WJUC Day 4

Today was an emotionally draining one. We came agonisingly close to beating Great Britain, and not their U17 team, their U20s this time. There was a focus and determination about the girls this morning which was great to see because it was exactly what we spoke about at our team meeting last night. In a week like this there isn’t time to dwell on results and the girls went into the GB game as if it was game 1 on Monday. 
We traded to 2-2, Leanne assisting to Estelle and Caroline to Doireann. Then GB got a break, scoring two in a row to go 4-2 up. But our girls showed incredible fight to go on a run of their own, scoring three in a row to lead at half time 5-4; Leanne to Mags, Estelle to Niamh and Caitlin to JD. 

The girls were understandably excited at half time but we were anxious to keep them focused and remind them that there was nothing won yet. Having said that, things were looking very good. The girls were making good yards, deep threats were coming off and they were protecting our end zone well. They were running their legs off on defence and momentum seemed to have swung our way. 

GB levelled matters after the interval. But we retook the lead when Caitlin found Estelle. Sadly that’s where it ended for us. GB went on to score three in a row to see out the game 8-6. Its difficult to pin point what cost us. Fatigue certainly played a part, but so too did our inexperience when it comes to being in a winning position and seeing out games. GB, to their credit, didn’t panic and made life difficult for our handlers with a strong zone defence. At times we got a little trapped and were forced to make a lot of throws without gaining a huge amount of ground, perhaps in the end that’s what cost us. 

Leanne O'Neill (MVP), Caitlin Looney (MSP), Estelle Murchan (A-Game)

There was an empty feeling of an opportunity missed after the game. To come so close to a result which would have been so special, only to miss out was tough to take. While at times I feel like a broken record speaking about how far the team have come and how good they looked, I’m only doing so because I’m so convinced it’s true. They put so much into that game and played so well and most impressively, they played so smart! There aren’t too many Irish ultimate teams who can say they finished within two points of GB. The performance and even the score line is something to be proud of, but these girls are their own worst critics and they won’t be happy until they get a win. 

In our second game we played Japan at 12.30. Unfortunately it was our worst result and performance of the tournament so far. Having put so much into the GB game we simply had nothing left in the tank by the time Japan came around. What was more worrying was the onset of a sudden injury crisis which saw us lose four very important players. Caroline, Leanne and Lesley had to call it a day after the first two points while JD had been ruled out from the warm up. Losing four players like that was a huge blow and one from which we couldn’t recover. The 15 girls who were left fought to the bitter end but it was always going to be tough without the injured contingent. When you add the fact that we were just after a heart breaking defeat to GB, I think the Japan game is best off simply being consigned to history. 

Caitlin Looney (MVP), Aoife Blake (MSP), Laoise Murphy (A-Game)

The most disappointing thing is that a big crowd chose to turn out to watch us play Japan. I hope that those who were there realise that the performance they saw was not a fair representation of this team and the efforts they’ve put in this week. Despite our struggles we still managed to get on the score board; Leanne assisting to Estelle early on. Unfortunately that was the end of it as the Japanese went on to secure a comfortable 15-1 victory. I hope the spectators will stick with us and come out to support us tomorrow because I know the girls are determined to end their week on a high. We all promised ourselves last night that we’d treat today and tomorrow as two separate tournaments. Tomorrow is the last chance saloon and these are a proud bunch. I know they’ll fight to the bitter end to get the win they deserve. 

As for tomorrow, we’re still unsure about who we’re playing and at what time. The weather has led to a huge scheduling headache for the TDs, so we’re still awaiting an updated schedule. Going by the old schedule we’re due to play Israel and whoever came bottom of the Australia, France, Finland group. Results from which have not yet been posted online. We’ll update our facebook page with news as soon as we get it.