On Saturday we completed the 'Grand Slam' winning the fifth and final Pan European Hurling tournament of the year. It comes at the end of our sixth year of competition and provides a welcome break from the routine of defeat. Our win streak stretches back to Zurich last September and even in the tournament before, we showed signs we were coming when we narrowly lost the final of our own tournament. It may sound great but actually it has come with a downside.
Only ourselves and Den Hague squared off on Saturday as the others decided not to travel. Don't mistake this for arrogance but this year there has been a major gap between ourselves and the rest of the pack. We left a team behind us on Saturday that would have rattled any opposition in Europe this year. Luck and timing play a massive role in success in Europe and in the last 18 months it has fallen in our favour. However, such a gap in standards is not good for the competition and it will have sent the Hurling clubs on the continent into a winter of dismay.
Drastic discussions will be undertaken in the coming months on how to save the game but in reality it all depends on where the players land come next April. The one thing we don't want to do is return to the corrupt days when the competition became distorted by the inclusion of ringers at every opportunity. In one instance, a club official who was at the airport to pick up the referee for a weekend tournament also ended up greeting five lads off the same flight coming to play in the tournament.
If the G.A.A.'s existence off the mainland is a triumph in itself, Hurling's is an absolute miracle. There is nothing to suggest it should exist given the difficulty of the game and the shortage of players at home, not to say abroad. Exist it does though and we must keep believing and fighting to keep it alive. Zurich have dominated, Luxembourg and The Hague have had their days and now its our turn.
We celebrated our victory as it should be celebrated on Saturday night, turning out the lights in Place Flagey as we departed. Our season is not over and we will host a Dublin team for a friendly in October and prepare for the Leinster Junior Final towards the end of the year. Every extra day you can hurl should be cherished; win, lose or draw.
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2 comments:
Of course every hurling match should be cherished but the games that we truly cherish are the tight hard-fought matches that test us as we test the opposition and there weren't many of those this year. We are as dependant on our opposition as ourselves for the future of our team and if we don't do what we can to ensure the strength and longevitity of Lux, DH, Zurich and Paris we will have only ourselves to blame if we ever collapse as a club. I just don't know what we can do.
Adrian, without your comments i don't think my blog would survive. I'm sure we can solve aforementioned problem on a wintry night in devs.
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