– We’re Social —

Club Foreward
– We’re Social
—

A Chairde,

Welcome to the fourth and final edition of the Oryx Observer of the
2018/2019 season.

This newsletter is packed with write-ups from our teams’ trips away to
Oman, Al Ain, Sharjah and India. There are plenty of pictures too from
our various club events. In the Sponsor section, we look at Donegal Phys-
iotherapy and Sports Performance. It is their generous support, as with
all our sponsors, that allows us to keep moving forward in a positive way.
The Dugout has a little brain teaser that should be no bother to most,
and we look at two of our players in more detail in the Player Profiles
section.

As we say goodbye to many club members, we will no doubt gain plenty

of new faces in a few months. Such is the way of an expat community.
On behalf of myself and the Qatar GAA Committee, we would like to say
a special thank you to all of our club members for the hard work, both on
and off the pitch. To everyone who is travelling in the coming days and
weeks, have a safe trip and see you soon.

Ross
 Club Committee
– We’re Social —
Main Committee 2018/19 Sub-Committee 2018/2019

Chairperson: John Mollen Ladies’ Register: Gill Behan

chairperson.qatar.middleeast@gaa.ie
Men’s Register: George McCallion
Vice Chairperson / Treasurer: Ken Allen
Social Event Planner: Laura Clerkin
treasurer.qatar.middleeast@gaa.ie

Secretary: Claire Kelly Newsletter Editor: Ross Gibbons

PRO: Dan Kiely PRO Assistants: Alessa Gross

pro.qatar.middleeast@gaa.ie Barry Egan

Padraig McCann
Register: Rob Kearns
Irish Society Link Members:
ME Rep: Colman Hands
Padraig McCann
Ross Gibbons

Underage GAA Link:

To Be Filled

Please get in touch with a club committee member if you have any queries or would like
something added to next month’s newsletter.

Website: www.qatargaa.qa
Facebook: Qatar GAA
Instagram: Qatar GAA
Twitter: @QatarGAA

– We’re Social —
 Tournaments
Oman
The ladies' tournament included fierce competition, with all teams taking part put into a single
group due to last minute drop outs. This however did not change the mind-set of the players as
our goal was simple, 'win'. The group contained Al Ain, Sharjah, Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. In
the first game vs Al Ain, the girls came flying out of the blocks and kept the pressure on for the
majority of the match having a lead of 4p points with a minute to go, a mix of nerves and lapse of
concentration on our part in the final minute granted Al Ain with that all important goal and point
they needed to get back into the game. However, after the point was kicked the whistle blew for
full time.

Next up was Abu Dhabi. Still a bit rattled from the first match, our girls just never got going and it
didn't help matters that Abu Dhabi were relentless both on and off the ball, this continued
throughout the game which saw Abu Dhabi come out comfortable victors. Dubai were next up
and we fancied ourselves for the win but so did they! Dubai saved their best performance for us,
a brilliant game back and forth with Dubai edging it with a last minute goal.
The final group game awaited and it was against the unbeaten Sharjah. The girls knew they had
more to give and the message from management was simple, 'win or go home', none of us were
ready to go home yet! Cheered on by the men's team on the side line, the girls gave a master stroke
of a performance! From Nadine Heaney making one wonder save after another, Danielle Scally
marking her forward that close she didn't get a sniff, and Ciara Donnelly running her marker ragged -
it was clear they knew what they had to do and better again, what they could do. They worked tire-
lessly and it paid off by coming away as one point victors and the first win of the day (better late
than never).

On to the plate final where we faced Al Ain, this was a game we owed to them! The girls were going
to make sure that the same mistakes would not be repeated. A game of high intensity and low
scores, at full time the score was 1 point a piece. Both teams were out on their feet. After extra time
neither team could break the deadlock so we moved on to golden score (first team to score wins). Al
Ain seemed to find another gear, applying pressure right away but our girls held strong and didn't
allow any easy shots. Then we found another gear of our own, starting with Nadine Heaney as bril-
liant as she had been all day, she picked out Cassie Cadden on the right wing with an inch perfect
pass to the chest. Cassie played the ball in from the half way line into the always moving Ciara Don-
nelly, who at this point was double marked. She won her ball, dragged the defenders into the corner
with her, played the ball back to Aoife Montaque who spotted Cassie Cad-en in the right place at the
right time! Cassie composed herself brilliantly and slotted the ball over the bar to crown Qatar GAA
the Plate Winners. A roar of both jubilation and relief was immediately let out by all involved, in-
cluding management. The girls put in an incredible performance and they have their trophy to show
for it.

Thanks to Conor McGarvey for the write-up.

A heroic display for the inter side. After a convincing group stage, putting Jumeriah, Bahrain and
Sharjah aside, they played Oman in the semi final. After some poor refereeing decisions, we man-
aged to pull clear on Oman with Cillian Barkley's goal making the difference. In the final, we were
down to seven fit players, having picked up injuries throughout the day. We led by a point in the
second half but a fortunate goal put us on the back foot. Lee Ruddy and Kevin Mossey both played
through injury in the final. Every player showed what this club is all about!

The seniors welcomed a number of new additions to the lineup. In our first game, we dominated
Jumeriah (who were fancied to win it). A well worked James Grant goal proving significant. In our
remaining games we beat Abu Dhabi C convincingly. This put us into the semi final against Abu
Dhabi A. One of the finest ever performances from a Qatar team followed. The intensity was
through the roof and Abu Dhabi couldn't live with us. The big men in the middle stood their
ground - McAleer, McParland, Turley and Jordy etc. We ran out easy winners by 8 points. In the
final we played Dubai and after going blow for blow, we were defeated by the last kick in extra
time. Both teams have never played in a tournament with each other which makes these perfor-
mances even better. A good time was had by all after the football!

Thanks to Paul Leonard for the write-up.

 Sharjah

Another massive weekend for the club! 3 trophies for our 3 ladies teams
with our Junior 1 team winning the cup, and our Junior 2 and 3 teams
claiming the shields! Our men's team should be proud for reaching the
Plate Final too!
 Sharjah
Congratulations to our Ladies & Men today who travelled to Sharjah &
made history with our first ever Qatar GAA Camogie Team.
 India

On April 26th 2019, Qatar GAA traveled to Delhi to play in the first ever GAA match on
Indian soil. We were honoured to be a part of this historic occasion and to support
the India Wolfhounds on the road to the Asian Games. Many thanks for the hospitality
and a great weekend!
 Events
Qatar National Sports Day

Qatar GAA made history this year by playing the first ever GAA match in the
desert! It's not everyday you have a man in a thobe refereeing a Gaelic foot-
ball match! For those who missed it. Videos and pictures are on our social me-
dia platforms.
On Saturday 11th May at 4am, huge numbers turned out at Costa Coffee on the
Corniche to walk from Darkness into Light. We raised over 35,000 Qatari Riyals in
aid of Pieta House, an organisation that provides a free, therapeutic approach to
people who are in suicidal distress and those who engage in self-harm. Hopefully
see you all again in 2020!

www.pieta.ie
info@pieta.ie
In-House Tournaments
 Qatar Win the Asian Cup 2019!

Well done to club member and sponsor Dermot Simpson who is part of the med-
ical team for the Qatar National football team. Qatar defeated Japan 3-1 in the
final of the Asian Cup.

Al Udaid Challenge

A huge congratulations to our club member, Barry Egan, who completed a

26.7km run across the dunes at earlier this year for the Al Udaid challenge!
 Awards Night

Ciara Donnelly Sinead McGilloway

Ladies Senior Player of the Year Ladies Junior Player of the Year

Gabbie Curran Eimear Dynes

Most Improved Player Camogie Player of the Year

 Niall McGinn Cathal McKeown

Men's Senior Player of the Year Men's Intermediate Player of the Year

George Mc Callion Ryan O'Neill

Mens Junior Player of the Year Hurler of the Year

The Dugout
Can you name these 10 Irish towns using emojis as clues?

https://www.joe.ie/quiz/irish-towns-emoji-quiz-521266
 Player Profiles

Catriona Mc Carry NAME John Mc Kiverigan

24 AGE 27

Antrim COUNTY Down

Anything but a forward. POSITION Midfield

Nadine Heaney. She’s gone global. FUNNIEST TEAMMATE Niall Garland (He has his own personal
tailor you know!)

“A llama” (Aoife Monto) OTHERS WOULD DESCRIBE YOU AS…. Very tall

Oman 2018 QATAR GAA DEBUT Oman - January 2019. Dropped a high
ball at a vital moment in the final,
which the other team scored a goal
from. Sorry lads.

Abu Dhabi 2018 or Oman 2019. Hard QATAR GAA HIGHLIGHT Garland's shirt in Oman. (Oman in gen-
to decide. eral was a great weekend with a great
bunch of lads).

Chris McSteen. Love that he never FAVOURITE SPORTSPERSON Colman Hands. Even though his best
complains. years are long behind him, he still
shows up and makes up the numbers.
That's dedication.

I have a great talent of getting injured. UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT YOU Scored my best ever goal in a champi-
onship final when we won it in 2010.
I've barely scored since.

Bubbalicious FAVOURITE PLACE IN QATAR Butchers Grill

“Deaddddlyyy lassies” Cadden et al, FAVOURITE QUOTE " What's the point being hungover in
2019. your own time, you may as well go into
work and get paid to be hungover."
Passed on by Colman from an unknown
source.
 Sponsors
Qatar GAA would like to take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors for their support throughout the
2018/2019 Season. Without their generosity and ongoing support we would not be in a positon to excel as a
club and build on the progress made each year. This month we will take a look at Donegal Physiotherapy and
Performance Centre. Donegal Physiotherapy and Performance Centre is owned by our very own Dermot Simp-
son, who as previously mentioned, is part of the medical team of the Qatar national team who recently were
crowned Asian Cup winners of 2019.

Donegal Physiotherapy & Perfor-

mance Centre (formerly Donegal
Physiotherapy & Sports Injury
Clinic) opened in February 2014.

Initally a Physiotherapy Centre, they have expanded into a multi-disciplinary facility that offers Physiotherapy,
Massage, Yoga, Pilates, Strength and Conditioning, Nutrition and Occupational Therapy services. They offer a
friendly service in a modern environment where they give you the necessary care for your condition or, where
required, a speedy onward referral. With the vast amount of services on offer in the building, communication
between therapists and coaches is excellent when a patient referral from one profession to another is re-
quired. This cuts down on patients repeating their same injury history or training/exercise goals over and over.
This promotes a very efficient service in allowing out patents to realise their potential in injury, recovery or
training.
Ballyraine Retail Park,
Leterkenny, Co. Donegal
www.donegalphysio.ie / info@donegalphysio.ie
074 91 24424