Another great weekend of football in Eindhoven where the ladies football team won the tournament with the men’s falling short to take 3rd spot. With 50 players in total travelling, we had 4 strong teams wearing the red, black and yellow.
The women’s team were looking to continue their great form after winning the first round in Maastricht. Belgium ‘A’ had a perfect morning by winning all 3 of their group games beating Luxembourg ‘B’, Nijmegan and Eindhoven/ Maastricht. Belgium ‘B’ had a very tough group losing to Luxembourg ‘A’, and Amsterdam, but had a convincing win against our neighbour’s Leuven. This meant that Belgium ‘A’ qualified for the championship semi-final and Belgium ‘B’ in the shield semi-final. Both teams won their semi-finals with Belgium ‘A’ beating Luxembourg ‘A’ and Belgium ‘B’ beating Luxembourg ‘B’. Unfortunately, Belgium ‘B’ lost out by a slim margin of one point to Leuven. It was a repeat of Maastricht with Belgium ‘A’ playing Amsterdam in the final and coming out on top with a score of 2-05 to 2-02. Another great performance from the women who racked up a total of 28 goals and 33 points for the day and continue to lead the Benelux championship!
The men’s team were looking to have a repeat of Maastricht after winning the competition in the first round. Belgium ‘A’ had convincing performances in the group stage by winning all three games against Luxembourg ‘B’, Dusseldorf/Leuven, and Maastricht. Belgium ‘B’ didn’t have as much success in the morning being in a tough group against Leuven, Eindhoven and Amsterdam ‘B’. This meant that Belgium ‘A’ qualified for the championship semi-final and Belgium ‘B’ had qualified for the plate semis. Belgium ‘A’ had missed out on qualifying for the final as they lost out to a strong Amsterdam side. Belgium ‘B’ were extremely unlucky not to qualify for the plate final as they were brought to extra time after conceding a last-minute goal, which eventually ended up with a loss to Nijmegen.
Overall, any day you bring back a trophy to Brussels is a good day! The woman’s team continued their flying form and it probably won’t be the last time we see a Belgium v Amsterdam matchup this season. For the men’s team, they will be looking to pick themselves up again and have their eyes on Round 3 in Leuven on May 21. Congratulations to Jenny and Rachel who lifted the trophy for the women. Áine Charlton had a great performance all day which led to Belgium getting another player of the tournament, congrats to her!
Photos of the day can be found below. Thanks to Jan (Jjt Gaelforce) for capturing all the action.
Belgium GAA 