Has anybody seen "our bhoy Sean"....................?!

Munich Tournament 2003:

St Kilians Team Members in Picture

Owen McGuire - Ennistymon, Co. Clare

JP McSherry - Borrisoleigh, Co Tipperary

Niall Twomey - Ballincollig, Co Cork

Trevor Bradna - Naperville, Chicago Southside

Ronan Slattery - Beatha, Co Galway

Sean Nylan - Diarmuid MacMahunas, Co Cork

Tadgh Kelly - Naomh Eoin, Co Carlow

Micheal Keally - Mount Leinster Rangers, Co Carlow

Nordrhein Westfalen Team Members in Picture

Tom Daly - Mullingar, Co Westmeath

Paul Delahunty - Rosegreen, Co Tipperary

Paul Donegan - Naas, Co Kildare

Fiachra Ó Murchú - Ballyboggin, Co Dublin

Kenny Jacobs - Na Fianna Co Dublin

Fans: ** Your support was greatly appreciated. **

Olivia Roche- Kildare,

Ann Collins- Tipperary,

Gillian Barrett- Wicklow,

Siobhan Ward- Monaghan,

Elaine Doody- Dublin,

Caro Rose, Aimee Waha - Deutschland

This year 8 playing members ( see team list above ) of St Kilians and the 'side line gaffer' Mick Hackett travelled by train to Munich. There we amalgamated with 5 players from Düsseldorf GAA to participate in EuroLeague Gaelic Football Round 6 in Munich.

Europe is currently going through an extended heat wave for the past 12 weeks and it reached it zenith during this weekend with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius recorded on Saturday! Despite such trying conditions the 12 men' and 5 ladies football teams, involved at the tournament, persevered and provided some excellent entertainment for the hundreds of fans present.

A major / minor panic occurred as we were about to leave the hotel to go the pitches at SV Gartenstadt, München - Sean Nylan, our tower of midfield strength was missing!! We'd to leave without him but, he eventually caught up along the way. His excuse being that he went looking for a shop to buy much needed tooth paste. Fair enough, everybody has their own way of big game preparation!

Lead by captain Tom Daly, and in the brand new set of kit, our first game against Luxembourg proved to be a controversial one. Due to some inconsistency in the score line the game had to have an extra period of 8 minutes. Despite stellar performances from Fiachra and goalie Niall we went down 1-3 to 0-8.

The next game was against the team that won the competition outright - Munich Colmcilles. We outscored them 3 points to 1 in the second half but, lost the game 0-6 to 0-4 overall. Mick's and Dela's over all performances were nearly enough to swing the game to us, but it wasn't to be.

Next up was the tough Frankfurt / Hamburg combination. But at this stage we had begun to play more as a unit and never allowed them establish themselves in either half. We ran out comfortable winners 1-9 to 0-2. Trevor, our American playing his first tournament, held his own as good as any native player. Kenny, JP and Paul were all scoring freely so we were never going to lose it really.

Our last game was against a talented Barcelona / Rennes outfit. However we'd saved the best wine until last and inspirational performances by young gun Ronan, Sean and Tadgh saw us run out easy winners on a 3-8 to 0-1 score-line.

Our loss to Luxembourg meant we didn't qualify from our group. So it was time to tog out, grab a well deserved beer and watch a nail biter of a final which saw Munich edge out Luxembourg. Feargal Duggan from Kilmihil, Co Clare and a former player in the St Kilians / Frankfurt team that won the Hague 2002 tournament really excelled for the Colmcilles.

Afterwards we went to the official evening gala at the 'Augustiner Halle'. There in a very packed and warm hall the Irish Ambassador to Germany,his Excellency Seán Ó hUiginn, congratulated all participants, explained how all gathered were a vital contribution to spreading good will and understanding between both countries and then presented the winner medals to Luxembourg ladies and the Munich mens' teams. Comh cairdeagais libhse!

The remainder of Saturday evening progressed without major incident, although Sean was once again found to be 'missing in action' - explains the urgency to acquire tooth-paste earlier I guess!!! On Sunday it was time to get the sore bodies together, check out and go watch an enthralling All Ireland hurling semi-final between Cork and Wexford. After Niall and Sean had recovered from the shock we made a hussle for the Hauptbahnhof, had quick good-byes with our new found Düsseldorf friends and promised ourselves to do it all again in three months time in the Hague.

Many thanks to Munich Colmcilles for arranging such a weekend so professionally.

Owen McGuire, Chairman - St Kilians Wuerzburg