Bring it.

Hurling has once again begun in Brussels for this, our seventh(!) season.

After taking all five tournaments last year this year represents a new challenge for our biggest-ever squad. We need to know how to behave as defending champions. Teams will be gunning for us and it remains to be seen if we’ll have the firepower and desire to take all four tournaments this year.

One fact that gives me hope is in all those losing years (one tournament win in the first five years) we have always competed. No matter how over-matched we always traveled and we always left everything we had on the pitch. No other team in Europe has travelled as much as we have and until this past season no other team had as little to show for it. But now we enter this season as clear favourites having lost just one game in all of 2009.

It’s a good feeling and I’ve enjoyed it over the winter but the time to look towards the past is over. We now need to look to our year ahead.

Numbers to training have been small so far as football continues to capture much interest and its earlier start to the season gives it more momentum at this time of year. That said, our overall panel has grown with returning faces, resurgent players and new faces going into the fold. There is definitely scope to aim at fielding two teams at our own tournament this year. More excitingly, they would be two strong teams.

It remains to be seen what the opposition will be. Lux normally have a number of students that make them a competitive force. Den Haag have been very strong but their focus seems to be on football this year and they finished last year on a decidedly low note. Paris should be relatively strong once again although the loss of their own tournament is a shame for their development and Zurich, once three-time winners of the Cup, will likely continue to impress with a team more Swiss than Irish which is to their credit.

Enough talk. Off to training to be ready for May 1st!

A Different Kind of Challenge

You have to see this! One of our longest standing club members, Yann de Kesel, recently completed a little driving tour. From Belgium…to bloody Gambia!

That's Yann on top of the truck showing off his hurler's physique

You can read about it here http://discobolongo.wordpress.com/

Don’t worry if you don’t speak Dutch – the photos are worth a visit themselves. And you can always use google translate to read the text.

Fair play to Yann, the greatest hurler ever produced by Belgium!

Champions!

Well, as has been noted far and wide Belgium GAA brought home the 2009 championship with an excalamtion point with a dominant showing in Den Haag. We didn’t get our two teams out as we wanted to but we can hardly complain with the result! Congratulations to everyone on an incredible 2009 campaign!

One-Two Finish in the works?

One of the unavoidable realities of European hurling is that competition is halted for the month of August. It leads to a big gap between tournaments and it is difficult to keep any momentum going with two months stretching between tournaments. Having won the last five tournaments on the trot we are more in need of motivation for the Den Haag tournament than we customarily would be. However, we’ve come up with an idea to shoot for: A 1-2 Belgium finish in DH. We have the squad size to field two teams, and we have the players to make sure both teams are competitive but aiming for a 1-2 finish would mean everyone lifting their game a notch and not having the luxury of a large and quality bench in case of injuries. I think we can do it – and I would love to do it at the home of our biggest rival – now we just have to go out and get it done.

Music of Champions!

Here I Go Again (Whitesnake)

Travelling great distances is a common feature when playing GAA in Europe & personally, I enjoy the ritual of it: Get up early, make the sandwiches, have a big breakfast & the n drive for hours to get some GAA, then head out, have a good time & then drive all the back on the Sunday; I couldn’t think of anything better to do on the weekend.

The 1^st Odyssey of this year (of which more will follow with the Football) was to Zurich to play Hurling. We had 4 cars going: Dennis (or Densor as we call him) & Aidan headed off on Friday evening.

They were followed on the Saturday by Jarret, our Captain Kevin Keary & Pierce in 1 car; Willie, Conor, Dec & Martin in the other & finally Adrian, Eoghan & myself in the 3^rd car.

So off we left at about 5:30 to a foreign soil, to fight to claim the title of European Hurling Champions & to retain last year’s title, armed with lots of hurleys & more Air Guitar than you’ll find at a Status Quo, Whitesnake & Def Leppard concert!

Highway to Hel-vetia (AC/DC)

After the long drive through the beautiful surroundings of France & then Switzerland, we reached of destination of Zurich at about 1.

First up, Zurich vs. Lux.

A good game of hurling followed with Lux proving dangerous with the long ball into their full forward, Sully.

Final score: Zur 1-6, Lux 5-5

The chance to see our 2 opponents play first suited us well, as we had the chance to see the danger men (& women) in both sides. Using this, we prepared for our 1^st encounter…Zurich

Back in Black (AC/DC)

Zurich have improved a lot from last year’s encounter & you can see a big improvement in both the men & ladies’ team…but we needed to beat the team-of-black to continue to the final.

Our team was:

		Martin
Willie				Kevin
Conor				Adrian
	Eoghan		Declan
Pierce				Aidan
Densor				Jarret

We came quickly into this game, with a strategy of using the ball well, taking our points & trying to avoid running with the ball as much as possible, due to the lack of numbers & the heat.

We played excellent hurling in the 1^st half with the score Bel: 2-6 Zur: 1-0

Scorers for Belgie were Eoghan, Jarret, Pierce & Densor.

2^nd half: Zurich let the head drop after a quick 2 points & 1 goal from the Belgians. Zurich still kept playing well, however, with a point from play.

However, a retaliation of 2-2 from the Belgians finished the game off.

Final score: Belgium: 5-10, Zurich: 1-1

Standout performances for Belgium were Pierce “The Moonwalker” O Caoimhe (watch him run with the sliotar; graceful), Eoghan Kelly & particularly Willie & Adrian being bothe excellent in the defence.

1 game down; 2 to go

Or so it was meant to be; Lux & us decided to play the final straight after the ladies game.

So sitting in the shade, we devised our strategy for taking on Lux.

Waiting (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)

For Lux, their danger man was Sully. A great catcher of the ball, he’d run at the defence & straight on goal. For this, we had Conor Alyward man-mark him, with Keary just behind to quickly clear any breaking ball.

Lux also had a dnger woman in #4; a fantastic hurler from Galway.

Willie was given the responsibility of marking her; we counted on his years of experience & also, as he’s getting married, we thought he’d like a chance to get physical with a 20-something college girl before the Big Day!

Final change; we swapped Densor with Aidan, with the aim to bombard the Lux full back line so that Jarret & Aidan could recover the breaking ball. Densor was also to drag his man out into the wings, opening up the half-forward line to allow our midfield more room to assist in attack.

Explaining what was needed from each of us, we focused on the game at hand.

The Final Countdown (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)

Team was as follows:

		Martin
Willie				Kevin
Conor				Adrian
	Eoghan		Declan
Pierce				Densor
Aidan				Jarret

Just like against Zurich, we literally exploded (!) into this game, getting scoring 1-1.

Our strategy for Densor was working brilliantly as it caused Pierce’s man to being dragged out also, in the hope of covering both men.

However, it wasn’t all plain sailing. Lux let a long ball in which Martin blocked down as it was heading over the crossbar. Then, from nowhere, #4 rushed in to put the ball in the back of the net. 1-1 to 1-0.

This was a moment of truth for Belgium; keep the head up or face defeat.

You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet (Bachman Turner Overdrive)

The next 2 puck-outs were sent sailing over the bar by the Belgian’s: the perfect reply to Lux’s goal.

Lux replied with1 point but Belgium, surely displaying the largest display of artillery in Europe since the 1940’s, finished the 1^st half with a goal after barraging the Lux back line.

Belgium: 2-3, Lux: 1-1

2^nd half; Belgium opened quickly with 1 point but then we entered a War of Attrition.

Lux kept to the strategy of the land ball into Sully. At 1 stage, he caught the pucked outed ball & was clear on goal. Keary had to react, pulling him down.

Penalty!…except the ref had stopped play after Jarret had been in an incident just before the puck-out.

The ref reset the game from that puck-out. Belgium had just snatched a lifeline: had that penalty counted, we would have a hard fight on our hands.

Those last few minutes were tough; we had women swearing at us, hurls flying & breaking & at one stage Adrian verbally assaulting a young lady for holding on to his hurl…was tense stuff.

But inspired by the Trojan men which each of the Belgians are, we never dropped the head. We put over 2 more points, before Lux’s #4 got a great point from play to bring the game to a close.

Belgium: 2-6, Lux: 1-2

We Are the Champions! (Queen)

It was a great victory for Belgium, considering we had minimal numbers & had trekked 650km to play. Also, with exception of Pierce, Kevin & Eoghan, our team were all over 30. I find that the most inspiring thing about these lads-I hope to still have even a tiny bit of what drives these men when I get to that stage; something like that says a lot about these lads.

During the day, there were amazing performances all round. No heads dropped; concentration was always kept, even when it was tense in the final.

I will mention 2 men for their performances on the day;

I think everyone can agree that Eoghan Kelly’s performance was epic. I remember at 1 stage he was in the defence, driving a ball out of there, only to catch the returning ball & driving it over for a point. It was a great display from the man.

Before we came down, there was a chance we wouldn’t have the men for the game. To step up to play a game 650 km away; many would have said no way

Densor stepped forward to help us out, even though he hasn’t played hurling in years. He ended up scoring 1-1 in the tournament; a great display from the man.

So next for the Belgians is The Hague in a few weeks.

We are currently European Hurling Champions for this year but with the epic men we have playing, maybe a Grand Slam is on the cards for Belgium Hurling?

Slán

Going For Three In A Row

June 13th marks the fifth annual Belgium GAA hurling and camogie tournament. This year, for the first time, the action will be taking place at the provinciedomein in Kessel-Lo, just outside Leuven.

Camogie action will take place on the pitch just in front of the ‘Greone Lotus’ which is inside the park. Drivers should enter Holsbeeksesteenweg on your GPS and look for car park 3.

For those of you looking for the hurling action enter the same address and be prepared to go for a short walk. Enter the park and head for the changing rooms. From there walk away from the car park alongside a pitch until you get to a pond with pedalos. Turn right here and follow the water until you see a sign for the ‘rolschaatspiste’ which surrounds the pitch.

Here is a pdf of the park. The camogie will be at location 5 next to the 11 of the restaurant and the hurling at location 5 just next to the 10.

Action is expected to kick off at 10:30 on Saturday morning and the final should go somewhere around 5:00pm.

Belgium GAA hurlers are coming off wins at both the Paris and Luxembourg tournaments and look to make it three in a row. Contesting them will be the best from Zurich, Paris, Den Haag and Luxembourg. The ladies will have to be at their best as they face off against the powerful Paris and Luxembourg squads!

The Biggest Win of the Year

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.

Belgium light up Paris

The beginning of any season is full of surprises and unknowns. The up-and-coming players who is poised for a breakout season and how the other clubs survived the ebb and flow of players over the winter. Going into Paris for the first tournament of the year confidence was high coming off a dominant win in Zurich to end the previous season and having added a couple of very handy hurlers over the winter.

Paris, hosting their own tournament for the first time were a huge unknown and Den Haag, previous champions and long-time rivals could always be counted on to provide stiff competition. Despite last minute attempts at forming a joint  squad of current champions Luxembourg and Zurich neither team travelled and the tournament was set to go as a three team affair.

First up were Den Haag, a team that had had Belgium GAA’s number by various degrees over the years. It was immediately clear that several players key to their success over the years were missing and while the remainder played well they were no match for the dynamic duo of Phil Roche and Eoin Sheanon in the forwards – complemented nicely by Conor Aylward and Michael Hough who took their points at every opportunity. Not to mention a relentless defence that ensured no forward, if they actually got the ball, had the room or opportunity to do anything with it. The end result was a dominant victory for Belgium GAA.

Paris followed but again they couldn’t match the Belgium depth at all positions. Despite having a couple of very handy players Belgium GAA’s depth and skill meant those players could be marked out of the match while the remainder of the team moved forward relentlessly. From keeper Davy Barrett forward to the hooking and blocking of Phil R. on the full-forward line every Belgium GAA defended and attacked relentlessly.

The end result was a lopsided Belgium win over a Paris team that consistently played French players throughout the day thereby gaining a few additional points in the championship and introducing new players to the fastest sport played on grass.

The final was a repeat of Paris / Belgium and the end result was the same – a dominant victory for Belgium and the first title of the 2009 season.

Next week sees the second round of the championship in Luxembourg where the defending champions remain an unknown quantity. Paris and Zurich will join to field what should be an impressive squad and Den Haag will return with a vengeance as their pride won’t allow another dusultory performance.

All this is well known to trainer/defender/forward/keeper/gaffer Martin Crowley whose exhortations and curses at training will ensure that the best prepared squad possible will head down to Lux looking for the second trophy of the year and third in a row including last year.

Spring is Sprung!

Good God is this really Brussels? The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it’s a lovely warm day…did I mention the sun is shining? Well, it’s true and it must mean that gods are smiling down upon Belgium GAA as we begin a new year of training and questing for glory.

Now that the clocks have gone back an hour there’s enough daylight for midweek training and we can get serious in our pursuit of the European Championship.

Nothing is more important than good preparation so we’ve developed the most flexible and thorough training regime in the history of Belgium GAA.

Below is a rough guide for when training sessions will occur. For exact dates please check out our google calendar.

Monday training sessions (18:45 Parc Cinquantenaire – perhaps later as the evenings get longer) will be a joint session with footballers and hurlers focusing on physical fitness and skills.

Wednesday evenings (same time- same place) will be exclusively for hurling and focus on skills and techniques exclusive to the glorious game.

Saturday will be another joint session with the footballers from 12:00-14:00 in Parc Cinquantenaire.

There is an additional football training on Thursday evenings. Dual players who can only make Wednesday or Thursday will be asked to focus on whichever sport is being played that weekend.

See you at training!

Up An Craobh Rua!

2009 Starts Strong for Belgium Hurlers

This Saturday, Feb 28th saw Na Fianna GAA, lately of Dublin, travel to Brussels to take on Belgium GAA in parc cinquantenaire. Belgium staked themselves to an early lead 0-3 to 0-1 before the game was halted as Na Fianna forward Declan Power and the referee required medical attentionfor reasons not related to the match.

After a delay of forty minutes and two ambulances play resumed and Belgium GAA continued to pressure the Na Fianna defence. The first half ended 2-5 to 0-7 for Belgium with Eoin Sheanon making a number of points and with able contributions, when given the opportunity, from his fellow forwards Maurits, Mike H., and Conor A.

The seond half featured the fleet-footed Phil R. out of goals and into midfield and the lead-footed Adrian from midfield into goals where the clean sheet was maintained throughout the rest of the match. Phil C. exhibited his customary selfless and determined play after shaking off a little intitial rust and Belgium’s play continued to sail despite the loss of Eoghan K. and Dave B. for the second half due to other commitments.

There can be no doubt that the Na Fianna boys were feeling the effects of the previous night’s excesses and while it was good to get a victory to open the season there can be no doubt that much work remains if Belgium GAA is to finally win the European Championship.