win on Saturday would put Belgium in a very strong position for winning the European title for the first time but as we’ve seen already this year anything can happen, and anyone can win, on the day in question.
