Barcelona Gaels GAA enjoy clean sweep of four trophies at Iberian Championships in Salou

The Barcelona Gaels won four out of four trophies on offer at the Iberian Championship on Saturday in Salou, a seaside resort town in southern Catalonia. 

The teams from the Catalan capital came out triumphant in all competitions hosted at the Mediterranean Sports Village, south of Tarragona. Celebrating the title victories are the Gaels’  senior men’s, senior ladies’, intermediate men’s, and intermediate ladies’ teams.

“For the men’s and women’s to win they had to play over 100 minutes of football in one day, it was a massive effort,” Barcelona Gaels club chairperson and ladies’ manager, Eoin Mac Cathmhaoil, tells Catalan News. “It was very hot as well, but they came out the right side.” 

The Iberian Championship is the pinnacle of Gaelic football across Spain and Portugal, and the tournament saw the best teams on the peninsula meet for a day of ‘blitz’ tournaments all played on Saturday, May 18. Games lasting 20 minutes were played throughout the day on two rugby pitches in Salou. 

The men’s senior side overcame Celtiberios Lisbon, Galician outfit A Coruña Fillos de Breogán, and San Vicent Valencia. “On the men’s side, they were very very comfortable,” Mac Cathmhaoil says. 

After the Iberian Championship win, they will go on to play in the 15-a-side European tournament, with the chance to enter the Leinster junior championship if they win that. The men’s senior side have lost the last two European finals so will hope to go one further this year. 

“On the ladies’ side, the intermediate team won very easily, but the senior team lost to Madrid in the last [group] game by a point,” ladies’ team manager Mac Cathmhaoil explains, adding the nuance that “that was probably no bad thing, just to give them a reminder of what could happen if you don’t stick to the plan.”

In the final, also played against Madrid shortly after the defeat in the group game, “once we stuck to the plan, there was no stopping us. We absolutely blew them out of the gate in the first half and it was just about building on that lead throughout the second half and being sensible.” 

The strategy for victory, according to the manager, was “hard, hard running at angles and moving the ball through the hands.” 

The ladies’ senior team beat competition from the Costa Gaels, based in Marbella, Galician sides Turonia Gondomar FG and Estrella Vermelha, and the Madrid Harps, while the intermediate side played and won three games against Eire Og Sevilla.

“For the ladies, it’s the end of that team with some going home,” Mac Cathmhaoil explains, although he is confident that the Gaels will be able to “build a new team and win again next year.”

The May heat of the coastal town also played a role in the day, for all teams involved. “It was a really long day so it was just about energy conservation at that stage and trying not to commit ourselves too much in terms of running. But the whole thing was really perfect in the end.” 

The Barcelona Gaels celebrated the clean sweep of titles at a rooftop bar in Houdini’s Attic in Salou, while on Sunday the teams are enjoying a more relaxing day by the pool of their hotel.