2010 Iberian Gaelic Football Championship
June 29, 20102010 IBERIAN CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
Harps Make It a Double Championship in Catalan Capital
By Lorcan Kennedy, JJ Keaney and Aisling Daly
We may be in the throes of the World Cup; Spain, England and France may all be struggling toprogress and Ireland may not even be there but in the Iberian GAA world there was only onetournament of any importance this June - the final and deciding round of the 2010 Iberian Championship.
After Madrid's victory in the men's round in Pamplona two weeks previously the stage was setfor a showdown in Barcelona on Saturday June 19th. With Sant Vicent of Valencia, BarcelonaGaels and Madrid Harps all within touching distance of each other there were no complicatedpermutations to work out. Put simply, it was a case of the winner takes all. Not so for theladies; with three wins and a second place spot in the previous four tournaments, they hadalready put their hands on the Cup. Their presence alone in Barcelona would be sufficient toclinch the Championship and they duly obliged.
And so it was that on Friday the Harps and Harpettes boarded their chartered bus for the longhaul to the shores of the Mediterranean and a date with some old rivals. Focus andconcentration was the order of the day for the eight hour trek across Spains North East.
MEN
As dawn broke on the verge of the summer solstice the Harps were still resting, but everyonewas fed and watered by the time the bus arrived at 09:30. The atmosphere was eerily muted asindividuals focused on the task ahead. In addition to the three Iberian teams, and in theabsence of Pamplona, 23 hardy souls made the trip down from Toulouse and Lyon, althoughthe results against the French teams were not to be taken into account for the business-end ofthe dayA first round meeting with Valencia was sufficient to concentrate the energies with victory beingabsolutely crucial. With the sun soaring towards its zenith the Harps and Valencia took to thefield. Madrid had reclaimed their bragging rights after victory in Pamplona but this was thebiggest game of the year to date with the loser likely to face elimination. After some earlyexchanges of parity the Madrid boys started to get the upper hand with a goal midway throughthe half. Valencia had plenty of pace up front and converted some fine points to keepthemselves well in this tie. As the second half progressed the Harps were able to call on theirpanel of players to provide fresh impetus up front when needed and a second goal duly arrived.Valencia legs began to tire, preventing a late comeback. Madrid won with a four point marginover their opponents.
Final Score: Madrid Harps 2-7; Sant Vicent Valencia 0-9
Barcelona-Valencia was next on the cards, with Valencia needing a win to have any chance ofreaching the final on aggregate score difference. Barcelona's forwards ran riot however, andthe game was practically over as a contest in the first half, although the men from Valenciakept plugging away to the end, to no avail. Final Score: Barcelona Gaels 3-7; Sant Vicent Valencia 1-2 Given these results the group game between title-holders Barcelona & Madrid was a bit of adamp squib, both teams choosing to make sure all squad-members got a run-out, testingtactics and looking for a chink in their opponent's armour, with a draw at four points as the final result.
Final Score: Barcelona Gaels 0-4; Madrid Harps 0-4
So it was back to the shade for both teams and an opportunity to relax and do some fine tuningfor the final whilst our guests from France (Toulouse and Lyon) went head to head and gotanother opportunity to show their skills. As the main even approached, a light shower blewacross cooling things down and making conditions ideal for the final.The final was to be a different matter than their previous clash, with both teams almost at fullstrength, although Madrid had lost their main free-taker to a hamstring injury during an earliermatch. Barcelona got off to a flying start, racking up a 3 point lead in the first minutes, as someerratic goal-kicks and loose defending had Madrid's nerves on edge.At this point a lightning break down the pitch led to an excellently taken goal from the Madridlads, and morale was quickly restored. Towards the end of the half an excellent save from theMadrid goalkeeper, combined with several missed chances for the Gaels, meant that at half-time the teams were still level. The 2010 Championship would go right down to the wire -everything was to be decided in 15 minutes of football...
On the resumption it was Madrid who took the bull by the horns. In midfield every breaking ballwas hotly contested whilst the forwards scurried into the spaces, garnering possession andtacking on the points. At the back, any Barcelona attacks were competently dealt with and theball recycled back down the field. A goal midway through the half put five points between theteams and things were looking ominous for the Catalans. But as expected they did rally andwere denied a goal by the crossbar and some heroic defending. The Harps were to have moregoal opportunities of their own but couldn't convert. On the final whistle, the Harps held a sixpoint difference and the 2010 Iberian Championship Title was on its way back to Madrid after ayear in Catalan hands.
Final Score: Madrid Harps 2-4; Barcelona Gaels 0-4
With this result, Madrid Harps proclaimed themselves worthy winners of the 2010 Men'sChampionship, with 2 tournament wins, 2 runner-up spots - and 3 rd place in their hometournament! One of the most curious aspects of this year's competition is that no teammanaged to win their home event - perhaps the pressures of organising these increasinglycomplicated competitions distracts teams from the job in hand on the day on the pitch?The competitive nature of the Regional Championship is clearly shown by the fact that no teamhas ever managed to retain the title - Madrid now move to the top of the honours list with 3titles (2010, 2008, 2005), to Barcelona's 2 (2009, 2007) and Marbella's 1 (2006).
LADIES
A fantastic day's football was also had in the Ladies Tournament, with Barcelona, Valencia andMadrid chasing the silverware on offer to the winners of the tournament. Madrid's Harpetteshad already assured the overall Championship title with a victory in the previous round in Pamplona. Madrid, despite losing key players to injuries & holidays, managed to field 6 players,while Valencia showed up with a good group of 11 or 12 ladies and Barcelona provided animpressive team of 18 or 19 girls. Also among the girls were two ladies from the Toulouseteam, Jill and Sarah, who came along ready and excited to get at the ball.And so the first match kicked off between the Madrid Harpettes and the Barcelona Gaelettes.Due to the new regulations requiring ladies to play 9 a side, the Harpettes were happy to addthe Toulouse girls to their squad, as well as two other Barcelona girls. This match was a toughone for the Madrid ladies, who were feeling the effects of the never-ending battering force of the Barcelona girls, whose strength failed to dwindle due to a large number of substitutions.However the Harpettes kept up the hard fight and in the end only lost the match by 2 points. Final score Barcelona Gales 1-06; Madrid Harps 1-04 After a quick break it was the Barcelona ladies against the Valencia San Vincent ladies. The Valencia girls gave a good effort in this match and fought hard until the end, but the Gaelettesstamped out a strong leading victory of 8 points.
Final score Barcelona Gales 1-13; Valencia St. Vincents 1-05
Up next it was the Madrid Harpettes against the Valencia ladies. The game started out evenenough, but in the second half the Harpettes' forward line performed some heavy scoring andwon the match. Final score Madrid Harps 2-08; Valencia St. Vincents 0-04 Finally it was on to the tournament final between the Madrid ladies and the BarcelonaGaelettes. After gaining a few additions from the Valencia team, especially a rather impressivegoalie, the Madrid ladies were suddenly alight with the renewed hope that they could win thistournament. Boots dug into the ground, legs flexed, and teeth ground. This match was thehardest fought of the tournament for the ladies, who were neck and neck up until the last fewminutes. Some impressive ball work was shown by Toulouse's Jill and Sarah, as well as Isabel Laguna on the Madrid side, and Dee Curran on Barcelona's side, who went on to win MVP ofthe tournament. A goal and some well-taken points in the last few minutes gave Barcelona aquick decisive victory by 4 points.
Final score Barcelona Gales 2-08; Madrid Harps 0-10
Festivities were heavy for both sides during the night, with the Gaelettes celebrating winningtheir home tournament and the Harpettes celebrating their reign as the Iberian LeagueChampions for the second year in a row.You will notice that few names have been mentioned in this report. This is because the footballplayed was truly a team effort right from the first tournament in Valencia to Marbella, Madrid,Pamplona and finally to Barcelona. A special thanks to all those boys and girls who donned theHarp's jersey and especially to those who donned a GAA jersey for the first time. Madrid Harpsare always looking for new members and EVERYONE is welcome.Finally, a special mention must be given to the other participating teams this year - Pamplona,newly-formed Seville, dark horses of the Madrid tournament the San Agustin ladies team, andthe reborn Marbella Costa Gaels - for the effort invested in organising tournaments andtravelling consistently.
Roll on Europe, and the 2011 Championship ☺Madrid Harps
Teams that travelled to Barcelona:Men: M.A. de la Barrera; S. Canive; A. Chambers; R. Cooney; M. Conroy; S. Donegan; D.Hennessy; J.J. Keaney; D. Kearney; D. Kelly; L. Kennedy; E. Lester; M. Manners; C. McCloy; G.Nuñez; P. OBrien; C. Rodríguez; J. San Blas; J. Vicente.Ladies: I. Alberdi, D. Alonso, M. Beltrán, A. Daly, I. Laguna, L. Lenaghan, P. Lenahan (injured) Tweet
