Hanoi 1000 Gaelic Cup

                                      Vietnam Swans at the Hanoi 1000 Cup

On September 18 2010, the Viet Celts organized the Hanoi 1000 Gaelic Cup to honour 1000 years of the city of Hanoi and also to get used to tournament situations before we departed for the Asian Gaelic Games in Hong Kong.

There were two competitions in the tournament, a Mens cup and a Womens/Youth trophy.

                                                  Mens Cup

The mens competition consisted of the Viet Celts Reds, the Viet Celts Blues and the Vietnam Swans AFL who were fortified with a few members of the Hanoi Dragons rugby team. Each game was two halves of seven minutes.

 

VC Blues                3.4 (13pts)

Vietnam Swans     0.3 (3pts)

The first game was between the VC Blues and the Swans. Colin Campbell’s two goals were the difference between the sides as the Blues moved the ball very quickly and ran out winners 3.4 to 0.3

                                                                   VC Reds warm up

Vietnam Swans   1.3 (6pts)

VC Reds                1.2 (5pts)

The second game was between the Swans and the VC Reds. The Swans were still warmed up from the previous game and with the Reds raring to go, this proved to be the best game of the mens competition and will henceforth be know in the annals of Viet Celt history as the ‘thunderbolt match’. Highlight of this game was when Stuart Ferguson of the Hanoi Dragons guesting for the Swans collided with Ramon Davila in a fair but forceful challenge. Things started to boil over as both the Dockerys got involved but sanity kept a tentative reign on proceedings as the Swans ran out narrow winners of a war of attrition by one point, 1.3 to 1.2

 

VC Blues        2.2 (8pts)

VC Reds         0.2 (2pts)

The third game was the clincher for the VC Blues. If they won this game against the VC Reds, they would win the tournament. The game was decided by a chipped goal from Jim Kiernan in the first half and a John O’Dowd wonder goal in the second half when he soloed through about five Reds and stuck the ball in the back of the net. Shane Culbertson scored a lovely point for the Reds after a great run and Aidan Dockery also scored a fine point for the Reds shouldering his way through a number of players. An excellent team move for the Blues which passed rapidly from Quynh to Jon Holden to John O’Dowd resulted in a point from a tight angle by Ruairi Darall.  The other score for the Blues was a John O’Dowd free kick giving a score line of 2.2 to 0.2 in favour of the Blues.

Champions: VC Blues

Thanks to Bob Patterson who refereed all three of these games.

 

                                            Womens/Youth Trophy

                                    VC Youths mesmerised by Katy Lankester

VC Youths 5.1 (16pts)

Duracelts   4.3 (15pts)

The womens/youth competition was played between the Duracelts and the Viet Celts Youths. This was a hugely entertaining game played over four quarters of seven minutes and proved to be the best game of the tournament. The VC Youths ran out narrow winners by a point in an exciting finale which could have gone either way.

This game was also important because it marked the first outing of the Viet Celts Youths as a club team. It was felt important to set up a parallel club structure to complement that of the schools.

Champions: VC Youths

Thanks to Seamus Doran and Martin MacMahon who took turns to referee this game.

The Viet Celts

Duracelts at the Singapore Challenge

The Duracelts travelled down to the Lion City for the Singapore Challenge on August 7, 2010. It was a bittersweet experience with the Duracelts becoming the first side under the Viet Celts banner to beat a Singapore side. There have been a few close calls over the years so this was the sweet part. The bitter part of the equation was that Singapore marked the final tournament for Marion Labatut in a Duracelts’ shirt. Marion Labatut was the foundress and driving force behind the Duracelts.

Full report to follow by Catherine Ganley