Mike, Colm, Moffat aka 'Kevin Quinn' and myself departed from Dublin Airport for Eindhoven to catch a train to Amsterdam. Once we arrived in Amsterdam we hopped a cab and headed to our hotel the Hans Brinker Hotel...
Once we were checked in and sorted we headed to the opening night party at Cafe De Stoof were we met up with the rest of the Irish based contingent which included our Czech tour guide Simon Vit... After several rounds of beer we headed back to our sweatshop like room to ajourn for the evening.After breakfast were we met up with our remaining continental based players, We headed down to the fields on the Metro. It was a 45 minute commute across the vast Dutch city and not too bad to get an extra few minutes of kip. The weather was bright and sunny and asides from finding out we were playing on astro truf and not having the perfect footwear we began our first match against Prolax. We over powered our mostly German opponents by a score of 9-2 for our first victory. The score sheet was balanced with Matt Walsh earning a hat trick, Gibby grabbing a pair and four others getting on the scoresheet.
Our second game was against the formidable Lions of Amsterdam who were the toast of the Dutch Lacrosse League. There roster included several Dutch internationals. It was decided that Colm, Gibby and Kennedy would brandish the long poles for the game. The Dubliners took tot he game like clock work and Matt Walsh continued his goal scoring exploits, while the Dublin defence were dominant. John O'Connor grabbed his first goal in a Dublin Lacrosse uniform. The Dublin side handed the hosts their first defeat.
Our final game of the day was against the German side Breman and with the hopes of topping the group was at stake for the Dublin side. It was another solid performance and the Dubliners took full marks for a very well balanced attack and contributions from our imports Dan, Cam, Bob, Sonke, and Sam were a huge addition. At times during the game we held possession of the ball for good spells and Bremen was no match for the Dubliners as we topped the group with an easy victory.
That evening after we ate a meal fit for kings, we partied like it was 1829 in the Pirates bar. It was a good night for all and all teams were represented.
Sunday mornings semi finals featured the Spencer (ENG) vs Amsterdam (NL) and Dublin (IRE) vs. Netherlands (NL). We played the Dutch national team and it was a very competitive match early on. But, 10 minutes into the game the Dubliners had a comfortable lead which they took into the half. With the offence running on full cylinders and Moffat doing his best and defensive stop after defensive stop the Dutch team ran out of gas. The Dublin side again winning by a comfortable margin. Setting up a Dublin vs. Spencer final a rematch of last years semi finals.
The Dublin side was unstoppable in the final. The Dublin offense was led by Matt Walsh Simon Vit, and Daniel carried a four goal lead into the second half. The defense at half hadn't conceded a single shot on goal. Moffat came out of the half making three huge shots and took the wind right out of the Spencer side. Dublin made it five-nil before spencer managed to get a goal back. With Spencer mounting a mini comeback, the Dublin side scored to make the final score 6-3 in a comprehensive victory.
Moffat was clearly the teams MVP only allowing 12 goals across the 5 games.Matt Walsh was selected as the Tourney MVP and Dublin Captured only its second ever tournament victory and its first abroad.
It should be noted Kennedy had mentioned on the plane that like the Dutch football team in the 1970's who engineered 'Total Football' we engineered total lacrosse...
It was a good weekend had by all and I have included some additional photos of our final party.
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