We’re all part of Jackie’s Irish Medical’s army.
Take a bow, lads.
The Irish Medical Football team this week return home from the World Medical Football Championships with their heads held high.
The squad of Irish doctors travelled to LA for the World Cup and they finished in seventh place having beaten Great Britain in a playoff.
But, in their first ever crusade in the championships, the Irish lads made all kinds of noises in America having been drawn in a group of death that included both champions of the last two years, Brazil and Germany. But it didn’t faze them one bit.
Ireland 1 Brazil 0
The opening affair was a tense game against Brazil. A well organised, solid defence and a “put ’em under pressure” attitude in the middle of the park kept the Brazilians at bay until until Aidan McGrath struck with a quarter of an hour to go from a well-worked set piece.
Ireland 1 Germany 0
The second game was a physical encounter against the Germans. The game plan remained the same and after a training ground move, Ronan Cassidy got on the end of a corner to nod in the winner for a deserved 1-0 victory.
Ireland 1 Ukraine 1
With six points on the board, a result in the final group game against Ukraine would see Ireland safely through to the knock-out stages as group winners. An early opportunistic strike by the Ukranians had the Irish chasing the game though. Eventually though, after sustained pressure and dominancem the equaliser came in the last two minutes as a bullet header from Kevin Sheahan ensured the point needed to top the group.
Quarter Final
Ireland 0 Czech Republic 1
Next up was the pre-tournament favourites Czech Republic in the quarter finals. A tense and physical battle with a few clear chances and it looked like a penalty shoot-out would be the only way to separate the sides until an excellent late strike from outside the box rocketed into the bottom corner to end Ireland’s dreams of winning the tournament.
7th/8th place playoff
Ireland 3 Great Britain 0
A playoff with Great Britain was just the solution to end the competition on a high after the side went down 2-0 to Brazil.
In what was the most impressive display of the tournament, Ireland began on the front foot and it did not take long for Kerry O’Connell to put the ball in the net. This was followed shortly after by a stunning 25-yard pile-driver from Ian Daly. The result was put beyond any doubt in the second half by another headed goal from Irish top-goalscorer Kevin Sheahan.
The Ireland side return from their first World Cup appearance with pride but with genuine ambitions of going even further next year in Barcelona and actually winning the tournament.
The Ireland Medical Football Team squad 2015 include: Tommy Fitzgerald, Ronan McDermott, Andrew Delany, John Frizelle, Nathan Wall, Aidan McGrath, Cóilín Collins Smyth, Dean Huggard, Peter Kelly, Denis Curtin, Ronan Murray, Colm Cosgrove, David Cosgrove, Barra Neary, Ronan Cassidy, Ian Daly, Kerry O’Connell, Joe Coyle, John Larkin, Kevin Sheahan, Kieran Sheahan, Dermot Kelleher, Steve Karagiannis, Liam Holland and Mark Quinlan. Manager John Cosgrove. Physio Diarmaid Fitzgerald.
