Planes, trains and automobiles later, we arrived at the grounds rearing to go.

Up first was the match against Orang Éire. Tactics - our very littlies Ciara, Shannon and Calum would sub in and out! Nerves were frayed as by half time the Malaysian team had the better of us.  The cubs were not happy.

Toward the end of the match all hope was gone.  Malaysia whipped their furry butts.

Down in the dumps and under shade of the tent, tensions were high. A team talk was needed.  New tactics were brought into play. Jelly snakes were passed around and calm reigned.

The next match was looking a bit scary.  The Aussies were tough.  Boys with big boots that could knock a goalie into next week! Fuad was put in command of our goal.  Jake taken out up front and Alice put back into defence. Our three six year olds couldn’t get enough time on the pitch. If left un supervised, the once reluctant Shannon kept marching on to the pitch to help Ciara.  Páraic was brought on to the sideline to help control the dramas. Seána, Asha, Eli and Caitlin worked the ball up the pitch. Tyrell played through the pain. Dom sat on someone’s head. Brilliant!

The match was a cracker.  The Cubs drew.  Honour was restored.

Despite not getting in to the finals, the cubs held their heads up high as they knew they had played a blinder.

Delighted with themselves, most of us headed back to the hotel for some R &R by the pool.

Fuad headed off with family to visit relatives, Jake, Asha, Caitlin and Shannon had a date with friends from KL and it was agreed that we would meet later at the Hardrock café where they proceeded to run amock with the staff and inhale as many helium balloons as they could get their hands on. A wise decision not to inflict them on the awards dinner!

Delighted with their medals and fabulous SEA games t-shirts they all trotted off in delight to bed.

Happy memories of Gaelic games in Asia. Thanks to the organisers, Órang Éire for hosting, Asian County Board and Gaelic Lions and the parents for their participation.

**

LADIES REPORT

Well lets just say we did not quite bring home the silverware on this occasion and on top of that there was absolutely NOOOO scandal!!! What you want details??? OK if we must!

We faced off against the very impressive Orang Eire ladies in our first match.  Considering we had a brand spanking coach, only 0 - 1 training sessions under our belt and were feilding a new outfit in some interesting positions (no not the ones you are thinking of Joe), we actually faired OK going down by 1 point.  Marti stepped up to the challenge in goal, whilst our fearless defenders Megan, Deidre, Carolyn and Bla put the KL attackers under constant pressure. Tessa ran herself till her face matched her uniform in midfield and the forwards Clare, Cassie and Siorse capitalised when they were given the rare chance!!

Game two against the virgins from Thailand was most enjoyable... probably down to the fact that we won! Fair play to the thai girls who were for the most part giving the game a crack for the very first time.  They had some interseting defensive (tackle) moves but were apologetic when reminded that we were playing GAA and not rugby!!!

Now to the final.... um... we lost.. by a large margin....after which we realised that big saturday nights and sunday brunches would be a thing of the past as hell do we need loads of training between now and October!! Huge congrats to the ladies from Orang Eire for a superb perfomance all around and a well deserved tournament win... and what nice lads they were to play against by day and enjoy the craic with by night!

Big thanks to coach Hatchell for wrangling us  - we look forward to a successful season ahead!

Mens Report - TBC