With confidence justified, the ladies next match was against the Belgium A team. Notorious for their determined and talented forwards, the ladies prepared themselves for a challenging fight. They proved themselves prepared, as the best was brought out in all the players. Especially noteworthy were the backs, Silvia, Anne and Lena who played fiercely and prevented the opposition from gaining much ground and getting many points. However, despite a great team effort, the ladies could not overcome the Belgium force.

For their next and final match, the semi-final against Holland once again tested the ladies to the hilt. Despite an injury, and Anna´s first attendance at a tournament, the day´s goalie played beyond expectations and displayed some of the best performances of the day. A special thanks needs to go to Monika Duran (Barcelona) for joining our team and giving her all despite a long day. Unfortunately, the great effort by all the ladies could not compete with the Dutch team and they came up short in the end. Holland went on to play against Belgium A in the final and gave us one of the most exciting and closest finals that we have seen in a long time. The 3rd and 4th match against Paris was mutually waivered due to injuries and fatigue, and both teams agreed to a tied 3rd.

As to all ends of a tournament, the ladies enjoyed themselves off the pitches to a very nice meal and later ventured into the city for post tournament festivities. We would like to thank the Maastricht club for hosting and giving us a wonderful and well organized tournament.

With training in full swing, the ladies are now preparing to host and play in the next tournament in Munich on Saturday, September 11th. It guarantees to be an exciting day of football with over 15 men´s and ladies´ teams from all over Europe. Please join us for the day and support our team and club.

With confidence now restored, and new faith in one another, Munich defeated Belgium B in the second round game. With this win a semi-final spot was secured. After a brief rest-bite and relaxation in the intermittent sunshine, our ladies took on the mighty Belgium A. Munich battled bravely but fell short of the performance posted by their Belgium opponents.

The final game of the tournament, a 3rd and 4th place play-off was certainly most exciting. In a close and tense match the weary Munich team trailed by a single point with just moments remaining, only for the Holland team to secure a 4-point win with what turned out to be the last kick of the match.

In a consolation prize for the Munich team, Angie B. earned the female player of the tournament. Certainly a well-deserved accolade on the day.

Finally I must express my thanks one more time for the immense effort that all the ladies put in on the day. It was certainly an energy-sapping effort on behalf of our Munich representatives.

-Shane

The ladies secured a fantastic 3rd place overall in the European League by getting to the semi final to play against a very strong and experienced Brussels side.

The men weren’t as succesful on the pitch as the Ladies, with the lack of training and match practice being shown up by defeats in the 2 league games against euro stallwarts The Hague and the eventual Euro Champions Brussels. In the playoff against Rennes Munich restored much pride by winning with a spirited performance.

The evening banquet took place in the “Festije Villaje” events centre with an all you can eat buffet which has to be acknowledged as one of the best post tournament venues we have seen, where the partying continued into the wee hours!

Photos will follow when we have them!

An overview of the day and more reports are due later in the week. If you have photographs from the day and you want to share them, please get in contact with us.

Game 1 versus Brussels:

Starting with Natski in goals, the Munich ladies put up a promising performance against a very strong and good footballing Brussels side. Munich eventually went under on the final scoreline of 2:2 to 0:3. Scorers for a gallant Munich side were Sanna Fagerstrom with two fine points and Niamh Mc Kenna with one point.

Game 2 versus Paris:

Munich started this game knowing that a defeat would put a huge dent on the aspirations on the day. With this in mind, players such as Lauren Mc Laughlin and Jeannie Brown performed heroics in limiting a strong Paris side to five points. Munich featured a strong forward line comprising Niamh Mc Kenna and Kerry Bridge, and managed to put 2 goals and 2 points on the score board. This invaluable win kept Munich in the tournament. All scores were contributed by the previously mentioned forwards. The defence, which was again strongly marshalled by Natski was tight and uncompromising. All in all a good performance!

Game 3 versus Holland:

This game ended in a very disappointing loss for the Munich camp. The final score of 2.2 to 0:4 was a fair reflection of the game. The Munich ladies showed the after effects of the tough encounter with Paris. Joanna put in a massive performance in a very overworked defence, the midfield worked tirelessly, however Holland proved to be too strong. It was now up to the players and management to lift them selves for the final group game against the host team Luxembourg. The scorers were Niamh, Jeannie (two fine points) and Lauren.

Game 4 versus Luxembourg:

Natski was finally relieved of her goal keeping duties, and she went on to put on an excellent display against Luxembourg, kicking a fine second-half point in the process. Munich were down by a goal at half time, having been lifted by 2 excellent points from midfielder Lauren Mc Laughlin. Luxembourg’s strength in dept, their clever use of substitutes, added to their ability to score goals, all combined to leave a final score line of 3:6 to 0:5 in Luxembourg’s favour.

Third / Fourth Place Plaoff versus Holland:

With Paris picking up just the one point, Munich and Holland were left to face each other in the third and fourth place playoff. Could Munich repeat the heroics of Madrid, and claim a morale boosting second third-place finish of the year?

Niamh started in goals, Laura Toops started her first game of the day playing in the forward line. As the game went on, Laura got more and more involved and can be were pleased with her efforts, the management is expecting more of the same in the Munich tournament! Kerry and Sanna formed what turned out to be an impregnable last line of defence – super full back play resulted in Holland being limited to four points, well done girls! The midfield comprising of Lauren and Jeannie worked like demons, and clever use of quick changes with Joanna meant that Munich had the edge in the midfield battles. Natski and Laura were a constant menace up front. All in all a super and morale lifting performance by the entire team, that resulted in Munich winning on the final scoreline of 2:6 to 0:4. Munich scorers were Jeannie with one goals, Lauren with one goal and two point, and Natski and Joanna with a point each.

Summary

The final would turn-out to be a very one-sided affair, with Brussels defeating the hosts. Well done Brussels, the best team won on the day. Thanks to Luxembourg for hosting an excellently run tournament, the dinner was delicious and bountiful, especially for those of us in the management, who had multiple started and deserts…mmmm….hic!

Thanks to Pat Stakelum for all his advice and help on the day, the victory against Paris is as much Pats as it is the rest of the girls!

All hands are expected on deck from now until the Munich tournament, where we will hopefully be able to go one better and get to the final.

Pictures of the tournament can be seen here.

Report by Noel McKenna