A great weekend for the footballers of Belgium GAA as we saw the men’s and women’s teams winning the tournament, thus completing the double. With 11 men’s teams and 9 women’s teams competing from the Benelux region, it was an action-packed day that saw the red, black and yellow out in both codes.
The women’s team came out in exceptional numbers having 2 full teams ready for action. Belgium ‘A’ had a great morning by winning all 4 of their group games beating Luxembourg ‘A’, Amsterdam ‘B’, Eindhoven/Leuven/Maastricht, and Den Haag. Belgium ‘B’ also had a great morning by coming 2nd in their group beating Luxembourg ‘B’, and Nijmegen, with a loss to one of the favourites for the day Amsterdam ‘A’. This meant that the two Belgium teams were drawn against each other for the semi-finals. As a result of this, Belgium ‘B’ conceded to give Belgium ‘A’ a walkover so they’d be fresh for the Final against Amsterdam ‘A’. The last match of the day led to Belgium ‘A’ having a great performance winning a close encounter against a very strong Amsterdam side 1-02 to 0-02.
The men travelled in large numbers but were just short of putting together 2 teams after a couple of last-minute injuries. This meant that we were in full strength with a few lads joining up with Amsterdam ‘B’ who came joint third for the day. The men’s team started the morning by topping their group by winning all their matches against Luxembourg ‘B’, Köln/Dusseldorf, and Maastricht. Progressing to the semi-finals, they overcame Eindhoven beating them 6-04 to 1-04. For the championship final, it was business as usual with the classic matchup of Belgium v Luxembourg once again. This time Belgium came out on top with a good performance of 1-05 to 0-03. This meant that Belgium were the winners of the day and now top the Men’s Benelux Championship for the first time in years.
A very productive Saturday led to the Men’s and women’s teams completing the double for the first tournament of the season! A great day all around that saw Flo & Jenny lift the women’s trophy and Delargy & Bros raising the men’s. Both teams had great individual performances all around with congratulations to Jenny Moore and Alex Quinn who won player of the tournament in their respective codes. Next up for the footballers is a trip to Eindhoven on April 23 where both teams will be looking for a repeat of the first tournament.
Photos of the day can be found below. Thanks to Jan (Jjt Gaelforce) for capturing all the action.
Belgium GAA 