John Mitchels GFC © 2011
Western Gaels 7-
John Mitchel’s travelled to Bristol on Saturday 2nd April to take part in the Western Gael’s 50th Anniversary invitational 7 a side competition.
The 12 teams in the competition were split in to 3 groups of 4 with us drawn in a group with the hosts, Western Gaels A, Round Towers London and Western Gaels B.
In the first game of the group we played the host’s A team in a tense affair. After
a shaky first half we produced some good football in the 2nd half as we ran out winners
on a score line of 4-
The second game of the group was against Round Towers and was a much tighter affair.
In a poor first half we trailed after conceding 3 goals to a much slicker Round Towers
side who had settled in to the 7’s format well and caught us on the break on a number
of occasions. A Philip Duddy penalty dispatched expertly in to the corner of the
small juvenile goals sparked the second half revival and with the aid of Marty “the
umpire” O’Donovan we won by a single point, 2-
The final game of the group against the host’s B side resulted in comfortable victory.
We started off where we had finished in the previous game and won well 6-
The quarter final paired us off against the host’s A team. In another solid performance
by the full squad we won on a score line of 3-
In the semi final we met with Thomas McCurtain’s A team with our own Sean Carty starring
in the middle of the park for them. Sean “Chick” McMahon and Niall “Sheepy” McShane
had also defected to the McCurtains outfit early in the day but only made the B team.
For all Carty’s effort’s including a storming run when he left Paddy Mulligan on
his arse he could not prevent a Mitchel’s victory, with us winning on a score line
of 5-
In the final we met with the Round Towers team who ran us close in the group stages.
In a tense final, which produced high quality football and hard hits from both sides
we took the tournament on a score line of 0-
Congratulations to all who travelled down to the event. The squad on the day was:
Garrett Dooley
Anto “the barman” Brady
Sean Rice
Paul O’Brien
Mick McCarthy
Paddy Mulligan (capt)
Philip Duddy
Colly McMenamim
Kevin Kane
John “McDandy”McDermott
Gary Traynor
Sean McMahon (played for McCurtains)
Niall McShane (played for McCurtains)
Sean Carty (played for McCurtains)
Martin Dolan (injured)
Martin O’Donovan (umpire/referee/official photographer)
Alan Brown (came down for the cheap vodka and red bull)
Edward Jackson (injured)
Management:
Ronan McBride
Ruairi Holyoake
Niall Jackman
With all the football finished we headed for Bristol for the nights entertainment. A rare looking bunch of lads headed headed for Molloy’s Bar. We had the CSB (Checked Shirt Brigade), Traynor looked like someone out of Take That while McDandy with his black eye, beard, T shirt and turquoise slip on’s looked like something we picked up off the street on the way in.
Awards on the day were:
Score of the day:
Sheepy’s point for McCurtains B in the quarter final in front of all the lads was a joy to behold. He dissected the posts with an effort with the outside of his right foot from the right wing. He then turned to the crowd, raised his hands and roared “this is what you were missing boys” before running off in triumph.
Miss of the day:
Chick told us he missed an effort from 10yds out in front of the goals while playing for the McCurtains B team. He only told us this because he wanted us to believe that he had also scored 2 wonder points just before that in the same game – we are still not so sure about the wonder points – sheepy never mentioned them!!.
The ‘Gary Traynor’s Blazer award’ for Player of the Tournament:
Mick McCarthy
Quote of the day:
Alan Brown as he walked away from the bar with a Vodka and Red Bull in each hand
at £1.50 each -
Arm wrestling champion:
New man Eddy Jackson takes the award. He beat Cork hard man Ricie and Chick with his right hand and then beat Jacko with his left hand. He also beat some young pup from Round Towers before getting beat by another fella from Round Towers who Paddy Mulligan had a bit of a disagreement with early in the day.