Ireland play Biberach Biberach were host to the Irish Senior Men’s team in March. Players based in Ireland joined their European based players for a weekend of handball.
The final match was the best performance from Ireland. Biberach A had placed second in their league, qualifying them for the promotion playoffs. They were keen to prove their superiority.
Although the contingent was small, an intensive weekend of training and matches was planned. The town had only played as hosts to a visiting Irish club team the previous week.
Due to contractual commitments, some of the European based players had to return early to their clubs. This left Ireland without substitutes. Despite this both teams were neck and neck for the first half.
The first match was played against the B squad in the club. Though the match was close near the beginning, Ireland ran out as winners by a comfortable five goal margin.
Jump shot from Kevin
The next match was played against the ex-pros in the club. The pros took an early lead in this match while Ireland lost concentration. However Ireland began to put their mark on the game in the second half. The teams traded goal for goal for a time but Ireland succeeded in narrowing the gap to just one goal with less than five minutes to go. Some steady play in the final minutes with solid defence saw Ireland edge ahead and then seal with the victory in the last minutes with a flurry of goals. The match ended with a second win for Ireland.
A brief period at the start of the second half saw Ireland slip five goals behind. Strong play in the final fifteen minutes narrowed this gap to just one goal. In the dying minutes Ireland could not regain possession and narrowly lost Senad on line by two goals.
Eoin in action
IOHA Newsletter #6:March 2010
Scotland visit Ireland
U13 Girls Plate
Scotland visited Ireland on the weekend of 20th March for an exchange of ideas and matches.
The results from the U13 Girls’ Plate played in St. Paul’s Park on the 5th March are as follows.
Scotland brought a fine squad of players including some who had been part of the Olympic programme for GB and some junior players as well. Ireland used the weekend as training purposes for some of the junior boys, aiding their development and integration into the senior squad. The first match saw Ireland beat Scotland 38-36.
U13 Girls' Plate
Ireland & Scotland
The second match was a trickier affair. While Ireland took an early eight goal lead in the first twelve minutes, good play by Scotland and a complete change of team saw an erosion of Ireland’s lead. The gap was narrowed to one goal by half-time. Scotland continued their assault in the second half, Ireland stemmed the tide for a time but in the end the game slipped in Scotland’s favour. The final score was Ireland 27-34 Scotland. A great weekend was had by all, both sides gaining invaluable experience for their young players.
Ireland on match day
St. Brendan's
2- 4
St. Peter's
Corduff
7- 4
Blessington
St. Kevin's
7- 6
St. Brendan's
St. Peter's
2- 2
Corduff
Blessington
7- 2
St. Kevin's
St. Brendan's
3 - 10
Corduff
St. Peter's
1- 3
Blessington
St. Kevin's
7- 8
Corduff
St. Brendan's
1- 8
Blessington
St. Peter's
4- 2
St. Kevin's
Both Corduff and Blessington were equal on points at the end of the day’s fantastic matches, but Corduff placed first having beat Blessington in an earlier match. St. Peter’s were third. U13 Girls' Plate Final Standing Team Pts 1st Corduff 7 2nd Blessington 7 3rd St. Peter's 5 IOHA Newsletter #6:March 2010
John A. F. Furlong The Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games recently finished and were declared the best ever. The man behind these games was Irishman and VANOC C.E.O. John Furlong. Ireland can be very proud of his achievements but a little known fact about John is that he scored Irelands 1st goal in International Handball. The venue for this goal was Naples at the C World Championships in 1984.
To celebrate John's success with the Vancouver games the IOHA are proud to announce the creation of the "John Furlong Perpetual Trophy". The trophy will be presented to the winners of a schools tournament to take place in Tallaght later this month. "I am delighted and honoured to have the opportunity to put my name to two trophies dedicated to Olympic handball excellence and achievement in Ireland. … It is important always to remember one’s roots. Olympic handball in Ireland began in Tallaght and I was fortunate to be there at the birth of this great international Olympic sport and to be part of the first ever Irish Olympic Handball international team. I have always had very happy memories of our time training together in Tallaght and I am delighted to give something back to the community that gave me so much. Tallaght has grown immensely over the years and the spirit of Olympic handball remains strong there today.
I look forward to the young Olympic handball players in secondary schools in Tallaght battling it out for the “John Furlong Perpetual Trophy.” Finally, all Olympic sports deserve their rightful place on the curriculum, at all levels of the education system, particularly in Colleges of Education and Physical Education colleges. It is the responsibility of educators to give the widest possible choice of sports to young people. Every child should know and feel the pleasure of sport – Olympic handball included. I hope to hear, in the years to come, of the continued development of this fine Olympic sport, in Ireland, which has successfully taken root in primary schools and communities throughout the island. Yours in Sport John A.F. Furlong"
John A. F Furlong
IOHA Newsletter #6:March 2010
Ballinteer Community School
School showdown
O’Carolan’s College
Handball or Balonmano as it is known in Spain is a popular sport. With one of the top leagues in the world and a popular sport in PE. Ballinteer played against the visiting Spanish students.
Ballinteer and Drimnagh Castle competed in the final leg of the competition between these two teams.
Ballinteer and O’Carolan’s college from Meath played off in a number of matches. U14 and U16s matches were played for boys and girls, an excellent day was had by everyone. A special thanks goes to the teachers who executed an excellent event. The U16 girls are pictured below which ended with a win for Ballinteer at 12-4.
An internal school blitz was organised within Ballinteer on 12th February.
Drimnagh Castle
Pre-Match Ballinteer v O’Carolan’s College Ballinteer Community School
There was great excitement at the match which ended with a victory for Drimnagh Castle. The final score was 30-26. IOHA Newsletter #6:March 2010
Glitz Blitz Finale Thursday March 4th, Ballinteer Community School saw the culmination of the girls’ handball season in Dublin. Throughout the year we have had a huge input from some schools in relation to “Girls in Sport” and the IOHA has backed this up with coaching and refereeing. Every first Wednesday of every month saw a host of schools take part in ‘Glitz Blitz’, a moniker given by the girls themselves and many schools sent players even though they did not have full teams themselves. It is a pity that a sport that so favourably suits young women is not being taken up, but many girls have made it their number 1 sport and train hard and play hard in competition. Schools from Terenure, Tallaght, Firhouse and Meath all apologised for not being able to make it, but the four teams that did certainly made up for that with some exceptional matches. Another Blitz for girls (non-competitive friendly) involving both Meath teams has been organised for next week.
Also a revival of the Tallaght Tournament is on the cards for eight school teams in the Tallaght area. However today was about St. Paul’s (three times all-Ireland Champions in as many years), Ballinteer Community School and Coláiste de hÍde with two teams. A round robin system was played followed by play-offs. The results from the round robin were as follows. Ballinteer CS St. Paul's Ballinteer CS Col de hÍde (A) Col de hÍde (A) Col de hÍde (B)
Glitz Blitz 2 - 6 Col de hÍde (A) 11 - 2 Col de hÍde (B) 5 - 10 St. Paul's 10 - 2 Col de hÍde (B) 7 - 10 St. Paul's 0 - 5 Ballinteer CS
The St. Paul’s girls were very lucky to beat them first time around and although they were cruising the second time 5 – 0 up, they started to lose control and if the game had gone for another five minutes we might have had a different champion. As it was St. Paul’s are once again Dublin Champions and can look forward to another great day out at All-Ireland time.
3rd/ 4th Final
Final Matches Glitz Blitz Col. de Ballinteer 1 - 6 hÍde (B) CS Col. de St. Paul's 8 - 6 hÍde (A)
The final and the round robin matches between Coláiste de hÍde and St. Paul’s were the best two matches of the day and the girls from the all-Irish school showed how far they have come in a very short space of time having just begun handball last year. Glitz Blitz Tournament
IOHA Newsletter #6:March 2010