Madrid Harps gets a "doblete"
May 03, 2011www.madridgaa.com
Madrid, April 18th, by Itziar Alberdi
The second round of the 2011 Iberian Gaelic football championship was held this Saturday, the 9th of April, in Spain's buzzing capital, Madrid. For the first time in the Iberian league, Madrid had two teams in both the ladies and the men competition, the Madrid Harps and the Madrid O'Donnells. The club spent days preparing for the tournament, which had a total of 11 teams. Barcelona, Valencia and Seville brought men and ladies squads, while the newly formed Galician team, Fillios de Breogán came along with a men squad and the promise of a ladies team in tournaments to come. Pamplona couldn't make it due to a streak of bad luck and injuries, but they will be coming back stronger than ever for the next round!
The best example yet of the increasing popularity of Gaelic football was the Madrid team, who had so many players that a second team was created for both the ladies and the men. The two referees of the tournament were Thomas McGrath and Matthew Morrisl, who was participating in his first match in the European GAA League.
Ladies and men were split in two venues for the first part of the day, with the ladies making their way to the "Polideportivo de la Luz" in Tres Cantos, while the men headed to the rugby pitch in the Universidad Autónoma. Teams did their best to make it in on time, but the Spanish spirit was ever present and both competitions started late. The Madrid scorching sun was out for keeps, so most people lathered in sunblock from the first minute. A few Spanish players thought they were better than that, and as a result, a few bright red faces were seen at the end of the day.
The Ambassador, Justin Harman, performed the throw-in for the men s tournament and made his way to the ladies pitch afterwards for the mandatory pictures. Publicity was better than ever with both As and Marca being present, as well as Telemadrid filming the girls for the "En Acción" program.
In the ladies competition, the Madrid O'Donnells started off the tournament scoring their first win ever against the Barcelona girls, with a final result of 1-5 to Barcelona's 3 points. Barcelona had arrived with only 7 girls, and the heat hit them worse as they had no subs to take a break.
The day continued with the Seville girls debut in the Iberian league. They put up a fair fight against Valencia, but the improvement the latter have shown this year proved to be too much, with a final score of 2-10 against Seville's 3 points. The Madrid Harps jumped in the pitch against Barcelona afterwards, and the result showed the Harpettes are working hard to keep the Champion"ette" title, with a final score of 1-11 to 0-5.
The two newest teams to the league, Seville and Madrid O'Donnells played then, with a final score of 2-7 vs 0-3 for the Madrid ladies. The Harps were up against Valencia then, and after a shaky start, the Harps took the lead to a final score of 5-6 to Valencia's 5 points. Seville was up against Barcelona then, and the Catalans experience came through to a final score of 3-6 to Seville's 3 points. The derby was up next, with the Harps facing the O'Donnells in a fierce fight that had the Harps coming up on top after a fair fight, with a final score of 2-5 to 1-3.
By then we had overstayed out welcome in Tres Cantos and the move to the men's pitch was made. The ladies arrived to the men's venue just as their league was completed. As they arrived, the ladies took the pitch for the Valencia - Barcelona match. The Gaelettes were being hit by the scorching sun and the no-subs situation showed with the win going to the girls in orange to a final score of 2-9 to Barcelona's lonely point.
The men's first semi-final pitted Seville againts the Harps in a do or die match. In one of the tightest games of the day, the Harps managed to pull through to a final score of 1-4 to 1-3. Seville really showed they are up and running next to Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia!
A ladies game was on next, with the Harps playing the new Seville team. The local team pulled through to a no-lose day with a final score of 5-6 vs 0-2.
The men's second semi-final had Barcelona fighting to keep their lead in the league against Valencia. Barcelona was in to win and didn't give breathing space to Valencia, with a final score of 1-12 to 0-4 for the Gaels.
The ladies final league game was played then, with the O'Donnells fighting with Valencia for a space in the final. In the most exciting ladies game of the day so far, the Valencia girls played a great game to a team that was showing signs of tiredness and the final score kept the Madrid girls from having the first ever Madrid-Madrid final, with the Valencia girls scoring 1-5 against Madrid's 1-3.
The men's 5th-6th place match was on next, with both the A Corunna lads and the Madrid O'Donnells playing for their first win ever. Luck was with the local team, and the O'Donnells won the game to a final score of 1-4 to the Fillios 3 points.
The ladies final was on next, with the Madrid Harps playing against the Valencia girls. The Valencia girls played a mean game, but the Harps superiority for the day was on to stay, and the tournament went local, to a final score of 3-12 to 0-5.
The men's 3rd-4th place match was on next, and the Valencia guys jumped in for the kill, with a final score of 1-6 to no points from Seville.
And, an hour behind schedule, the men's final was finally on. Madrid played a mean game, managing a key block of a goal in the second part, courtesy of our very own president, Javier Vicente and his head. Final score validated the effort Madrid has been putting in during training sessions, with the tournament going to the local team for a score of 1-6 to 1-1.
As the day came to an end, all players went home to freshen up, as no time was left for any resting to be done. Everyone made it down to the dinner eventually, and surprisingly, more shades of red and pink were seen in the Spanish players than the cautious Irish ones. The trophies for the winning teams were accepted by Cian O' Raghallaigh and Nuria Atencia for the Harps. Player of the tournament was given to Brendan of the Gaels and Alison O'Neil of the Harps. After all the food was eaten, and all the drink was had, teams headed to the bar for a long night of dancing, talking, drinking and general merryment.
Itziar Alberdi
Complete results below:
Men
Sevilla 1-4 Madrid O´Donnells 0-5
Valencia 2-8 A Coruña 1-0
Sevilla 1-3 Barcelona 0-9
Valencia 0-3 Madrid Harps 0-3
Madrid O´Donnells 0-5 Barcelona 2-6
A Coruña 1-0 Madrid Harps 2-11
Semi-Final
Madrid Harps 1-4 Sevilla 1-3
Barcelona 1-12 Valencia 0-4
5th/6th
Madrid O´Donnells 1-4 A Coruña 0-3
3rd/4th
Valencia 1-6 Sevilla 0-0
Final
Madrid Harps 1-6 Barcelona 1-1Barcelona 1-7 Pamplona 0-3
Ladies
Madrid O Donnels 1-5 Barcelona 0-3
Seville 0-3 Valencia 2-10
Madrid O Donnels 2-7 Seville 0-3
Madrid Harps 5-6 Valencia 0-5
Seville 0-3 Barcelona 3-6
Madrid Harps 1-11 Barcelona 0-5
Valencia 2-9 Barcelona 0-1
Madrid Harps 5-6 Seville 0-2
Madrid Harps 2-5 Madrid O Donnels 1-3
Madrid O Donnels 1-5 Valencia 1-7
Final
Valencia 0-5 Madrid Harps 3-12 Tweet
