Neasden Gaels GAA - Dubai Trip 26th - 27th January 2007

Below are the pictures from Neasden Gaels successful trip to the Gulf Games 2007 seven a side tournament in Dubai on 26th/27th January 2007 with the Vodafone All-Stars.

In the early morning of the 26th of January following a seven hour flight from London fourteen Gaels wearing the black and amber of Neasden Gaels GFC arrived in Dubai Airport to take part in the Gulf Games 2007 seven a side tournament. Despite being limited to a two hour sleep that night the Neasden boys made the short journey across the city to the Dubai polo grounds to begin the marathon day of seven a side football.

Neasden were drawn in the Men´s Senior Round Robin Group 2.

Match 1 - Neasden Gaels 2-3 St. Vincent’s B 1-4
In opening match of the tournament Neasden opened confidently and by the end of the first half were in a controlling 1-3 to no score lead, the goal coming Gearoid Clancy. The second half saw St. Vincent’s turn the deficit round and with the clock ticking down scoring what looked like the winning goal. Some great work from Fergal Cunningham to regain possession saw a last gasp winning goal by Keith Geraghty to give Neasden their first victory of the day.

Match 2 - Limavady B 0-1 Neasden Gaels 1-6
Neasden's second match against the second of Limavady's three senior sides in the tournament saw a build in confidence with Barry Comer, Stephen Maguire and Damien Gill and Frank Kane putting Limavady to the sword.

Match 3 - Fulham Irish A 3-2 Neasden Gaels 3-2
The meeting of these two London sides was inevitable in this tournament and thoroughly lived up to expectations. In an exciting game with no quarter given the two sides exchanged the lead on at least four occasions with Neasden goals coming from Stephen Maguire, Fergal Cunningham and Gearoid Clancy. Although the Neasden forwards spurned numerous golden chances in front of goal the draw was the fair result at the final whistle.

Match 4 - Hong Kong 1-5 Neasden Gaels 1-3
In one of the most exciting matches of the tournament an extremely strong Hong Kong selection left the Gaels startled in the opening minutes to race into a 1-4 to no score lead. With Ciaran McGann on fire in goal saving Neasden for the first few minutes, an astute change in tactics by manager Kevin Clancy saw Neasden rally back with a goal by John Raftery, points through Stephen Maguire and Gareth Durkin. Neasden bombarded the Hong Kong goal for the dying minutes in search of a goal but the Hong Kong keeper pulled off some magnificent saves to deny Neasden the points.

Match 5 - Dubai Celts B 0-2 Neasden Gaels 6-4
The goal of match five for the Neasden lads was to ensure qualification for the semi finals, the result was emphatic with Neasden producing a fine performance with goals from Gearoid Clancy, Kevin Moore, Keith Geraghty, Fergal Cunningham, Joe Murtagh and Stephen Maguire.

Men´s Senior Cup Semi Finals - Limavady Wolfhounds 4-2 Neasden Gaels 0-6
The senior semi final saw Neasden face Group 1 table toppers Limavady in what was an expectant clash. Neasden who were playing their sixth game of the day versus Limavady's fourth started brightly but with the game perched 1-1 to 0-4 before half time Neasden began to fade. A Neasden substitution mix-up followed by a controversial refereeing decision saw Neasden reeling at the half time down 3-1 to 0-4. The second half saw Neasden visibly tire and unable to convert golden chances and the game eventually saw Limavady run out winners by 4-2 to 0-6.


Limavady Wolfhounds went on to lift the Gulf Games 2007 Senior competition with a 3-5 to 4-1 victory over Hong Kong on the following day before the 2006 vs 2007 Vodafone All-Stars game.

In what was a superbly run competition from start to finish the excellent Dubai Celts deserve an extraordinary amount of credit for putting a tournament of this proportion in the middle east. Congratulations also to Fulham Irish who kept the flag flying for London GAA by winning the Shield competition.

Neasden Gaels remained in Dubai until for the remaining five days enjoying rich hospitality and despite many hangovers had an exceptional week (as evidenced in the photos below)!