Gaelic Football Tournament in Marbella March 2010

I have been meaning to add this to the site ofr ages now.  A great write up about the days events by Dermot Corrigan in Seville.

Better late than never I guess!

Marbella GAA tournament report – Dermot Corrigan of Eire Og Seville

Gaelic Football is a form of football played mainly in Ireland where, although a strictly amateur pursuit, it is the most popular sport in terms of both playing numbers and attendance levels.

Played correctly, it is a fast, hard game requiring a combination of skills incorporating kicking, catching, running, tackling and hand-passing. Teams of 11 or 15 players attack H-shaped goal posts, with one point awarded for kicking or punching the ball between the posts and over the crossbar and a goal worth three points awarded for getting the ball under the bar and into the net.

Last Saturday saw local team Marbella Costa Gaels hosting the second round of the 2010 Iberian Gaelic Football Championships.

An exciting day’s action featured 14 games played in the picture-postcard setting of Ojen village, culminating in Sant Vincent Valencia securing the men’s title and Madrid Harps emerging victorious in the ladies’ final.

Six teams took part in the men’s competition, including Barcelona Gaels, Naomh Fermin Pamplona and – making their first ever championship appearance – Eire Og Seville. The action began with a plucky Pamplona team featuring a majority of Spanish players edging a tight encounter with Marbella 0-5 to 0-4, before Valencia outclassed an under-strength Seville team by 4-4 to 0-2. Barcelona then beat Pamplona by 0-6 to 1-0, before Seville showed more of their mettle in a tight game against Madrid that finished 1-5 apiece.

Barcelona secured their place in the semi-finals by ending Marbella’s interest in a close fought encounter which finished 1-10 to 3-0 to the Catalans. Valencia then turned on the style to beat Madrid 3-8 to 1-3, a result which nevertheless allowed the Madrilenos to progress to the semis on points difference.

Meanwhile in the ladies, three very evenly-matched teams were battling it out to reach the final. After Barcelona had beaten Madrid by 2-5 to 2-3, Valencia edged out Barcelona by 0-1 to 0-5 and finally Madrid dispatched Valencia by 3-8 to 3-3. After some deliberation the superior points difference of Madrid and Valencia saw them advance. The ladies final featured some excellent scores from both teams, before a late goal saw Madrid take the title on a scoreline of 1-10 to 3-3.

The first men’s semi-final saw a fired up Madrid team overcome a shellshocked Barcelona by 2-10 to 0-2. In the other semi Valencia withheld a spirited Pamplona effort to win by a single point, 0-7 to 0-6. Madrid continued their strong momentum by taking an early lead in the final, before Valencia powered into the game with two goals before half time. The second half saw the Valencianos make their superior teamwork and fitness pay in a comprehensive 5-6 to 0-5 victory.

At the awards ceremony later that evening in the Claddagh Irish Bar in Marbella, referee Tony Bass awarded the Most Valuable Players awards to the richly deserving Adam Whyte of Valencia and outstanding Y of Madrid. A strong feature of the tournament was the excellent contribution from players of all nationalities, with the Spanish contingent playing key roles in both winning teams.

Any Costa del Sol based players (male or female, Irish, Spanish or any other nationality) interested in getting involved are welcome to email info@costagaels.com or contact Gordon on 664 246 054. The Costa Gaels have weekly training sessions with all newcomers welcome. For anyone based in Seville, Eire Og Seville are always looking to recruit new players and can be contacted by emailing secretary.seville.europe@gaa.ie

Photo’s by Owen Farrell – www.doubleexposurephotography.ie

GAA Football Tournament Spain in Marbella, Ojen Village

This Saturday the 13th of March (unlucky for some so they say!) is the day when teams from all over Spain including Madrid, Barcelona, Pamplona, Valencia and Seville converge on the Village of Ojen to play the Marbella leg of the Iberian GAA League.

The day will be packed with Football including Mens and Ladies games and with ten teams in total that’s going to make for one very strict schedule as we aim to play the final and play-offs for the 5 o’ clock finish time. The games and time schedule is listed below in so far as the first rounds anyway and the end of the day:

9:00 Marbella V Pamplona Valencia
9:30 Valencia V Seville Marbella
10:00 Madrid V Barcelona Valencia
10:30 Pamplona V Barcelona Seville
11:00 Seville V Madrid Pamplona
11:30 Barcelona V Valencia Madrid
12:00 Marbella V Barcelona Madrid
12:30 Valencia V Madrid Barcelona
13:00 Lunch
13:30 Madrid V Valencia Barcelona
14:00 Semi1 A1 v B2 B3
14:30 Semi1 A2 v B1 A3
15:00 Ladies Final 3rd Place Team
15:30 Mens Final Loser Semi 1
16:00 5th/6th Playoff Loser Semi 2
16:30 3rd/4th Playoff 6th Place team
19:00 Dinner, Taberna, Marbella
20.30 Prizes, Raffle and general merriment , Claddagh Pub, Marbella

After all the games are sorted, some of you might need to have a wee drink and some grub. (I say some of you…you know I mean all of you!)  The food is being arranged at Matambre, just around the corner from the Claddagh Bar and past Beckitts restaurant where we have quite a tasty of selection of Tapas and Munchies.  In case you get lost, heres the bars and places we recommend when your in town.

Spanish Championship GAA Valencia February 2010

An update from the the results for the GAA Valencia tournament held on Saturday 27th of March.

Tournament begins

The Throw-in for the 2010 Men’s Iberian Championship took place today in Valencia. It was at a new venue this year, Puçol, in the heart of the orange fields just north of the city and 4 teams took part; the hosts Sant Vicent, Naomh Fermin from Pamplona/Iruña, Barcelona Gaels and Madrid Harps.

Valencia began well, squeezing past a tough Madrid side, before meeting their match in the next game against Barcelona. Madrid recovered well from that early defeat to beat both Pamplona and Barcelona. So they then qualified for the final along with Barcelona, with Valencia narrowly eliminated on points-difference.

The Matches Continue

Despite losing to Madrid a little earlier in the group game, Barcelona rallied strongly in the final and took an early lead thanks to some clinical free-taking. In what was the best game of the day, Madrid narrowed the lead to less than a score with only a couple of minutes to go, but couldn’t quite get there, and so Barcelona have picked up where they left off last year, winning the first round and going into an early lead in the Championship.

A special mention of our referee for the day, Patrick Stassen from Maastricht who made his tournament debut. He left the game flow whenever possible and the day was all the more enjoyable for that.

The championship now moves onto Marbella in 2 weeks, where today’s four teams will be joined by Costa Gaels (Marbella) and Seville. The Ladies Iberian Championship will also begin there, with Valencia, Barcelona Gaelettes and Madrid competing.

Today’s results in full:-

  • Madrid 0-6
    Valencia 1-4
  • Barcelona 3-13
    Pamplona 0-2
  • Valencia 0-3
    Barcelona 4-9
  • Madrid 4-11
    Pamplona 0-1
  • Valencia 11-7
    Pamplona 0-1
  • Madrid 2-8
    Barcelona 0-3

Valencia Tournament Final:

  • Madrid 1-08
    Barcelona 0-14
Translate »