Training for ladies under the new management team of Brian Egan & Celts Stalwart Paul McCabe commenced on August 16th at our new home in Jebel Ali. 8 Players made the trip that night and we got our season under way. Less than 6 weeks later we had an impressive 33 ladies togged out, which set the year up nicely and gave everyone a huge lift.

Our first tournament was in Dubai where we entered both A & B squads. Our B's impressed with 3 comfortable group game victories before eventually losing to Oman in a semi final. Our A's then beat old foes Sharjah and competed in our first A final in nearly 2 years before losing to Abu Dhabi by a couple of points. An excellent days work all round by all concerned and helped set targets for the year.

Two weeks later we made the long trek to Seoul, Korea for the Asian Gaelic Games, eager to impress on the previous years showing where we failed to register a victory. After a opening game defeat at the hands of eventual winners Singapore, the ladies responded very well by winning their next three games and make it to an A semi final. We led at half time v Seoul before eventually losing by a few points. A great and commitment by all concerned and lots to build on.

Our next tournament was the short trip to Bahrain for one of our favorite tournaments. Training did not go twell prior to the tournament and we ended up travelling with only 19 players, leaving us with one sub to cover the B team and none for the As. This didnt help our cause and with the standard of the A competition set very high, we eventually ran out of steam, winning v Al Ain and losing to Abu Bhabi, Sharjah & Qatar. However the opening performance v eventual winners Abu Dhabi, losing by a point should point to how close this team is to success in the near future, with full commitment and big turnout to training.

Pride of place however goes to our B team who brought home the only silverware for teh club that day by winning the B Bowl final v Abu Dhabi. It was great to see the ladies enjoy their football througout the day and they got their just reward. It goes without saying that the Bowl was filled a few times that night !

Training now winds down until after Xmas before we head into the second half of the season and four tournamnents to look forward to and everyone should be aiming to add more silverware to the trophy cabinet. Thanks to Brian, Paul & Malachy who helped us in Bahrain and to all the players who have attended training regularly and given 100% commitment.

Brian Egan

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