Day one over and I’m exhausted! I can only imagine how the players feel! We went into today knowing it was going to be incredibly tough. We were drawn in a group with reigning world champions, Colombia and European Championship Finalists, Germany. We played both today.
We started at 9am against Colombia in what were very windy conditions. Conditions which suited our zone defence down to the ground. After conceding the opening point, we scored with our first O point. The protagonists were familiar, Leanne O’Neill throwing to Caitlin Looney to get us off the mark for a second year in succession. Thankfully we weren’t made to wait nearly as long as we were last year.
The Colombian’s were good but they were frustrated by a combination of wind and our defence. We forced numerous turnovers which when playing down wind were punished by Leanne’s hucks.
When the team was picked all the way back in February we asked the girls to set some goals. My favourite one, which was suggested by Mags Carey was that we score a point without turning over, a notion which would previously have been inconceivable . Had you told me at the time that it would happen in our opening game, against the world champions, in a viscous wind, I’m sure I wouldn’t have believed you. But that’s exactly how it happened, as Estelle Murchan brought it to a score of 6-3.
As the weather improved in the second half, the Colombian offence began to run a bit smoother and we struggled to turn them over with the same consistency we had previously enjoyed. We missed two good opportunities to add to our score, before Mags showed great awareness to call a poach and punish a loose Colombian defence. Caitlin found her unmarked as she burst into the front corner of the endzone and we had our fourth point.
The Colombians saw out the game in style and without doubt deserved their victory. Their enthusiasm from the sideline was infectious and the girls really seemed to enjoy playing against them. We left the field with our heads held high. Final score Colombia 17 – 4 Ireland.
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Mags Carey (MSP), Kate O'Regan & Jess Daly (A-Game), Caitlin Looney (MVP)
Next up was a game against Germany. A team who beat us 17-0 this time last year. With many of the same players in their squad again this year we knew they would be strong. In truth the entire German ultimate scene, across the board, is several levels above what it is in Ireland, never mind the Junior Womens division which is in its infancy in this country still. The Germans were fast, athletic and each player had a full range of throws. They picked holes in our zone far easier than the Colombians did, something which we had expected from last year. That meant we resorted to man defence and while it led to an improvement, in truth we struggled to put adequate pressure on them. They are without doubt one of the teams in contention to win this tournament, but they didn’t get everything their own way. Again we got off to a good start and scored on our first O point, Caroline Sexton throwing the Jess Daly.
A bagel avoided, another goal achieved. While results may not look impressive to the untrained eye, today was overall very positive. We always knew it was going to be tough. We were going to have to scrap to the bitter end for every point against those two teams , we did and we scored five. The day allowed us to ease our way into the tournament and tweak our tactics against strong opposition before playing the teams closer to our level. Nobody would have been surprised if we lost both games 17-0 today and we didn’t allow that to happen.
It takes real character to keep your head up and fight for points when you’re being well beaten. This team have proved, not just today, but in every game that they’ve played in the build up to this tournament, that they have the character to threaten the score board right to the very end.
Caroline Sexton (MSP), Ciara Corrigan (A-Game), Caitlin Looney (MVP)
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