A Day to Remember

The following paragraphs are the words of a very, very happy man.

Today the Irish Junior Women’s team announced themselves on the European stage. At times they played better than even I thought possible and throughout they showed a commitment and desire that made me proud to have coached them. Today we won our first game as a team, beating Poland on universe point, 9-8. While that result obviously has all the girls wired to the moon with excitement it isn’t the result that pleased me the most. That came in our first game of the day against the Czech Republic.

Ireland 9-12 Czech Republic

If I’m being honest, going into this game I thought it was an opportunity to warm ourselves up for what I knew was going to be a close game against Poland later in the day. I never expected us to have the experience to really threaten a team like the Czech’s. Well didn’t the girls teach me a lesson for underestimating them. They played the best ultimate I’ve ever seen any of them play. Every single one of them had a stormer. We put our zone defence on from the start and it worked a treat. The four girls at the front of our zone ran themselves into the ground for every single point, bullying some far more experienced Czech handlers into countless turnovers. The likes of Aisling McCarthy and Caitlin Looney were bossing the handlers as point marks in the cup while Caroline Sexton, Kate O’Regan and Anne Leahy were completely shutting down the dump.  We traded with them until half at 4-5 with all the points being scored up wind. Gemma Locke and Leanne O’Neill were coping superbly in the wind while Caroline found herself throwing a number of assists as Gemma , Elysha McCarthy and Caitlin Looney all got themselves on the score sheet.

By the time half time came around I realised that this was a game we could win. Our defence was working so well and we were finding the continuation in our offence, it was just a matter of whether or not we could convert our opportunities. In the second half the upwind points finally arrived and unfortunately they went the way of the Czech’s. We were still scoring points but when the second Czech upwind point went in it looked as though  it was slipping away from us. But our girls weren’t going to give up that easily. They fought back and scored an upwind of their own; Caroline Sexton squeezing a disc to the ever willing runner Caitlin Looney.

Caroline assisted three more points in the second half, twice to Niamh Carey, once to Jennifer Cassidy. Unfortunately we just couldn’t claw it back and with the score at 11-9 the Czech’s scored their downwind point to win the game. It was a simply stunning performance, the girls gave it absolutely everything. To finish a game within one upwind point of the Czech Republic was simply remarkable and made all the sweeter by the fashion in which they did it. We gave them a plan and they implemented it. That, as a coach was by far the most satisfying aspect of the day.

One who has gone unmentioned until now certainly deserves to be highlighted at this point. Laura O’Sullivan absolutely flourished in this game, proving to me that she’s more than capable as a handler. She also took on board what was said to her about being more aggressive on defence and as a result she turned from her usual timid self into a D machine willing to throw herself around the place. Thus she was deservedly voted the A-Game winner. While Caitlin Looney managed to hang onto the MVP leprechaun hat for the second consecutive game.

Ireland 9-8 Poland

New game, same zone defence, different result. I was so pleased with the Czech performance, I was really hoping the girls would get the result they deserve against Poland. What a nail biter we were made to endure! We started well, going 3-1 up early on as Gemma Locke imposed herself in the opening stages. A goal and an assist from her got us off on the right track before Poland scored two on the trot to bring it back to 3-3 and went on to take half time 5-4.

We got ourselves going again in the second half with scores from Caitlin Looney and Jennifer Cassidy. Caroline Sexton and Kate O’Regan got some really important D blocks for us but we still found ourselves behind on the scoreboard. A really important point from Laura O’Sullivan got us within touching distance again, but the Poles responded scoring shortly after the time buzzer went meaning it was 7-8, game to 9 with Poland only needing one more point to win. The previous Polish point had been a quick one so we decided to stick with the same handler heavy line for a do or die point. It was made perfectly clear to the girls just how important the point was and they responded accordingly. We had to play a bit of huck and D to ensure we didn’t turn over near our end zone and give the Poles an opportunity to score a winner and it worked in our favour. We pushed them back, our zone forced the turnover and Caroline Sexton found Caitlin Looney unmarked in the endzone to make it a level game, 8-8, universe point (next point wins).

We brought on a pair of fresh cutters to give us the legs we needed for the most important point of our week. Again our zone got us the turn and we showed some great patience, resetting amongst our handlers to retain the disc and work it up the field. Then came a huck from Caitlin Looney (a bit of a collector’s item it has to be said), and Mairead O’Meara rose highest to take it down and secure Ireland’s first ever Junior Women’s victory.

A Game: Kate O'Regan & Eimear O'Reilly

Most Valuable Player: Mairead O'Meara

Queue mass celebration as the Open team and all the subs stormed the pitch. It was just a terrific moment for Irish ultimate, Irish women’s ultimate. A catch which in my view guaranteed the involvement of 18 female player’s in Irish ultimate for years to come. It was probably my proudest moment since I’ve been involved with the sport, my only regret is that two people weren’t there to share it with us. But because of the absence of Meabh Boylan and Mary McKee I’ve decided to attach a video of the winning point to this post, for them and everyone else to enjoy.

A game against a very strong German team in the morning. Time for bed.

Hobs

Mairead O'Meara - MVP v Poland

Kate O'Regan & Eimear O'Reilly - A Game v Poland