The Taiwan Celts Gaelic football teams punched above their weight at the Asian Gaelic Games in Kuala Lumpur this weekend, with both the men’s and women’s teams runners-up in their respective junior divisions after taking their grand finals into extra-time, while one player was selected for an All-Star team.
Playing an adapted style of nine-a-side and seven-minute halves, the teams overcame a shaky start on Saturday in their pool games, in which the men lost two, drew one and won one, while the women lost three and won one.
It was both sides’ first time playing together and for many players, it was their first competitive game.
Photo courtesy of Bill Timmins
Sunday’s games were knock-out style, so teams needed to win to stay in the competition. The women first played Singapore, who they lost to the previous day, and came out winners in a closely fought contest.
That took the Celts to the semis against heavy favorites University College Dublin (UCD), a team from Ireland made up of international students and coached by Gaelic football legend Brian Mullins.
The Celts women’s side — also largely international, with only two Ireland-born players — stepped up to pressure UCD, who also beat the Taiwan side soundly the day before, with backs Larisa Seghers and Cally Brokensha providing solid defense.
Photo courtesy of Leah Avery
Celts star midfielder Niamh O’Hara scored a goal in the dying seconds of the game to put her side one point ahead at the full-time whistle and take them into the Junior Plate grand final against the Saigon Gaels of Vietnam.
Taiwan started strongly in the final and maintained a high level of possession throughout the game, with O’Hara and fellow midfielders Natalie Turner and Amy Bucek working the ball up the field, but Saigon kept pace and the two teams remained neck-and-neck until full time, tied at 1-1 (4), 1-1 (4) to force a three-minute extra-time period.
The Celts opened the scoring in extra-time with a point over the crossbar, but Saigon found the back of the net for three points, to give themselves a two-point lead that the Celts did not manage to claw back before the final whistle.
In the men’s first game, Taiwan beat Singapore, starting strongly and holding off their opponents to win by a wide margin, aided by top performances in the midfield from Rory Dunne and Paul Rose.
This took Taiwan into the semi-final, where they faced Seoul Exiles in a tough, evenly matched battle.
Ian Burns, Spencer Jemelka and Bill Suker defended vigorously in the back line to help Taiwan come out victors with a few points to spare, clinching a Junior Plate grand final spot against Vietnam’s Viet Celts.
The men’s grand final was another closely fought affair, with the game tied at 0-4 after normal time, when captain-coach Brian Fitzpatrick kicked a late equalizer.
In extra-time, the Vietnam side had more fuel left in the tank and scored a goal and a point to take the win, 1-5 to 0-4.
“It was hard luck that both teams lost in extra-time, everyone gave it their all,” Celts president Sean Costello said. “Congratulations to both the men’s and women’s teams and thanks to everyone who trained with us during the year — you all made a contribution.”
New Zealander Paul Rose — who started playing the sport last year — impressed Games officials enough to be named in the tournament’s combined intermediate/junior All-Star team, an honorary team named at the event’s closing dinner on Sunday.
“It’s hard to imagine he only started playing Gaelic last year,” Costello said.
In the senior division, it was a clean sweep for Singapore, who won the women’s and men’s contest, taking home the Derek Brady Cup.
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