Wellington/Hutt Valley Gaelic Football lose out

Wellington/Hutt Valley Gaelic Football lose out on Semi Final place by single point at Australasian Championships

The Wellington / Hutt Valley team missed out on a semi final spot at this year's Australasian Gaelic Football championship by a single point.

The Wellington / Hutt Valley team which has the smallest pool of players in the competition, which took place in Adelaide from the 30 September - 3 October, played 5 games, they beat New South Wales and Queensland, lost to Western Australia by a single questionable point and the remaining 2 games were beaten by the eventual finalists Victoria and South Australia.

"While this has been the most successful Australasian Championships for us since the mid 1990's were are all bitterly disappointed in not getting into the semi finals", said Columba Cryan President of Wellington / Hutt Valley GAA Club, "We were seen as the whipping boys of this competition by the Aussie teams, and the fact that we beat 2 former champions of this competition is some consolation, most importantly we are all so proud of our performance and of representing Wellington / Hutt Valley and New Zealand"

4 of the Wellington / Hutt Valley team made the 'All Stars' selected team from the championships. They included David Rynne as goal keeper, Eoin Conway midfield, Paul Cotter left half forward and Daithi O'Connor centre forward.

"We were a real band of brothers out there and a huge bond has developed with all the lads. We felt that every team we played didn't respect us properly and thought of us as an easy game", said David Rynne Wellington player and selected 'All Star' at the competition, "so it wasn't hard to get motivated to go out and remind the Aussies that they should never underestimate a team from New Zealand, no matter what sport it is"

"The fact that 4 of our lads from the team with the smallest selection made the 'All Stars' team says something of the character of the guys who represented Wellington / Hutt Valley Gaelic Football team" said Columba Cryan.

Wellington / Hutt Valley GAA club are planning huge developments over the coming 12 months. They are building a women's Gaelic football team with the intention of sending them to next 2008's Australasian games in Melbourne. They are running a 7 side tournament starting on Wed Nov 12 to entice Kiwi men and women to take up the sport. They are also running the inaugural New Zealand push up championships on St Patrick's Day17 March 2008.

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