It was another clean sweep for Australasia on day three of the World Games as each of the six team progressed to the cup knockout stages.
Results
Open women’s football
Australasia 2-8 – 1-1 Asia
Australasia 2-8 – 0-3 Parnells
International women’s football
Australasia 6-4 – 0-0 Galicia Blue
Australasia 4-5 – 0-1 Brittany
Open men’s football
Australasia 7-5 – 0-0 Iberia
Australasia 1-6 – 1-3 Middle East
International men’s football
Australasia 1-6 – 0-2 France Red
Australasia 1-5 – 0-4 Iberia
Camogie
Australasia 8-5 – 0-1 Britain 1
Australasia 5-6 – 0-1 Europe
Hurling
Australasia 6-18 – 0-5 Asia
Australasia 4-16 – 0-3 Benelux
Round-ups
Open women’s football
Our Irish-born women’s football team powered into the cup semi-final with two more wins on day three of the competition. Asia were first up at 9.30am and offered quite the resistance to our girls’ attacking threat, but eventually ours ladies’ incessant pressure in defence and their fast running in attack took its toll, as we landed 2-8 to Asia’s 1-1 to earn the win.
The team weren’t in action again until 5pm, and this match-up against Parnells was billed the as game of the day by patrons around Owenbeg. And with good reason – having defeated us in the 2016 final, and us gaining redemption in the 2019 showdown, it was bound to bring fireworks. After a tense opening few minutes – which unfortunately saw Siobhán Greevy suffer a nasty shoulder injury – again, our forward line was too hot to handle for the Londoners. Ciara Burke, like she’s been all week, was a menace in the inside forward line and landed the first goal of the game with a cool finish. Maud-Annie Foley continued her dominating midfield displays, while Jade O’Donnell’s powerful runs from deep were having a great impact, one of which ended with Jade deftly chipping the ball over the Parnells custodian to add a second goal before the short whistle. The second half was managed well, and up front Andrea O’Reilly tacked on a few scores, with Aisling Bourke, Laura Gallagher and Cassie Moane resolute in defence, limiting Parnells to three points.
Tomorrow, the girls face Asia in the semi-final and they’ll be looking to reach their fourth successive World Games final. More importantly, however, we wish Siobhán Greevy our very best and hope for a speedy recovery.
International women’s football
Our international women’s footballers earned two more convincing wins on day three of the World Games. In the first game the ladies scored 7-7 to 0-0 for Galicia Blue. It took the team a few minutes to get going but once we did, we built up an unassailable lead once again.
In the second game of the day we beat Brittany by 4-8 to 0-1. In very wet conditions, the team battled well to finish the group in top spot, while scoring an unbelievable 26-43 and conceding a mere 0-2. The draw has left the team with a quarter-final game against Galicia White on day four.
Open men’s football
Two more wins for our Irish-born footballers on day three means they’re the first of Australasia’s teams to book their spot in a final at Celtic Park on Friday. In the first game, the lads overcame the challenge of Iberia on a scoreline of 5-7 to 0-0. Over the course of the 18 mins we had stand-out performances from Stefan McKenna, Seán McSweeney and Conor Ffrench.
The second game was a much tighter affair where we were up against our main rivals for the World Games title – Middle East. Thankfully, we got off on the front foot with strong midfield performances from Liam Casey and Evan Scanlon. Diarmuid Larkin controlled the tempo throughout, while Aaron McCarney landed what would be a decisive goal before the break to bring us in 1-2 to 0-3 ahead at half-time.
With very wet underfoot conditions, we tagged on a few more points before Middle East pipped a goal late in the second half following a good interception. They scored another point to leave the scores 1-6 to 1-3; however, the lads showed great game management to run down the clock and see out a three-point win. Best on the day was Conor Ffrench, who played superbly in goals, while out the field Diarmuid Larkin had a very solid game. It’s a day’s rest for the team on Thursday, and they’ll need it as they seek to avenge 2019’s final loss against Middle East in this Friday’s final.
International men’s football
Our international men’s football team had a successful day three in Owenbeg, with two wins from two to follow on nicely from Tuesday’s results. The painful lessons from day one have been well learned, most notably with no goal conceded in the last four matches. In the morning, the lads beat a very competitive France Red side by 1-6 to 0-2. This was a great all-round performance by the team who were in control of the game all the way through. Jack Keynes worked tirelessly throughout and won a huge amount of possession that drove us on to victory.
In the second game, the lads beat a very spirited Iberia team by 1-5 to 0-4. This was an sub-par performance in some ways but Johnny Pegoraro was the key man in possession, and from placed balls, to secure the victory. The guys are greatly anticipating the quarter-final on day four versus Galicia White. It should be a ripper.
Camogie
Our camógs continued their impressive form with two wins from two today. They started off with a comprehensive victory over Britain 1, winning 8-5 to 0-1.
The second game of the day was against Europe, and it was another big win for the girls, 5-6 to 0-1. The Europe team, however, were much sharper than the final score suggests; their forwards and midfield testing our team throughout the game. The sides face off again in tomorrow’s semi-final, and it’s sure to be a more competitive game with a final berth on Friday at stake.
Hurling
The hurlers added two more wins on day three of the competition. Asia were the opponents in the first game, which saw Jack Commins score two decisive goals in the first half. The team won comprehensively in the end, pulling away even further thanks in large part to fantastic cohesion in defence – Kevin Hetherton and Jamie O’Dywer in goal leading the line from the back.
The lads provided the gift of perfect hurling with a scoring spree throughout the second game against Benelux. Ger Fennelly was pushed up to midfield and this proved pivotal to the team’s victory. His pace and power was unmatched and he was able to act as a springboard for all attacks. Once again, the defence didn’t concede a goal, their dogged work rate coming to the fore. Every player showed great determination and focus to win every game played so in the competition. Tomorrow morning sees a final group game against Middle East followed by a semi-final in the afternoon (opposition TBC).
Day 1 round-up – Monday 24 July Day 2 round-up – Tuesday 25 July
