Vienna Gaels had a big part to play last Saturday at the opening round of the regional European Gaelic football championship in Rubano, Italy.
Both men’s and ladies teams made it all the way to the deciding match, after two very different routes through the competition, before having to settle for second place behind German competition.
Vienna’s men began their campaign with a 09:00 hrs throw-in against local side Padova following the ideal preparation of a 150-minute sleep after a nine-hour bus journey.
Nevertheless, the Gaels cruised to a 7-point win and soon made it two wins from two after getting the better of Berlin.
The two hard-fought opening matches in poor weather conditions left Vienna with a bare minimum of 11 players in the group decider against Augsburg. Despite losing 2-4 to 1-5, the Gaels progressed to the semi-finals.
Over on the ladies pitch, the Gaelettes were tearing Group B apart with two comprehensive wins against Berlin/Prague (1-6 to 0-1) and Venetian Lionesses ‘B’ (3-4 to 0-1).
The goalkeeping/defensive line of Pircher sisters, Aisling and Ciara, and Isabelle Wolfsgruber continues to smother their opponents, while scoring was spread beautifully among the Vienna team as they booked a place in the final with a 3-5 to 1-4 win over Venetian Lionesses ‘A’.
Perennial regional champions Munich proved to be too good in the final, but this opening round is sure to spark a challenge for the title in the ladies team in 2016.
Prague/Bratislava stood between Vienna’s men and a place in the final. Despite controlling the game from the start, the Gaels only managed to put one point on the board in the first half.
However, the game was put beyond doubt as four early second-half points from John Baxter and Chris O’Reilly settled the team, while John Sullivan controlled the contested balls in midfield as Vienna ran out 0-6 to 0-0 winners.
Augsburg were the opponents once again in the final and it was to be a double German victory. The absence of full back Justin Walker due to a concussion earlier in the day proved to be costly as the usually solid defence leaked three goals.
Bernhard Motal and Darren Gleeson pulled back goals for Vienna, but Augsburg largely dominated the second half and came away with a deserved 3-5 to 2-3 victory.
Next stop…Warsaw
The second place finishes put both Vienna teams in a solid position looking towards Round 2. The destination is Warsaw, Poland on 14 May and it will be the first time a round of the championship has been played there in two years.