The Cayman Islands national Gaelic football squad turned in a history-making performance with an international title at a tournament in Denver, Colorado – justifying their invitation to the event.
The United States Gaelic Athletic Association Finals comprised winning teams from each of the regional divisions in the US, with teams from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean invited to join them at the finals.
Cayman took north of 50 players across Gaelic men’s A and B teams, a women’s team and a hurling team, to represent at the event held from 18-20 Aug., at the Sandstone Ranch Sports Field Complex.
The effort shown by the players from the B team translated to Cayman’s first-ever international title at the prestigious event.
“The weekend proved to be another successful one for the club,” Cathal McGrath, chairman of the Cayman Islands Gaelic Football Club, told the Compass via email.
The B team first defeated Cincinnati 2-7 to 1-4 in the quarter-final on Friday, 18 Aug., before winning against Milwaukee’s Miltown Gaels by 2-7 to 1-6 the following day.
In the finals on Sunday, the Cayman men won a competitive match against Atlanta after sudden death extra-time, by 1-10 to 1-09, to become the Junior D Football Champions.
“This year’s USGAA Finals highlighted the improvements and developments the club has made with its expansion in members in recent years,” McGrath said. “The club now stands at over 600 members, making it the largest sporting organization for adult members on island, and this increase has led the club to becoming an emerging force in North America.”
In addition to the men’s B Gaelic team capturing the championship, the A team “came just a minute short of winning a second” title, according to McGrath.
The A team received a bye through to their semi-final against Young Irelanders St-Brendans from San Francisco, with the Cayman men prevailing in a hard-fought match by 3-11 to 1-7. In the finals, they narrowly lost after extra-time against Dallas Fionn Mac on a scoreline of 1-17 to 2-12.
“They were agonizingly close to making it two cups on the day… as they were leading by 3 points… before Dallas grabbed a last-gasp equalizing goal to send the game to extra time,” McGarth said.
Women Gaelic and hurling teams
For the women’s team, they earned their first win in over three years, defeating Dallas Fionn Mac Cumhaills in their quarter-final by a dominant 1-21 to 1-6 result. The Cayman women would go on to the semi-final, losing to the hometown team, Denver Gaels, 6-13 to 2-4.
After winning the championships at last year’s finals in Chicago, the hurling team from the 345 were promoted to one division up at this year’s event, which proved to be difficult as the team were comfortably beaten by Austin Celtic Cowboys in their semi-final, 1-31 to 1-12.
“Landing our second divisional championship in as many years, is a testament to the hard work put in and commitment shown by all players and management in the post-domestic season training camp to prepare for the finals,” McGrath added.
Related Videos
