Amsterdam Football & Den Haag Hurling Tournament
It’s been a busy few months in the Netherlands GAA scene, with a mixture of triumphs and narrow defeats for Den Haag.
Amstelveen rugby Club was the venue for the Amsterdam round of the Benelux region European Gaelic football competition on April 26th.
Den Haag kicked off their participation with a comprehensive 2-01 to-03 victory over Amsterdam. Den Haag started slowly, but pulled away thanks in part to a fantastic goal from Antrim native Sean Simpson, who kicked from the ground 35 metres out to the top corner of the net, despite carrying a shoulder injury.
They followed this up with a draw against Luxembourg, 0-02 apiece. The scoreline tells the story of a very tight, competitive affair.
Next up was Belgium, with the game seeing a sluggish start from Den Haag. With the final whistle approaching they found themselves three points down. A lifeline was thrown in the shape of a free-kick 14 metres out. Up stepped team coach Declan Bonner to blast the ball to the net past six Belgian defenders, earning his team a draw with the last kick of the game.
This saw Den Haag progress to the final of the competition where they renewed their rivalry with reigning European champions Luxembourg. A highly-charged, competitive game saw some outstanding fielding and a superb goal by Roscommon man Jarlath McDonald. Rory Campion, from Mayo, also registered a fantastic goal, soloing from 40 metres, and side-stepping several Luxembourg backs before coolly slotting the ball to the bottom corner. This sealed the victory for Den Haag. The celebrations got underway and lasted late into the Amsterdam night.
Other players of note in securing the tournament win were Sean Cornelius, a Den Haag native, who contributed two fine points against Belgium, and John Forde( Galway) and Paul Gavin, (Roscommon) who proved solid all day in the back line.
Fortunes have been mixed for the Den Haag hurling team of late. Despite some fine performances, they were very unlucky to lose by a single point to the hosts in the Luxembourg hurling tournament. May 17th saw Den Haag’s home tournament, where the 2007 European Hurling Champions opened their account with an emphatic 3-07 to 0-05 win over Belgium. Next, Den Haag suffered a 4-07 to 2-01 defeat to Luxembourg, before recovering to clinch a 1-08 to 1-03 victory over Paris, enough to reach the final. In a hard-fought game, Den Haag fell to a defeat to Luxembourg again, the final score 2-08 to 0-07.
The Holland Ladies Gaelic football team has been busy gearing up for their first tournament of the year in Luxembourg on May 31st. This year’s side has been boosted by the arrival of new recruits from the Netherlands, Australia and Slovenia, as well as Ireland.
