Munich was our next port of call for our tournament excursions with the third round of the European Hurling and Camogie Championships 2024. We sent a full camogie team while our hurlers joined up once again with our friends from Leuven for the day.
Laura, Kat, Killian, Oisín Brennan, Eoin, Jan, Sebastian, Anto, Alanna, Alex, Annie, Annika, Svenja, Julia, and Phoebe were the Celts who represented us here.
These reports come from our hurling coach, Jan Stolle and club PRO, Katharina Breuer:
- The Hurling Tournament Report – Jan Stolle
- The Afters
- The Camogie Tournament Report – from Katharina Breuer (Club PRO)
The Hurling Tournament Report – Jan Stolle
Most of our players travelled by train on Friday afternoon to Munich and stayed in a hostel very close to the central station. We are lucky to have our chairperson, Laura, organising such accommodation in the background.
Going down on Friday evening allowed many of our camogie and hurling players to meet for dinner and explore a bit of Munich. Hurling tournaments like this allow many of us to discover new cities, and Munich opens up many possibilities to get Bavarian beer and food. Since my sister lives and works in Munich, I had the opportunity to meet her and spend the evening with her having dinner.
Of course, it was the evening of the big football match in Euro 2024—Germany versus Spain. I happened to watch the first half on the train because it was running late. The train provided quite good Wi-Fi, so we could watch the live stream. Although Germany lost, we were all in good spirits for the next day.
Getting to the Tournament and Teaming with Leuven
Now, the tournament, and especially the camogie tournament, started quite early, as they had their first match at 8:30 in the morning. The hurling tournament started at nine. We had our first match at 9:30, which was a bit more manageable. We met up with many of the players along the way as we travelled to the location. Anyone would have recognised the Irish lads straightaway, with white and pale Irish legs and all of them applying lots of sunscreen. Now, with the sun beating down on the day, it really was necessary that day, but it was funny.
So, we took the UBahn train out to the pitch, and everything was well organised. We had all our matches take place on a grass pitch, which was really, really nice because the weather was extremely hot, even at 9:30 in the morning. It was very, very hot, and we all suffered from the heat. We needed lots of water, which was supplied, but of course, our energy levels dropped immediately after playing a bit of hurling, and everyone needed more water.
We were placed in Group 4, which included Munich B, Stuttgart/Eindhoven, and Vienna/Darmstadt. This was a tough group, but it included teams and players we had faced many times before.
Once again, as in Amsterdam, we teamed up with Leuven, which was a good experience. We expected six players from Leuven, but they only had four show up, and this meant we were only ten players in the beginning. Fr m our side, it was Eoin from Dusseldorf, Oisín Brennan, Sebastian, Killian, myself (Jan) and Anto. As I learned later, two of the Leuven players flew in directly from Dublin via London, showing some commitment! They had to transfer from Heathrow to Stansted on the way, take a flight to Munich, and then take a taxi out to the pitch, making them miss the first two matches. That is a commitment to the cause!
The Matches Start
Cologne/Leuven 3:02 Munich B 0:06
Our first match pitted us against Munich B, and this felt like a must-win game because we knew there would be tougher matches as the tournament progressed. Ultimately, we beat them comfortably, but it was a tough fight. Munich B isn’t a bad team, but we were lucky enough to score two goals in the first half, which gave us a comfortable lead and also gave us the confidence we needed. We were good in this match. In the end, we won by a scoreline of 3:02 (11 points) to 0:06. Again showing that although we knew Munich was the must-win game, they put up a great fight!
Cologne/Leuven 2:01 Eindhoven/Stuttgart 5:06
Our second match had us face the strength of Eindhoven and Stuttgart. We have become very familiar with Eindhoven in recent years, with them becoming a regular feature of our Francie O’Connor Cup Competition. We were in good spirits and were hoping to get another win in the group stage. We knew Eindhoven had some very good players, but we put it up to them in the first half. We went in relatively evenly; they may have been two points ahead at half-time, but we were in with a shout of winning it. We stood our ground and had a really competitive game. Ho ever, in the second half, Eindhoven showed their quality, and they scored a couple of goals. Go ls win games, and it proved to be the case here, as they won out by 5:06 (21) to 2:01 (7).
The scoreline was a bit harsh on us, but Eindhoven possesses that quality. They can really put other teams to the sword when they get a run at them.
Cologne/Leuven 1:05 (8) Vienna/Darmstadt 0:09 (9)
Our final group stage match put us up against Vienna with a few players from Darmstadt. Darmstadt came without a full team this time, which is very unusual. Typically, Darmstadt is excellent for sending entire teams.
We lost this match by a point even though we led at halftime with two points, and then somehow, we gave it away. Maybe it was because we had already played two full matches with only ten players, and then the support came in too late from the additional lads from Leuven. They more or less jumped in without warming up into this match midway through the first half, giving us well-needed breaks. But they may have been a bit undercooked because of the lack of a warm-up. However, whatever the reason, we couldn’t avoid losing by a point in the Vienna match. Vienna/Darmstadt deserved their victory, but this felt like one that we should have come away from with a better result.
The Break between Matches
With one win and two defeats, we were in the Plate competition. However, we had a long, long break before that semi-final for the Plate. There was a planned lunch break anyway, but the schedule somehow got mixed up, and there was a general delay, which led to the really long break. It was more than two hours long, and we had to umpire for two matches during this time. Having this break in the heat wasn’t very easy.
The good thing about it was we had to umpire a match involving the Switzerland team, and this team had some great Irish players. One of them, we were told, played at an inter-county level as an underage player on a minor team (under-18 level). His skills and ability to score points from everywhere on the pitch and just beat his defender was remarkable, and it was great to watch him. We also had a nice little chat afterwards with him, and he was very decent, humble, and friendly to talk to.
Plate Semi-Final: Cologne/Leuven 0:06 (6) Setanta/Berlin/Dresden 1:04 (7)
We started very confidently in our match against a Berlin and Dresden amalgamation. We now had a full lineup, we had every player from Leuven, and we had enough substitutes and enough energy. The two young lads who came in from Dublin hadn’t played that much up to that point, so they were all in the starting lineup, and we were all motivated, and we started well. We scored a couple of points and had a good advantage on Berlin. We were up by two at halftime and went into the second half, but the match somehow slipped from our hands.
A bad bounce of the ball, a bit of poor positioning on our part, and a little flick on the sliotar put it beyond Sebastian in the goal. A devastating blow! It was the decisive score of the match, as without it, maybe we would have come away with a victory and a place in the Plate Final. This match was one that got away from us, and we were a bit disappointed to have lost to it… especially due to a lapse in concentration…
It meant that the match was over for us, which was a little bit disappointing because, at this time, we had great support from our camogie players, who were at a sideline cheering on us and supporting us with all they had, shouting and giving everything their voices had left. But in the end, unfortunately, it didn’t help and, well, that’s the way it is
There was supposed to be a third/fourth-place playoff, but the weather conditions prevented this. Following the heat of the day and the oncoming thunderstorm, there was little desire to play that match, and instead, we decided to head to the bar to watch the football match, England v Switzerland. After hurling all day in the summer heat, we all needed some refreshment!
Our Team Formation and Performance
Our team lineup more or less stayed the way it was throughout the tournament. Sebastian played in goal all tournament because he had a little injury. He said he didn’t feel comfortable running too much and did great in goals. He made one spectacular diving save, which you would see on every highlight tape if it was in the hurling league in Ireland. Apart from this, he was excellent and calm, which is brilliant to have as a goalkeeper. He needs further improvement on his puckouts, and he will be a great option as a goalkeeper.
Then we started with Jan and a lad from Leuven in the back line, and Eoin also played in the backline but switched to midfield when needed. Eoin was as great as ever. He is such a good hurler; making plays, dominating the pitch, and playing alongside him gives confidence to some of our less experienced players. Players know they can rely on Eoin in challenging moments. Unfortunately, he missed a few frees/scores, but that doesn’t change anything about his outstanding performance.
Then we had Oisín and Dara from Leuven in midfield, and Kilian and two other lads from Leuven were full forwards. And, of course, we had Anto more or less everywhere. He played in the forward line but also in the back line later. Oisín did great as well in midfield and as a fullback. He was excellent defensively, and he did a lot of running. Kilian found the temperatures challenging and struggled with the heat but supported us wherever possible.
He wasn’t the only one to suffer on that front. Anto had to fight with blurry vision, which he sometimes experiences on hot days. However, Anto was still able to do „Anto-things“. He scored some incredible points and goals. He played really well, considering the heat difficulties.
The Afters
After the tournament, we returned to refresh ourselves and watch the Euros. This was needed! Later, we went to the Augustiner Brauhaus in the city centre of Munich, where the dinner would take place in the awards ceremony. Well done to Munich for organising such a well-run event, as they had a separate room organised for us, and there were about 100 players. They had many great Bavarian specialities available, such as Schweinbraten and Käsespätzle. These were great for the meat eaters among us, but it was a bit more difficult for the vegetarians and the vegans among us. Of course, it was possible to order some lovely Bavarian beers. Many of the Irish players sat there and ordered mass glasses instead of the usual pint (half-litre) glasses. When in Munich.
Of course, the award ceremony where Kat, as captain of the camogie team, could receive the trophy for the Shield, which the camogie players won and which is an outstanding achievement, I think, and especially for those with all the Erasmus players who will leave us this summer, unfortunately, and who contributed quite a bit to this great success and which gave us something more to celebrate. We had a great time celebrating the Camogie Shield win, and yeah, we had a good night of music and entertainment. That is all part of going out to tournaments as part of the team.
Postscript: We met Alan and Bernadette Hogan from Cork, who were with us in Cologne in 2020/21 during the pandemic. Unfortunately, they never had an official match with us due to the Covid restrictions, but they are now in Switzerland. So he came with the team from Switzerland, and we had the chance to chat with him for quite some time. It was great meeting with him, as he had fond memories of being in Cologne. Hopefully, we will see him in Cologne again someday!
The Camogie Tournament Report – from Katharina Breuer (Club PRO)
We each made our way separately down to Munich on Friday, and I was really proud that we sent a whole camogie team! This shows the dedication of our camógs, many of whom started playing just last year. The team consisted of Laura in goal, Alex, Annie, and Annika in the backs, Julia, Phoebe, and Svenja in midfield, and Alanna and Kat as forwards. I think we played really well.
Munich A 4:06 (18) Cologne 2:02 (8)
We started the tournament with a game against Munich A. Even though we lost, we found our way to play on for the day. It was a great start to the tournament. And with already 21 degrees at 8:30, we knew the heat could be a challenge (for everyone) too.
Paris 5:06 (21) Cologne 3:07 (16)
We did really well in our second game, too. Sadly, we also lost this one but kept fighting and were competitive until the final whistle.
Along with our great Erasmus squad, Alex and Alanna, we definitely need to mention a goal from Julia! She took her chance, and although the Paris goalkeeper got a touch to it, the sliotar went in. Another great play worth mentioning was a lovely pass from Phoebe to Svenja, who was standing just in a perfect spot to score a point, which she did!
Hamburg 6:08 (26) Cologne 1:02 (5)
The biggest loss was our third game against Hamburg. We were still competitive but struggled to find our rhythm, especially in the first half. It was not the best performance from our side, obviously, but I also can’t recall why we struggled that much. But we always look at the bright side, which is more game time for our relatively new players!
Vienna/Setanta/Darmstadt/Vikings 6:03 (21) Cologne 5:05 (20)
In the fourth game, we had a comeback and scored some points and goals. Due to Laura getting injured, we needed to make some changes in our play, which took us out of our comfort zone, of course, but we didn’t give up and fought to the last second again. Sadly, it wasn’t enough in the end to win that one. It was so much fun playing this game. It was so competitive and evenly matched, and we had some great passing combinations!
Cologne 7:03 (24) Munich B 3:04 (13)
Our last game was against Munich B, and it was the Shield Final. Again, it was great fun, great battles, some great plays, and finally, a well-deserved win! My personal highlight of that game was my goal in the last seconds. Alanna went for a goal from quite a distance. The Munich goalkeeper smacked it down and sent it my way. Not scoring that day would have broken my streak.
We won the shield! 🏆
The whole tournament was well organised, the beautiful grass pitches were great to play on, and we had a great time.
After dinner, we (with our friends from Leuven) went to Killian’s to celebrate the trophy and the day in general. We might have had one or two drinks there. Rumours are that even Jan stayed until late, had shots, and danced! I might have seen Baby Guinnesses coming our way, and whiskey was drunk out of the cup (I swear I thought it was apple juice).
Our second pub was the Scholar Lounge, which was a short walk away. Even though Laura says she walked with Eoin, no one remembers seeing him in the pub, but he was picked up on our way home and saved all our Sundays by providing ibuprofen like a drug dealer on a busy Friday night. We had a great time in the Scholar Lounge; there might have been a proposal (which hasn’t been answered yet), maybe a few more drinks, fun and dancing. It was an enjoyable bonding night, and we all returned safely to the hostel.
This tournament was another memorable occasion where our players represented us with distinction. The year is not over yet, as our teams will soon be contesting the German Football Cup and the rest of the European Hurling and Camogie rounds – next stop, Vienna!
If you would like to get involved with the Cologne Celtics, please make sure to contact us directly on the website or via our social media channels. We are always looking for new players and members to get involved with us.
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