Day One - History for the Ladies!

Finally, after all the training, the fitness, the warm-up tournaments and the waiting we were ready to step onto the pitch, pull on the green (or white!) and actually play.

First up at 9.00 was the Ladies game against the Germans. The German women played a fast game and used their experience and ruthless offence to punish a few uncharacteristic errors. The girls found themselves 5 points behind and facing a mountain to climb. It was a tough start. After registering a point or two the Irish Women had a much better second half, coming into their own despite the stength of the opposition. However, it was too little too late and the 5th seeds won out 17-5. It was as tough a start as any Womens Team could have faced and the girls will perform better, they know they can.


Both teams were scheduled to play at 13.00 1pm with the Men playing GB. We warmed up well but didnt start well. GB came out all guns firing and a series of simple mistakes by us resulted in them taking half without conceding a point. It was frustrating playing so poorly against players we had played against and knew well. The game continued with a fast GB Offence punishing all errors and despite us getting our game together we just couldn't find the scores. It ended 17-2. A nasty eyeopener to how good the good teams can be...Big up to the Sideline support - Al Murray, Woulfie and the Duke all roused us throughout!


Meanwhile the Ladies were creating history! In a tough game, they outplayed, out fought and despite a mini-comeback beat a strong Belgium team. And it was no fluke, it was by a big margin, 17-9 was the final score. A fast offence and determined D meant tht the girls could turn it up at the crucial times, winning the game by scoring the final 5 points! A huge moment for the Irish Womens Team and it's only the first day! All bodes well for the next battles.

In other news, France beat Finland in the Open Division and Slovakia pipped the Netherlands, two huge upsets. It's still all to play for, we will keep you updated.

For full updates, as the results come in, check out - http://www.euc2007.org/ultimeta/summarytimetable.php

Big thanks for all the emails, texts and good luck - it means a lot to all of us.