The resounding conclusion from everyone in our group: “We gotta do this more often!”

Friday Evening Trip – Taipei to KL

The team plus WAGS met at Taoyuan international airport for the first tour of the year. The WAGS did their duty free shopping and the fellas made “arrangements for” the flight. No sooner had the seat belt been turned off, the McNally in-flight bar started to get it’s first visitors. The pre-flight preparation from the fellas had been to buy Vodka and mixers for the journey, so by the time we arrived in Kuala Lumpur Sean, Pete, Karsten and Graham were nicely merry. A bus journey in to the City had us delivered to our hotels.

Friday Night – Finnegan’s, Curries & Unhappy Brazilians!

A quick hotel check-in and a change into the club Polo shirts and we headed in to meet the Orang Eire team at their sponsor pub Finnegan’s. After watching the Dutch knock the Brazilians out of the world cup, the beers were flowing and everyone was enjoying the atmosphere. Someone decided a Malaysia curry was in order! The search for a curry was as successful as the English soccer World cup campaign. We gave in and stopped at a Chinese restaurant. After heading back again to Finnegan’s for the craic with the KL lads, someone let it slip that it was Karstens birthday. His gift from the team was a cocktail called “A Graveyard”. We don’t know what went into it, but it had the desired effect  Around 3am the “old guys” made a move for bed, the diehards went clubbing!

Saturday Afternoon - Taiwan Celts vs Orang Blues

With sore heads, the team met at the hotel lobby at 2pm and were picked up by Orang Eire in 4 jeeps. Great weather for GAA, cool with no rain, and the astroturf pitch at the KL International School was reserved for the day. Our first 9-aside match was against the Orang Eire Blues. We held our own for the first half; the half-time score was 1-1 to 0-3 for Orang Eire. By the second half, we were regretting the tray of whiskeys the previous night, and the Blues got on top with a couple of unanswered scores.

KL Ladies Yellow vs KL Ladies Blue

A very entertaining game from the Orang Eire Ladies teams. Even though some of them had joined us at Finnegan’s the previous night, they were all raring to go for their match on Saturday. Strong passing-games from both teams in midfield, and some very skillful play by the forwards made for a really good game. The Orang Eire girls were interested to hear about the TaiwanNu’s, and look forward to meeting up in HongKong!

Orang Yellows vs Taiwan Celts

By this time we were in better shape. From goal, Graham was finding players in free space. Sean and Pete were providing great passes to Duncan and Ronan in the box. JB was all over the field providing support up front and in defense. The backs Danish Dave, Kasten, Tony and Dave Mac were strong and chased the defenders down, hassling them and limiting their playing space. The Orang Eire Yellows are a strong team and are playing competitively every month against AFL teams. Some strong soloing from their midfield, and their impressive fitness levels meant they enjoyed more possession for much of the game. A better performance from Taiwan, but we were outmatched. The Yellows also went on to beat the Blue team, winning the Orang Eire – Taiwan Celts tournament for the day.

13-aside Match

The final game of the day, the Taiwan Celts borrowed some  players from Orang Eire Blue, allowing us to play a 13-aside game with subs against the Yellows. Every player on the Celts team upped their play dramatically in this game, and like against Singapore last season, we really showed what we’re capable of when we play good football as a team. At half time we were ahead, in the second half the Yellows fitness showed again, and they were able to claw back the difference. At the final whistle, the game was a draw.

Awards, Invites, and a few Beers

After the games the boys from Orang Eire had laid on a huge ice-box full of beers. Club President Pat Gorham presented the captain of the Orang Yellows with an award for winning the final, and also made a presentation to Taiwan Celts club president Graham, to mark the first tour between our clubs (check it out at the Brass Monkey) We formally invited Orang Eire teams to Taipei for the return leg of the tour. This is planned for early next season. Orang Eire also invited the Taiwan Celts to join the KL Invitational tournament next season, along with teams from Singapore, Thailand & Vietnam.

Saturday Night

Seated in a private room in a restaurant resembling an opium den, we kept an eye on the Argentina-Germany game while enjoying tasty Indian food. Although the delivery of the dishes was painfully slow it was conveniently located next door to the bistro where we were invited to a birthday party for one of the KL lads. Further beers were consumed, the demolishing of Argentina was watched, and we celebrated a very enjoyable tour with our new friends in KL.

There’ll be a number of Mens Gaelic Football competitions running during the weekend, with 4-in-a-row A division Champions Hong Kong GAA looking to retain the Derek Brady Cup on their home turf, no doubt against some stiff competition from all sides!

2009 Ladies Champions “Singapore Lions” will be tested this year with record numbers of ladies teams expected at the tournament. Our Taiwan Celts girls are training each weekend in Taipei in preparation for the event. New players welcome along to join in!

There is also a lot of new interest in the Taiwan Celts Men’s team this season. The 2010 squad already consists of players from Ireland, UK, US, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, South Africa. Many first-timers who plan to don the Taiwan jersey in Hong Kong this coming September.

The tournament is hosted this year by the htHong Kong GAA and governed by the Asian County Board (ACB). In addition to Taiwan, GAA Clubs and teams expected to compete hail from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Shanghai, Beijing, Vietnam, Dubai, India, Philippines, and many more.

Karsten Tonnesen was even on hand to get some great photos of the action.

The new Gaelic football season will begin in February, when we will start introductory training sessions to teach the skills of the game to new players coming along for the first time.

Throughout the season the training will build up to include fitness and skills sessions, as well as regular game practice.

When numbers allow we will organize friendly matches against some local teams, and when possible we will organize challenge tournaments with other ladies Gaelic clubs around Asia.

In October 2010, the Taiwan Celts club will be traveling to the Asian Gaelic Games (AGG) for the 15th time in both the clubs and the competitions history. After a fantastic weekend for the games in Bangkok Thailand in 2009, the hosts for the 2010 AGG will be the Hong Kong GAA.

Around 50 teams from all around Asia participated in the 2009 AGG, with record numbers of ladies teams competing. More again are expected in 2010.

Anyone who is in interested to learn the sport and play with us, you are very welcome to get involved. No previous experience is needed, and we welcome all levels into our club.

Please contact us and register your interest. We will keep you up to date on all the goings on in the club, and upcoming training sessions for the ladies squad.

First stop on the trail is GAA sports in Asia, and the TaiwanCelts were interviewed last month to talk about the history and development of GAA in Taiwan, and our clubs involvement in setting up the first Gaelic Games in Asia back in 1996.

You can listen to Taiwan Celts Communications Officer Tony Lonergan speak to Denis about our Mens and Ladies GAA teams, and how just about everything in Asia originates from the Taiwan Celts GAA club. Up Taiwan!

You can also listen in on some of the inteviews with the other GAA clubs around Asia, and follow Denis as he visits with GAA clubs in Austrlia, South America, US, Canada in the coming months.

The book, commissioned by the GAA, includes a chapter called “Exiles” which reviews the movement of the GAA from Ireland and into other regions around the world. A certain little GAA club called “the TaiwanCelts” features in this chapter, with a great photo of the fabulous TaiwanCelts Nu’s team from 2007.

The Taiwan Celts are delighted and proud to be associated with this major book release

Saturday: First Round Games

The Taiwan Celts Mens team made a nervous start to the competition against Hong Kong B. It took us a while to realize we were the stronger team, and we gave HK too much time and space on the ball. A goal from Sean McNally put us back in the game, but we left it too late and Hong Kong got the win.

Our second game was against Dubai. We were expecting a very physical match against this team…however it turned out to be the least physical game possible, as Dubai could not field a team against us, and Taiwan were awarded the points.

Next up were Singapore C. They were widely regarded as group favorites, and they had run riot on Hong Kong B earlier in the day.

The Taiwan Celts were having none of it though, and we got stuck into them from the throw in. 2 goals from “Striker McNally” quickly had Singapore realizing Taiwan Celts were not to be underestimated.
A fantastic performance by the backs and midfield saw the Celts dominating all over the field, and our forwards causing havoc for the Singapore full backs.

Singapore made a big effort in the second half, but it was all too little too late, and Taiwan held out for the win.

Meanwhile the girls were getting stuck in to the competition; and after a lack of ladies players in Taiwan this year it was a great chance to get in some competitive experience. A member of the 2006 Bowl Winners team, Holly looked very comfortable in the Kuala Lumpur match and will be a leading player for the Taiwan Nu’s in 2010. Newcomer and participating in her first Gaelic Games tournament, Felicia showed again the Canadian natural flair for ladies Gaelic Football.

The ladies competition has come on in leaps and bounds, and everyone was talking about the jump in skills and competitive levels this year. Despite strong displays from Hong Kong and Dubai ladies, it was the Singapore-A team who dominated and eventually won the ladies cup.

Sunday: Last of the first round games

Our last group game was against Kopan; a combination of players from Korea & Japan. Singapore had beaten this team on Saturday, so we were feeling confident that we could dispatch these guys and possibly top our group. However some very strong play from their midfielders and pressure from the forwards saw us concede a penalty early on, which the Kopan’s converted, though only just as Bear came close to saving it. We gave it our all, but Kopan were the stronger team for the game and won the points. They played Hong Kong B directly after and also beat them.

Singapore C topped our group; the Taiwan Celts being the only team to defeat them.

Sunday: Competition Play-Offs

So the play-offs were decided and Taiwan Celts made it to the Plate competition. This was a step up from our Bowl tournament position of the previous two years, and exactly where we wanted to be. Great credit due to our trainer and team captain, Barry Cahill, for putting together a plan all season and achieving the goal. Now it was knock-out stages and it was all or nothing!!

We were drawn to play Suzhou. This game was played in torrential rain, but as against Singapore we got off to a flying start. Peter Grogan put a point over the bar within the first 20 seconds of the game, and that started a torrent of scores for Taiwan. We quickly established a 6-point lead over Suzhou, and it looked all over. But then the weather conditions worsened, and we started to sit back a bit. This gave Suzhou the space and opportunity they needed, and they quickly strung a series of points together which went unanswered. It went down to the wire in the remaining minutes, but when the final whistle blew, it was Suzhou that had stolen the game.

We were very disappointed to have lost a game that was clearly ours for the taking. Suzhou went on to win the semi-final and finals, and become Plate Champions. This showed us just how close we were to our goal this year.

The Craic

The club had an absolute blast at the Sunday night party, and hosts ‘Thailand GAA’ finished off a very successful and memorable 2009 Asian Gaelic Games in great style. Most Celts took a well deserved break on the Island beach resorts of Thailand for a few days; recuperating for the next Gaelic Football season in Asia in 2010!!!

Tour report by Tony Lonergan: Self-appointed evangelist of the Taiwan Celts GFC