June 2015 will be remembered for being the most successful month in club history to date after Vienna Gaels brought a number of trophies back to the Austrian capital from events in Italy and Slovakia.
First up was a long trip south to Padova for the final round of the South/East Europe Gaelic Football Championship and both teams had a strong panel for the tournament on 13 June.
The ladies competed in an expanded nine-team ‘combined-regional’, with the addition of Benelux sides, and suffered early defeats to European champions Belgium and regional champions Munich, meaning that a chance of progressing to the semi-finals from the clearly tougher group were dashed.
However, wins over Rovigo, Holland and Zurich led to an impressive triumph in the shield competition. Anita Deignan and Alice Hamilton were together to lift the trophy that signals the end to the teams best finish in regional competition, after finishing level on points with second placed Warsaw from 11 teams overall (a massive improvement on fifth place from six in 2014).
As for the men, only a catastrophe would deny them regional glory for the second time in three years and they were fully focused on finishing the championship in style. They went through the competition unbeaten and two early goals in the final against Berlin showed just how dominant they were in Italy. A special mention goes to Eraldo Peti, who picked up an MVP award for the event as well.
Final standings of the South/East European Championship.
Fast-forward two weeks and the Gaels were on the road again to the Slovak Shamrocks 2nd Invitational Tournament on the outskirts of Bratislava.
A seven-team tournament beckoned for the two men’s squads (Vipers and Vikings), while the ladies had three matches against the Shamrocks to test a powerful 12-player panel.
Vienna’s ladies showed their most composed performances of the year in their three encounters, winning each of them comfortably and giving everyone ample time on the pitch in various positions. Anita picked up another trophy and Anne Murray was voted the day’s MVP.
Both Vipers and Vikings worked their way through the group stage and semi-finals of the men’s competition, defeating the likes of Kuwait Harps and Aughlisnafin GAC from County Down en route to a final between the clubmates.
A fierce affair developed and neither side was giving up and inch. Vipers held the lead at the break, but that didn’t last for long as the Vikings stormed back into contention in the second half. In the end it took a saved penalty and last-minute goal to hand victory and the bragging rights to Simon Deignan’s Vipers.
It’s been a hugely successful month for the Gaels, giving everyone involved plenty to build upon as they work towards the second half of the year and in particular the season-ending Pan-European Championship in Vienna in October.
Regional tournament winning side in Padova.