ICU Polo Committee Competition Reports


Competition Reports

 2nd European Canoe Polo Championships, Essen Germany, 5-7th September '97.

Mens
In a tight qualifying pool fixture for playoffs for the first 6 places, Ireland got off to a good start with a 7-1 win over Lithuania. In a very tight game against Belgium, the Irish team were unlucky to loose by a single goal in the final seconds with a 4-3 final score. This left a difficult game against a strong Dutch team, a game in which the Irish team fought hard and played some of their best polo of the competition, but with a final 2-6 win to the Netherlands. Finishing 3rd in the qualifying pool, Ireland progressed to the 7-12th qualifying matches. Ireland came back well to win 2-1 against the Swiss and 8-0 against Poland gaining a place in the 7th/8th playoff against Portugal. In this their final match, Ireland kept control of the game throughout to win 5-2 against Portugal and finish comfortably in 7th position of the 14 participating nations.

Ireland Men's Team
1. Shane Kinsella (Dublin)
2. Brian Franzoni (Dublin)
3. Conor Walsh (Cork)
4. Vincent Pierce (Dublin)
5. Pat O'Leary (Cork)
6. Caoinhin Nolan (Cork)
7. Ciaran Cooke (Cork)
8. Neil Cooke (Dublin)

Coach: Mark Downey (Dublin)

European Championships Mens Final Placings.

Position Team Position Team
1. France 5. Netherlands
2. Great Britain 6. Belgium
3. Italy 7. Ireland
4. Germany 8. Portugal

Report by Raymond Manley (Men's Team Manager)


2nd European Canoe Polo Championships, Essen Germany, 5-7th September '97.

Womens
Ireland Women's Canoe Polo Team emerged on the international circuit finishing 4th in the European Championships in Essen Germany. The team were:-
Pauline Jordan (Captain) Mayo
Mareese O'Leary Cork
Eiden Cleary Dublin
Maire Diggin Dublin
Catherine Jordan Mayo
Dara Cleary Dublin
Alision Wilson Limavady
Patrica Leader Cork

Coach: Carmel Vekins University of Limerick.

Ireland through their pool games starting with a tough first game against Germany, score 1-7 to Germany with Ireland's only goal being scored by Catherine Jordan. This was followed by another tough game against Great Britain, currently World Champions and certainly the favourite for this championship. Ireland went down 1-7 but did have control and kept to their game plan. Ireland then played Latvia which they won comfortably with a 6 goal advantage.
A similar result followed on Saturday against Portugal with Irelands new caps Patricia Leader (Cork) and Dara Cleary (Dublin) scoring. Ireland played France in their final pool game, maintaining a zone defence in an effort to conserve energy as they had already secured a semi-final place. Ireland were beaten in a tactical game 1-4.
They played Great Britain in the 1st semi-final on Sunday but again decided to conserve energy opting for a zone-defence game.The 3rd/4th place playoff was their target and in this game against Germany they maintained an excellent result of 1-1 at half time, with Maire Diggin (Dublin) scoring an excellent goal and some excellent goal keeping by Alision Willson (Limavady). Germany came out much harder in the second half and with the strong local German support, once they got ahead they wona 3rd placing. But the Ireland's Women gave a hard fight right to the end. Eidin Cleary (Dublin) recovering from a flu which threatened her inclusion along with Pauline Jordan as captain and Catherine Jordan, both from Mayo, did some fine defending. This team on their return to Ireland, play at the Irish International at Kilcock, Co. Kildare on the 13/14th of September and should surely secure a first placing in this competition.

Final placings after the 2nd European Championships:

Position Team Position Team
1. Great Britian 4. Ireland
2. France 5. Portugal
3. Germany 6. Latvia

Report by Margaret Farrell, Women's Team Manager.


Kilcock Polo Competition
Kilcock, Co Kildare played host to the fourth round of the 1997 National Canoe Polo League. The competition was organised on this occasion by the women's Irish squad, but traditionally would have been the Naas Cup round of the competition. Luckily the weather held out for the weekend and though it looked doubtful on occasion, stayed warm and dry - an important factor in any outdoor tournament. Present for the occasion were cameramen, reporters and presenters from TnaG who filmed the event and broadcast a ten minute feature on the sport the following week. Way-t'-go Patricia Leader and Digger who did a great job promoting the sport through Irish.
Featured at this tournament was the Division 2 league that had generated so much interest from players. Knocked out in the semi-finals were current top of the league champions, Scorpions, opening the way for a tremendous final between Gladiators of Dublin and Seaweed of Belfast. Both teams were fast on their breaks and strong in defence. Final result favoured Gladiators who collected first prize, Seaweed, second prize and third prize was awarded to Scorpions.
The growing interest in canoe polo at division three level was reflected in the number of teams competing at this tournament. The recently formed Grave Diggers were back with a vengeance after showing great potential in Carrick-on-Shannon. However the league was dominated again by the two leading teams, DCU and PFJ. Once again they fought for dominance in the finals. On this occasion success lay with PFJ who took home first prize, with DCU runners up.
Division 1 involved the usual suspects with Bray Heads missing on this occasion. While the lower rounds featured scratch matches and exhibitionist performances for the cameras, things got serious for the final. Again South Coast Coolers met old rivals Carnage and despite being two goals down at half time, fought back to win by three goals in the end. Third prize was collected by Grove, Belfast.
Thanks to all who helped in organising the competition, particularly the girls from the squad and Tom Colton who did the schedule.


Belfast Polo Competition
The first round of the National League was held in Belfast on the week-end of the 12th/13th of April. The numbers of teams was up on last year with 19 teams taking part. Overall it was a great success, with Carnage for the second year in succession being the overall winners in the first division. They beat South Coast Coolers in a tight final coming back from a 3-1 deficit at half time to win the match by 5-3. Vinnie 'Lucky' Pierce managed to fluke a ball into the back of the net from over half way to seal the victory. Limavady from Northern Ireland won the Div. 2 title after beating the Irish Ladies A team in the final by two goals to nil and the third division title was won by a team from Dublin City University on their first attendance at the event.. Thanks to all those that organised and helped run the competition especially Ronan and Pete O'Boyle from Grove Canoe Club.

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