Taipei, Taiwan
A blisteringly hot September Saturday in Taipei was the venue for the Taiwan Celt’s 30th Anniversary Invitational Tournament. Hosted to commemorate 30 years of GAA in Taiwan (and Asia) and the legacy left behind by Derek Brady, the competition featured teams from Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and Seoul.
Singapore were represented by 1 mens team (the trip mostly used as an excuse to sample (a lot of) the local Taiwan 18 days beer) and added 4 ladies to a combined team of Taiwan/Japan/Singapore. A 9am throw in 40 degree heat couldn’t deter a visit to the local speakeasy to stock up on ‘hydration’ the night before. Michael Neary the leader on and off the pitch it would seem.
Men’s Team:
Back: Michael Neary (captain), Darren Harte, Duncan Moore, Derek Cahill, Darragh Burke, Éanna Reilly
Front: Andy Mulligan, Dan Kinney, Conor Walsh, Cillian Reilly, Paddy Bourke, Aaron Rath
Ladies Team:
Back: Arie Wijayanti (3rd from left), Karen Mulligan (5th from left)
Front: Norfazilah (Fuzzy) Sowtali (3rd from left), Sinead Kennedy (5th from left)
The men’s first game was against Taiwan As and the late night was showing. A slow start saw the game finish in a draw. The second game was against Taiwan Vets which was a very one sided affair for the SGL. The semi final was against the Liam O’Mahony inspired Tokyo GAA team. True to form, Liam was nursing several injuries in each limb but felt he was needed on the pitch to inspire Japan across the line. It didn’t work. Singapore ran out the winners to face their old nemesis, Seoul Gaels, in the final.
A detour for some light comic relief at this point. Special mentions to Andy Mulligan for arriving late and missing the first game, both Paddy Bourke and Darragh Burke for missing a penalty each, both of the Reillys for missing 1 on 1s against the Taiwan Vets and Joe Trolan for having too many drinks on Friday night and throwing up on the pitch as he was refereeing a game.
Back to business. The final was a somewhat closer affair than the earlier games with the SGL having to work hard to corral Kevin Conlon in the middle of the field. The dubious pitch side commentary (Big Dunc Energy) didn’t manage to throw off the lads, who ran out the winners in the end by 8 or 9 points.
Michael Neary gracefully accepted the winning trophy, expressing disappointment that it wasn’t a cup and couldn’t be filled with beer. Men’s MVP was also awarded to Cillian Reilly.
After that, everyone went home and didn’t drink any beers for the rest of the weekend.
The Taiwan Celts are currently working on a documentary detailing their history, which you can read more about here: https://www.gaa.ie/article/derek-brady-s-taiwan-celts-legacy. A big thank you from the Singapore Gaelic Lions to the Celts for hosting such an enjoyable weekend.
