Now we're suckin diesel !!! !!

St Kilians 2-5 Luxembourg 0-1

St Kilians 1-4 Den Haag 2-1

St Kilians 1-2 Kilcomann, Co Mayo 2-3

St Kilians 3-6 Munich 0-2

Semi Final:

St Kilians 1-3 AIB Dublin 3-5

Kilcommon 0-6 Den Haag A 0-2

Final:

AIB Dublin 4-9 Kilcommon 1-11

This machine just a keeps on a rollin!!!!! After our first excursion into the realms of the unknown GAA EuroLeague competition St Kilians / Frankfurt were back again to keep the Unterfranken flag flying in the Hague. The three St Kilians pioneers ( Owen, Jens and Ronan ) were joined by JP McSherry from Borris County Tipp, Dave Knudson from Detroit, Noel Loughnane from Bleatha Galway, and the main man on the sidelines Matthew ( injured ) from Tullow County Carlow.

We ( Owen, Jens, JP, Dave, Matthew ) left Lohr am Main at 14:30, pretty much the same time that Noel & Ronan left Galway Ireland. It took us six hours to get to our hotel in the Hague and the Galwayiens arrived two hours later. All thanks to the organisation skills of Ronan's delightful sister Clara in Brussels. The Westeners were followed by the Frankfurt contingent and it was all systems go in O Casey's pub in downtown The Hague. All local Holland inhabitants were of the opinion that we were giving the recently deceased King Clause a good ould fashion Irish Wake - but .. not really!!! The more experienced members of the group managed to make bed before 3:00am but, the younger more virile component was left in the ever capable hands of Matthew who took it upon his good self to ensure everybody was safely tucked in by at least 6:30am! Not a problem when the alarms went at 9:00am - oder?

We arrived at the Hague rugby Club - venue for all the games. Everything was going according to the Irish plan i.e.all games were exactly running exactly 30 minutes behind schedule ( couldn't be helped really as some teams were delayed as they had travelled to Holland that morning ). In fairness that was the only hiccup in an otherwise excellently organised competition - Kudos to Mary Gavin and the Hague backroom team. We prepared for our days football ahead with each game lasting a total of 20 minutes and the final would be a 30 minute affair. It was a bitter cold day but, tog we did never the less, and prepared for the upcoming GAA football encounters against the best that Europe had to offer. Matthew - the provider - effected the appearance of a grand set of jerseys when we found that our own had been left on the wrong side of the Rhein - what a guy!!

First and a very crucial game was against Luxembourg. "Vital to our cause of progression in this competition was that these land-lubbers be well beth" according to Feargal aka Fred. A strong and very motivated team lined out. Jens was playing his usual corner forward position, Ronan along with two pairs of tracksuits was in goals, in motion JP was on the half forward line and Owen ( Capt ) was holding down midfield. Dave was later there to make vital appearances when the men had to sorted out from the boyz! Rumour has it that the Luxie lads came home even later than our virile group and it showed in the first half with us notching up a 1-3 to 0-0 lead by the half. Pat as expected was dominating aerial battles in midfield and the new find Dermot Haugh from Kilmihil was holding the full back line very tight with young Dan Kelleher from Cork. At the beginning of the second half more quick scores from Owen and Pat put paid to the land-lubbers challenge.

Task completed and feeling well on the way already a warm lunch was had - courtesy of the Hague GAA Club -thanks once again. Now it was back to the serious business of disposing the Hague B team. This overly confident attitude nearly put caused us to come unstuck!! In the first half It was all plain sailing with Derek the Dub hammering in a goal early on followed by points from Pat & Feargal from Kilmihil. But whatever was said or inhaled during the half time period to the Hague the came out and gave a whole new meaning to 'Dutch courage ' in the second period. A quick goal and a point and we were in a fight. Utilising the aerial advantage the were looking set cause an upset and when they got another goal with two minutes remaining the cause looked lost. But the Pat-attack grabbed a point and the spoils were shared. We were very glad to hear the final whistle!

Now it was straight into a game against the Mayo team Kilcomman. They were participating as a tribune to former member - Brendan Maloney - of theirs who was instrumental in the formation of the Hague GAA many moon ago. Brendan has since retired to the big pitch in the sky - RIP. A well drilled team that were taking to prisoners. It was tit-for-tat in the first half with neither team managing to raise a flag. Dermot soon sorted that statistic out early in the second half. Things were looking up, but two quick goals form a well marshalled Kilcomman full forward lines put us under pressure from which, despite the best efforts of Feargal & Detroit Dave, we could never recover. The main event for us in this match was that Feargal - Fred picked up a thigh injury that would hamper him in the next game against Munich and would rule him out completely against AIB Dublin - a double whammy of a loss here.

Munich was a do or die affair. Which ever team won would more than likely proceed. They were on a confidence high after winning the title in September when the EuroLeague was played on their home venue. It was a good test of the team's character & we came through in flying colours. Hard hitting but fair ( well almost Dermot!!) it proved to be a very exciting first half. Dave made a very vital appearance in the second half and two quick goals by Owen finished the game off quickly. Noel also showed what makes him such a valued member of a the team, quiet unassuming, always there when required for the vital clearance & always totally supportive of other players - comparisons to Frank Lohan or Dennis Irwin ( MU ) spring to mind. For Feargal-Fred this was also his last game as his injury finally caught up with him - none the less he left on a very high note having solidified the backs all day.

Next came AIB. Really they exhibited how a good team should always perform. Very good support play, strong in all position - capable men to come off the bench, & forwards that were able to finish chances when mistakes were made. It was a tough contest for tired limbs in the rain but the never say die character of St Kilians / Frankfurt shone through and indeed it was JP and Dan who save their best wine until last, both having probably their best performance of the day. AIB were worthy winners & it was no surprise to us when they won the competition outright. Nothing for it now but, to enjoy the evening meal and Ceili. Lots of prizes given out to all winning teams and probably the most worthy on going to Mary Gavin as a mark of appreciation for all her efforts in getting the competition together.

Well done to all who participated - it was a job very well done!!!!

St Kilians / Frankfurt Team - Hague EuroLeague Oct 2002

Owen McGuire PP Ennistymon, Co Clare

2 JP McSherry - PP Borrisoleigh YES

3 Jens Nothnagel PP Thueringer Wald, YES

4 Dave Knudson PP Detroit, USA YES

5 Matt Doyle, PP Tullow, Co Carlow YES

6 Noel Loughnane, WE Beatha Co Galway NO

7 Ronan Slattery WE Beatha Co Galway NO

8 Feargal Egan Tobar, Co Offaly

9 Dan Kelleher Cork

10 Pat McNamara Limerick

11 Fergal Duggan Kilmihil, Co Clare

12 Dermot Haugh Kilmihil, Co Clare

13 Derek Byrne Dublin

14 Oliver McBrearty Donegal