The Thailand Invitational Tournament, Saturday 19th April 2008, Thailand vs. Malaysia vs. Singapore vs. Hong Kong vs. Singapore (again). Ladies Football, Hurling

As many of you will recall, Malaysia's local Gaelic football team, the Orang Éire, hosted teams from Singapore and Thailand here in KL last November. The whole tournament was a great success and saw an historic victory of our boys over Singapore, so things couldn't be allowed to stop there. With true Thai hospitality, the Bangkok squad, who go by the name 'Thaigaa', invited everyone and anyone up for a return set of matches on Saturday 19th April.

The Orang Éire were formed just one year ago and are mostly made up of elderly and usually infirm members of the Irish and expat communities. Having recently secured sponsorship from Finnegan's Irish pubs and restaurants, the Men's team now train twice a week, a Kid's team has just been started and plans are also being made to form a Ladies team. Anyone is welcome to join. If you are interested, or know someone who might be, please take a look at the website; www.malaysiagaa.com

The focus is on having fun, keeping fit and socialising so please get in touch.

For those who are unfamiliar with the sport, Gaelic football is an ancestor of Australian Rules Football. It is played with a round ball on a rectangular pitch with rugby-type goal-posts. Scores are made either by kicking or punching the ball over the bar for a point or by kicking the ball into the goal below the crossbar. There is no real tackling but one hand can be used to take the ball off an opponent. Just to make things tricky, when running with the ball you have to alternately bounce it and drop it to your foot and kick it back up into your hands. Puzzled/confused? Come on down to training and see what's it like.

The weekend began with the various members of the Malaysian club slowly making their way to Bangkok. The club President had to change his Air Asia flight at short notice and despite claiming to be computer literate actually cancelled and then rebooked himself on the same flight (lucky he's not in charge of the bank account). The social secretary insisted that his travelling party avail of priority boarding, only to show up so late for the flight that they were the last ones on the plane! All in all Air Asia did quite well out of the club's erratic touring plans.

However, everyone finally made it to the Grand Millenium Sukhumvit by Friday evening, where the Irish General Manager made sure that the players were welcomed in style and comfort. A quick meeting in the lobby bar was arranged and then it was out to meet the hosts and other competitors at Hanrahan's bar. Thaigaa were there to get the beer and food in and old and new friends from Singapore and Hong Kong showed up. Before long the bar was jammed and Malaysia's three touring ladies; Jessica Lourdes, Mairead Moriarty and Ai Lynn Gan, were quickly snapped up to play on teams for the following day. Things were going so well that everyone almost forgot about the need to get a bit of sleep before playing in 40 degree heat. An Extraordinary General Meeting was even called. Exactly why this was necessary is unclear, sadly no minutes of the proceedings survive, but sanity eventually prevailed to some degree and the team were all in bed by midnight (or shortly thereafter).

The Games began with Malaysia taking on the hosts at 10am on the Saturday morning. Thaigaa beat the Orang Éire in November so Malaysia's finest wanted a strong start to their day. The Irish Ambassador to Thailand, Eugene Hutchinson, threw in the first ball and the tournament was on. Thankfully, things went Malaysia's way and the team's newest members; Seamus Moriarty, with his dominating height in the middle of the pitch, and Sean Murphy, with his killer finishing (scoring four goals in his first game for Malaysia), quickly made an impact on play. Thailand played good passing football and had some promising chances but with the tight focussed passing of the Orang Éire and another goal from super-fit midfielder Darragh Mallon, the game ended 0-2 for the hosts and 5-2 for Malaysia.

The ladies were up next with Asian Gaelic Games veteran Jessica Lourdes and newcomer Mairead Moriarty joining the tournament pick-up Teams 1& 2, both of which were a good mix of players from Hong Kong and Singapore. The remaining players designated themselves Team 3 and wasted no time in signing our other newcomer Ai Lynn Gan for the next game: Teams 2vs.3. Singapore and Hong Kong have a thriving ladies football scene and the games displayed some excellent competitive skills. The teams were seven a side - a tough line-up in the Bangkok heat - but everyone was impressed with the standard of play.

The Orang Éire were then pitched against their main rivals - the Singapore Gaelic Lions. The Lions could still taste their November defeat and started off with their strong running style of play. Initially Malaysia went two goals down but the team settled and took care to defend against the key players. Ruairí Mallon in particular covered a huge amount of ground and consistently got in the faces of Singapore attackers. This careful play began to pay off when Corkman Johnny Lucey scored his first goal for the Orang Éire. Singapore were a little rattled, Johnny kept up the pressure and almost immediately scored another goal. At the half time break things were looking good and Malaysia started back into play with a lot of possession up front. However the temptation to go for goal meant that they didn't take their chances at the points and although Liam Mallon, running in from the midfield, put some over the bar, the game began to turn and Singapore made fast plays towards the Malaysian goal. Then tragedy struck as Seamus Moriarty was brutally fouled, ending up in a ditch at the side of the pitch, and had to be substituted. The onslaught proved just too much for the Orang Éire who, despite some brilliant saves by goalie Pat Gorham and tough running by captain Danny McBride, went two more goals down. There were some return points but time slipped by and the game finished a close but frustrating 4-1 to Singapore, 2-3 to Malaysia.

Thaigaa had arranged for the games to take place at the Harrow international school - a magnificent venue with full facilities. The pool was particularly useful in helping the players between games and the medical staff on hand even helped with umpiring and ball collecting duties. As the day wore on the pitch-side barbeque was fired up and burgers and beers were soon going around the players and spectators alike. Despite the loss, the team were in good spirits and Scottish international midfielder Mike Fox took care to ensure that everyone stretched down and stayed loose. With Seamus off to hospital accompanied by Mairead, and two more games to go, the tournament was far from over.

Next up were the team from Hong Kong, the strongest side in Asia boasting several intercounty players on their squad. Indeed, they were so strong that some of those same intercountry players elected not to play or even spend the night in the team hotel. Legend has it that two of Hong Kong's strikers merely dropped by the school to pick up a few beers and check that their team was winning before heading back out to continue their in-depth tour of Bangkok.

It was clear from the start that the Orang Éire would have to play a man on man defence. Hong Kong's two strongest stars made some punishing runs in the first half that saw them go four goals up. However Malaysia stuck with them and the Mayo-born Jonathan Cleary kept sprinting in defence and counter attack. Newcomer Aidan Higgins also came into his own in the middle of the park feeding the ball up front and, with the assistance of the towering Dennis Muldowney (who swatted some HK midfielders off the ball like flies), Malaysia managed to get a goal back. The second half actually saw the Orang Éire make an impact. Eóin Duggan in defence finally got some hold on the star striker (reducing his attacks to points instead of goals) and the Mallon family discovered a great rhythm of passing from the kick-outs that lead to several points. Mike Fox's tenacious rugby-style of play in the mid-field led the Hong Kong full-forward to enquire "is he a bit odd?" Unfortunately, the difference was too great to pick up and the game finished Hong Kong 5-6, Malaysia 1-6, but the opposition were very impressed with the challenge that our team put up.

The party atmosphere continued with a Hurling match (which Malaysia did not compete in - one thing at a time!). The fastest field game in the world did not disappoint and there were some impressive displays of sportsmanship by hurlers from Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand. The local Thai spectators were suitably baffled by the rules but there was strong applause for the exhibition game.

The ladies then had another outing (Teams 1vs.3) and both Ai Lynn and Jessica made a big impact, the latter suffering a cruel foul but also coming close to a yellow card herself. It was a very tight contest but, in a move that is sure to be the subject of academic debate for years to come, the sudden departure of the referee at the end of the match before he had a chance to announce the scores, lead to the Teams agreeing to call it a draw.

Before long it was time for the last game of the tournament - a play off for third place between the Singapore B team and the Orang Éire. Some tactical changes were made and Malaysia's only Sligo-born player, a defender by the name of Aidan Cotter, was put up front to see what he could do. His potential attacking abilities had been well identified and Aidan scored a beautiful goal - the first of the game in his first tournament with the Orang Éire. This all-rounded display of athleticism, an ability to 'get his oar' in, lead to the first team chant, and the cries of; "Aidan, Man, get your oar in", was soon simply shortened to "Man-Oar."

The first half definitely belonged to Malaysia and Man-oar's goal was quickly followed by a great punch into the net from Niall Keating. The middle of the field was dominated by Ronan Kelly of Tyrone and John English of Mayo who were all over the weaker Singapore players in attack and defence. Ruairí and Darragh Mallon were again key in covering the ground and the Lions' exasperation was evident by half time. Although it was the 'B' team that were playing, Singapore had to field their stronger 'A' players just to stay in the match. The second half began with a penalty for Malaysia but the heat and the pressure began to take their toll. The heads stayed up and the commitment was fierce but Singapore came back with a vengeance and took their points as well as a lucky goal. Again, the Orang Éire's mid-fielders held the fort but in the dying seconds a foul was committed at the edge of the Malaysian box. Singapore struck the penalty into the goal despite a great diving effort by Pat Gorham and the scores were equal at 4-2. Malaysia launched a last attack but the match ended in a draw.

There was a huge sense of pride in what the team had achieved over the course of the tournament and Singapore in particular were quick to compliment the Orang Éire's development as a squad. Finally the players were able to have a well-earned beer and watch the sun set with a great party atmosphere around the field. A run back to the hotel through Bangkok traffic left just enough time for a quick shower before everyone headed out to the Dubliner pub which generously provided the bulk of sponsorship for the event. The Ambassador presented the awards to Hong Kong, both ladies captains (HK and Singapore drew for first place) and the sponsors. Malaysia were awarded third place and, in the absence of a formal prize, had to set up an intra-team tribunal to deal with some disciplinary matters which had arisen over the 24 hours. Judge Johnny Lucey held court and most of the team were found guilty of something or other and forced to pay forfeit (usually with a shot or two of beer). There was full agreement that the Orang Éire's youngest player, Ruairí Mallon, had earned the best player award for the day.

Needless to say, proceedings continued well into the night, and the trip home was no easy affair, but that's a story for another day.