GAA News - Alberta: GO Chieftains GO!
By RONAN DEANE
Photo Courtesy of: Calgary Chieftains Gaelic Football Club
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FORT MCMURRAY - After two months of Stanley Cup fever in Calgary with the Flames' amazing play-offs run, Gaelic football hit Cowtown with a wallop on June 19. The heroics of Iginla, Commodore and Mikka Kiprusoff were put to one side and the "good ol' football" game took centre stage at the 2004 Calgary Gaelic football tournament.
The teams came from far and wide and on Friday night at the Calgary Irish Rugby Clubhouse, the tournament draw was made. Representatives from the Calgary Chieftains and Kangaroos, the Edmonton Wolfe Tones and the Vancouver Harps drew from the hat and the teams finally knew who their opponents would be on Saturday. As usual, the teams mingled and strengthened the already good relationships in western Canadian Gaelic football circles.
With GAA membership secured by each club (except the Kangaroos, obviously) last year, the Western Division of the Canadian County Board was preparing for its first championship. Small steps leading to big rewards.
The western championship this year, piggy-backs off the tournaments already in place. Played out over two tournament week-ends, the championship is to be a league format with Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver playing each other twice (once in Calgary and once in Vancouver on July 31). The Calgary tournament was where the championship would start. And what a start!
Unfortunately the Vancouver women's team were unable to make this one, but it was the Edmonton women's team who put out a warning that they fully intend to be the dominant team in the west this year. Their free flowing football, hard tackling, and clinical finishing will be a terrifying proposition for any team to handle. Ainsley Baldwin and Kyna Kowalchuk were attacking machines.
Veterans Danielle Bodnarek and Colleen Whelehan tied up the Calgary attack. Calgary had some success with Laura Olson goaling, Cindy Chalmers playing a blinder and new girls, Bridgit, Pauline and Jody giving it their all. Edmonton currently lead the western championship but they will have to be on their game when they meet Calgary again, and Vancouver in White Rock this coming August long week-end if they are to stay at the top of the championship table.
In the men’s championship (and tournament) things were an awful lot tighter. Vancouver played out two very hotly contested games against both Edmonton and Calgary, being just pipped in each game. Their usual stars played great stuff with Sean Minagh, Shane Donnelly, and a Scot, Jimmy Ritchie, causing all sorts of concern for their opponents. They may have felt hard done by to have no points after those two games but Vancouver will have been very happy with the Calgary-Edmonton result.
It’s a cliché at this point, but when Calgary and Edmonton meet, the gods of Gaelic football start to smile. The final encounter of the round-robin, the first game of the western championship between western Canada's heavyweights, only enhanced that point of view. Gavin McInnie and Emmett Keenan caused some early problems, but Calgary were able to get some scores at the other end with Deno McCallion in superb form.
New Calgary lads, Ben Lambert and Tim Hamill, were taking it to Edmonton through the middle, but Mick O Toole and John O Connor showed their experience in staving off most advances. How could these two teams be separated? The simple answer; they couldn't be! A draw was the outcome.
The round-robin games involving the Australians were not championship matches, but did decide the Calgary tournaments semi-final standings. The Kangaroos, having played more football this year with the round ball, were taking the game to their opponents. As they say themselves, they just want to get that ball and when Troy Rose was charged into by Phil Henderson of the Chieftains, somebody was going to get hurt. But it wasn't Troy. Phil's ribs will heal; but there might have been some psychological damage.
Calgary Chieftains (9) 0 9 v 1 1 (4) Vancouver Harps
Calgary Kangaroos (4) 1 1 v 6 6 (24) Edmonton Wolfe Tones
Calgary Chieftains (14) 2 8 v 1 4 (7) Calgary Kangaroos
Vancouver Harps (7) 2 1 v 1 7 (10) Edmonton Wolfe Tones
Edmonton Wolfe Tones (15) 2 9 v 1 12 (15) Calgary Chieftains
Calgary Kangaroos (4) 0 4 v 3 6 (15) Vancouver Harps
So to Saturday night and the session. There was entertaining banter, lots of skin, and some very energetic dancing. As always with a congregation of drinking Irishmen and women, there were tonnes of questions. Who would produce the goods the following afternoon? Where was the Fort McMurray team? Where was Fort McMurray? What time would the bar close at? Where the hell were we?
Sunday came and some of the teams turned up for their games. These were to be the deciding matches. However, the Kangaroos were unable to find their players and the Chieftains girls had been decimated with injuries. Eventually the Calgary Chieftains and Vancouver Harps players took to the field for the men’s semi-final. A match up with the Edmonton Wolfe Tones, the round-robin table toppers would await the winners.
Now after the first half nothing separated the sides. But then Deno and Adrian Lagan started to strut their stuff. Doug Maynard finally showed up to shore up the Chieftains defence. Mark Hoey, between the posts, was inspirational. Chris Cyr and Paul Stack fought back from the Harps back line. Calgary had just enough to take it to set the stage for one of the most dramatic finals in western Canadian tournament history.
Calgary Chieftains (15) 1 12 v 1 4 (7) Vancouver Harps
Now as mentioned earlier, the Gaelic Football gods become involved whenever Edmonton and Calgary meet, because this final had everything. Sublime skill, great scores, coolness under pressure, tough calls, and oodles of controversy.
After about six minutes of flowing football with some great scores, the saga began in earnest. Deno McCallion, the tormentor, got pulled down in the area. A penalty, and duly, Deno put it away. Calgary had an edge, but they also had the wind, in this first half.
Then they got a man advantage. In a moment of confusion in the Edmonton defence, with Deno again involved, the whistle blew, another penalty was awarded and an Edmonton player was given his marching orders. Any team would be devastated by such a turn of events but the Edmonton Wolfe Tones are not just ANY team.
Chris Mooney decided that no-one was going to get the better of him from the penalty spot, stopping this one. At half time Calgary led by 3-4 to 1-1. The second half was one-way traffic, with Calgary under the cosh for long periods. There were three more penalties in this half. Two for Edmonton which Gavin McInnie blasted past Chris Kane.
And one more for Calgary, but remember Chris Mooney wasn’t leaving any more penalties past him. It looked like Edmonton had the game wrapped, but again there was a twist. A speculative kick-in by Ben Lambert of Calgary to Ted Beales eluded Ted who gave chase, and in the resulting confusion, the ball, defying all the laws of physics, found its way into the net. The game ended and everyone ran to the ref. Calgary had edged it by one goal. That Goal!!
No STANLEY CUP this year, but Calgary won the BIG ONE.
Calgary Chieftains (18) 4 6 v 3 6 (15) Edmonton Wolfe Tones
This was a tournament that for Vancouver the only thing more impressive than their new kit, was the number of players that traveled with them; that for Edmonton, a fine ladies team stamped their class on the week-end, and their men showed that it’s only a tip of a ball that can beat them; and that for Calgary, the sobering notion that their recent supremacy in the region has only been maintained by a fortunate bounce. Out of all the impressive displays this week-end, Cindy Chalmers took the ladies MVP and Gavin McInnie took the men’s.
We look forward to more great football in Edmonton on July 10 and 11 and then Vancouver on the August week-end. See you there…
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