A weekend away playing football in China
Already kitted out in my Seoul Gaels shorts and socks and my gear bag draped over my shoulder I walked briskly through the terminal, past other passengers, almost breaking into a light jog or skip on occasion. Ahead of me, long queues were already beginning to form at the immigration desk. It was the last thing I wanted. The game was in ninety minutes and the plan was simple. Get through, get a taxi and get to the pitch as quick as possible.
As I waited, I soon recognized two other people hurrying through the terminal to join the back of the queue for immigration. It was Jamie, and Dunny, easily distinguishable in his blue and white Laois jersey. They had flown out from Incheon on a separate flight, departing just ten minutes after me. The rest of the team had flown out a night or two previous leaving just the three of us who had not been able to get time off work. I had left my home at 5.30am that morning and it would be my third time competing at the All-China games, having played in Beijing the previous two years. Eventually I made it through immigration and without any baggage to claim, checked where to get a taxi before I was joined by the two lads.
A text came through on my phone as we walked towards the taxi stand. The boys had been beaten by Hong Kong A in their first game. We needed to get a move on. At the second or third time of asking, the taxi driver looked at the address we had shown him and motioned to us to get in. The journey felt like an eternity. The back of the cab was hot and sweaty and any attempt to try and communicate with the driver was futile. We had no way of knowing if we were being taken to the right place. Finally, after about 40 minutes, the taxi veered to a side road and as it slowed we saw a huge field in between the trees. It was Shanghai Rugby Club. We breathed a sigh of relief before getting out and running towards the very end of the field where we our players were getting ready to warm up at the Seoul Gaels tent. It was fifteen minutes to our second game against Shanghai. We had made it!
As always our game with Shanghai was a close encounter but they came out on top after two evenly matched halves. It was an improved performance on our first game, however, according to those who had played.
Three of our girls had also travelled and they joined up to play with the Shanghai ladies team illustrating the close relations that exist between club sides in Asia. Getting into our stride, and suffering no apparent effects of jet lag, apart from some wayward shooting on my part, we picked up the pace again against Beijing in the last group game. We kept possession well and showed good movement and decision-making but they snatched a draw with a well taken goal coming just on full time. The draw for the semi-finals was seeded with first playing fourth and second playing third. We had ended on the same points and points scored as Beijing so a toss of a coin determined we would face Hong Kong in the semis and they would take on Shanghai.
The semi-final started superbly for us with as many goals in as many minutes. In nine-a-side football goals are everything as is the first score since games are only fourteen minutes long.
In goal our Deccie, our Kerry Chairman was calm and composed. In front of him Seanie, Timmo, Eoin and Dunny threw themselves at opposing attackers, dictated play and started attacks. Mayoman Conor “six-pack” Melvin and Jamie “Coach” Lynch from Clare led by example in midfield, winning back the ball with some well-timed, and some, not so well-timed tackles. Up front Kieran “The Professor” Gardiner and the two northerners Joe and Ciaran looked sharp while our air force pilot, Jordan was on hand to provide some extra physical presence when needed. I, meanwhile, latched onto any breaks in and around midfield and in the end we won with a comprehensive victory much to the surprise of many observers. Unfortunately, we came up just short against a spirited Shanghai team in the final, who, playing on their home turf, were deserved winners on the day.
Although the football had ended there was still a banquet and awards ceremony to look forward to that night. We took the last bus from the pitch to the tournament hotel where I was finally able to check in and take a quick nap before the night’s festivities.
After a long night dressed as pirates to go with the night’s theme it was time to depart the next day barely 24 hours since I had first arrived. Our flight home was delayed for three hours but we made the most of it by checking into the VIP lounge near the departure gate and sampling the unlimited food and drink on offer. By the time I arrived back in Seoul and had got the subway home it was almost midnight. I was back to work the next day and back to reality too.
A weekend away playing a bit of football in China. Who would have thought it, eh?
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