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Weather: Cloudy start but brightened up in the afternoon. Windy all day.

 

In attendance: The Hague, Paris, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Copenhagen.

 

Situation, team plus one sub, first tournament in the European Championship 2007.

 

After securing qualification for the European Championship 2007 The Hague set out on the first leg of the 2007 European Championship in order to hold onto the title which they had successfully won last year. Although missing a few key players The Hague were in good form and looking forward to the days football.

 

A late arrival by Paris and a talk from the Irish Ambassador to Denmark meant that The Hague was left waiting for 1 hour before their first match. However, the lads did not let the late start put them off and went onto to secure victory over the Paris. First-rate play by the backs and midfielders set Peader up well to place the ball over the bar on numerous occasions.

 

The second game was a great chance to for The Hague to show that they were capable of gaining their first win of the year over Luxembourg this year. Declan’s training schedule had clearly paid off and The Hague clearly had a higher level of fitness and skill which had hindered them in previous matches with the opposition. An excellent start was made to the game with The Hague taking an early lead. However, a few harsh challenges by players on both teams soon created an uneasy and edgy environment. Initially this fueled on the team but later cumulated in the sending off of Declan after harshly receiving two yellow cards which was a great blow to The Hague. Despite being a man down The Hague continued to play well but Luxembourg took full benefit of the situation and went onto to secure a narrow win. Mick Breslin, standing in for an absent Jan Willem, in goal continued to make some impressive saves throughout the match.

 

After lunch, The Hague took on Copenhagen - another team they had not yet played this year. Although this game did not count towards the European Championship it was still a competitive match. New start Garrick Fraser, from Scotland, scored his first match point this season. Hopefully this will be the first of many for the young Scot. Despite the best efforts by The Hague they did not manage to secure a win and the home team backed by their supporters went on to score a couple of impressive goals allowing them to win the match.

 

 

The fourth match of the day was against Amsterdam. Again, this did not count towards the European Championship but The Hague played well and took their second victory of the day and fifth win over Amsterdam this year.

 

Following a short break in play, The Hague had recomposed themselves and were confident that they would go out and play a victorious final with Luxembourg and not make the same mistakes which had cost them dearly in their earlier meeting with them that day. Sadly this was not the case and the quality of the game soon disintegrated resulting in the sending off of The Hagues Declan and Simon. With 2 men down the opposition took full advantage and took a comfortable victory in the one sided final.

 

Despite suffering another defeat against Luxembourg the strength and skill of The Hague can only improve further. Every player proved that their level of fitness had improved thanks to their own hard work and Declan’s training schedule. In addition, the team demonstrated that they were able to play well with a squad of 12 and also while missing several of their key players. With a full squad expected at future tournaments The Hague will be unbeatable.