A tough start

Day one proper began with an early start for the B team as we were playing at 8.30am. Alarms rang from as early as 6.10 and we were on the road by a quarter to 7 to get breakfast at the fields before our warm up. Breakfast was underwhelming – a white bread roll, a slice of malt bread, some jam & butter and an apple. Hardly the stuff of champions but enough to get us started on for now.

We arrived to the fields to find them being lined (slowly). We ran our warm up (throwing, jogging, stretching and a skill specific drill) and were ready to go…the fields weren’t though! When we began there was no brick mark, there was a gap on the length of one of the sidelines, we had no scorer/timer and we had no pitch water. An inauspicious start but it was all soon rectified and we were under way in the first game of any Irish Junior team at EYUC 2009.

From here I’ll descirbe the seven games of day one, team by team.

Ireland B – Day One

Game One: Finland
A tough opening game against the previous U-17s champions started very well. We turned them repeatedly on defence (D) but their D shut down our long game and reset. When we did get close to their endzone we were guilty of forcing the issue a little. As the game wore on their offence (O) ran more smoothly by the point with a lot of breaks (both inside and around) and a strong long game. They stacked deep and cut under with pace to strong throwers. It was a frustrating game, given the good start, but a good lesson from a team that will challenge come semi-finals.

Score: 1-15
MVP – Killian Blake (Spewy)




Game Two: Russia
We targeted the second game of the day, versus Russia, as winnable given they only had 8 players but a combination of unfamiliar tactics and their ability made it a much tougher game than expected. They played with a zone (probably designed to save them energy) made up of a very loose cup that tried to put pressure on or handlers and stop any flow. We had trouble exploiting the resulting holes in this cup and grew frustrated with one another. Strong throwers and tall deep options proved difficult to shut down and there still seemed to be some confusion on the force. As the game wore on we adapted slightly but not enough to trouble a surprisingly strong team.

Score: 1-15
MVP – Pat Hayden (Junior)

Game Three: Sweden
Sweden, as expected, were pretty damn good. Their team was made up of lots of tall, fast lads and they favoured a fast long game. Unfortunately for us we couldn’t cope with their tight cup on D and as a result coughed up plenty of cheap disc by our own endzone which cost us a lot of points. In the second half we started trying a few overheads over the cup and then we were able to get it moving around. We went on a brief run and the zone was abandoned. On man D we were able to score a few long goals of our own but it was a case of consolation opposed to a fight back. Heads were high though and the team left the match heartened by our late rally.

Score: 4-15
MVP – Ross Andrucetti (Sandwich)



Game Four: Belgium
Of the four games on day one this was one we had targeted (along with the Russian game), at least on paper. The Belgians have been running a large Junior programme for a few years but wouldn’t be quite on par with the Scandinavian/German/British set ups yet. The game started well enough with turns available but again we failed to convert them. The Belgians on the other hand were ruthless in comparison and took a 4 point lead. We were increasingly tired (understandable given the 4 hours+ of Ultimate played so far today!) and turned a little more than we might have earlier in the day. Heads began to drop, the Belgians had the game between their teeth and soon it was all over.

Score: 5-15
MVP – Ben Murray




Ireland A – Day One
All three of the Ireland A teams took place at the satellite fields, a 25min walk from the tournament HQ. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal but given I was going to both the A & B games it quickly became an endurance test  The pitches, despite being a little on the thin side, we high quality grass pitches and held together well despite heavy game traffic.

Game One: Germany
Seldom have I seen an Ireland team start a tournament with such blatant disregard for the stature of the team they were facing. Germany came into this tournament as favourites, number 1 seeds and holders of the U-20s Open European Championship gold medals. Ireland A were playing there first ever international game. Everything pointed to a pasting but instead we got a dogfight. Despite possessing weapons that any offence would crave, the Germans had great difficulty beating a fired up and aggressive Irish D. There were turns coming from big marks, from aerial battles and even from unforced errors. The problem was our offence, which unfortunately seems to be a recurring theme. Our long game was working, our handlers were throwing well and at times the patience was evident but somewhere in there the pressure was too much. The German teams experience shone through and regardless of our memorable performance (one that took our opponents by surprise) they won comfortably in the end. From the game we might have taken few points but self belief, intensity and a sense of possibility in term of what we can achieve. You could argue that we had gained more than we could’ve hoped!

Score: 6-15
MVP – Tom Matthews



Game Two: GB 2
The proud intensity seen in the first game was strangely AWOL in game two. We were decidedly flat, despite the strong start and were made pay for it by a GB 2 team with a couple of excellent throwers and speed across the board. We traded with them early on but soon all 50/50 discs were being won by the white shirts of the GB 2 team. We didn’t trust our reset and gave up possession cheaply, something the British capitalised on repeatedly. The poor first half (2-8) was turned around by a stronger second half when our D came back and we turned the game into a scrap. GB 2 were made work for all their scores. We fought to the finish but were off the pace needed and lost relatively heavily to a team we would be looking at as targets.

Score: 6-15
MVP – Conor Hogan



Czech Republic
The third and final game of the day was against the Czech team, about whom we knew quite little. There’s been a Junior scene there for a while but that’s the depth of our knowledge. The game itself started tight, as they always seem to, but slipped further away as the game went on. They used a 1-6 offensive formation that relied on the strength of their throwers and allowed them to use both a fast long game and breakside looks. Again, our intensity was lacking in first half (2-8), but again we had another second half recovery. There is no doubting the character of this team - it is fantastic. Unfortunately a case of white line fever struck often and at vital moments. These front of zone turns cost us and the Czechs closed the game out.

Score: 6-15
MVP – Finnian Flood



The night after the first day was a calm affair. Most of us had a quick dinner (tasty and huge lasagne with lettuce) before heading home to shower in sub zero water. Trading night was a brief occasion with very little on offer, players preferring to swap with specific players at the end of the week. There was a little dancing (on tables would you believe) then off home.

A long tough day ended late for us coaches after a wrap up of the day, a tactics discussion and a chat that went on past midnight. Up at 6.15am.

Come on the boys in green!!