A SHELMALIER ladies' football selection travelled to Dubai to take part in the Invitational Gulf Games nine-a-side championships recently in the Rugby Sevens Centre. A total of eleven teams participated. In the group stages they were paired with Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Arabian Celts.

It took some time for the Shels girls to acclimatise to the heat, hard ground conditions and consequently the pace of the ball. Their first game against Qatar was much closer than the final scoreline would suggest.

Shels led by 1-1 to 1-0 at halftime, with their scores coming courtesy of Mary Rose Kelly. Shels had to thank some good defensive play by Mag Doherty in goal, Lisa and Maeve Quill and Fiona Cullen to have kept them in the game. However, Qatar missed several scoring chances and should have been leading at the break.

Shels opened up more in the second-half and, courtesy of scores from Leona Tector (1-2), and a goal apiece from Sharon Kehoe and Naomi Fogarty after good approach work from Patricia McCormack, they ran out winners by 4-3 to 2-0.

Their next game was against Abu Dhabi who were the eventual shield winners. The tournament organisers gave the Shels team Rachel Versolenko of Russia, Jessiaca Dzierzak of Poland and Canadian girl Alicia Tanner for their remaining group games to bring their panel up to 12.

Shels were leading at half-time by 0-2 to 0-1 courtesy of Maeve Quill and Sharon Kehoe. Leona Tector with a second-half goal and a Maeve Quill point saw the Wexford girls emerge victorious by 1-3 to 0-1.

The final group game was against the Arabian Celts. The Shels team used the opportunity to play their three guest players and led at the interval by 0-3 to nil courtesy of points from Fiona Cullen, Naomi Fogarty and Mag Doherty.

Further second-half points from Mag Doherty and a brace from Alicia Tanner secured a 0-6 to nil win and qualification for the semi-finals on Saturday.

Shelmalier played Sharjah who were many people's favourites to win it out. Shels played the two smallest but pacy players, Sharon Kehoe and Maeve Quill, in midfield and started with a purpose and intent that was not evident in their previous games.

Leona Tector carried the ball right from the back to smash it into the net in the opening minute. Mary Rose Kelly quickly added a point before Patricia McCormack finished off an attacking move with a well-taken goal. Mary Rose Kelly and Leona Tector were dominant in the air, with Maeve Quill and Sharon Kehoe picking up breaking ball, so Sharjah were kept on the back foot for much of the half.

Fiona Cullen and Lisa Quill provided good cover for Mag Doherty to keep the hitherto rampant Sharjah team scoreless in the first-half. Naomi Fogarty and Patricia McCormack laid off good ball for Sharon Kehoe bursting through from midfield to finish off two well-taken points, and Leona Tector completed the first-half scoring when joining the attack from her defensive position to fire over to leave the half-time score 2-4 to nil.

Sharjah, who had several county players from Ireland in their midst, came out with all guns blazing for the second-half. However, they found it difficult to break down the hard-working Shelmalier defensive cover and workrate throughout the field and had to rely on a goal from Limerick's Betty Nash midway through the half to give them hope of a recovery.

Sharjah added a further point just before the final whistle to leave Shelmalier winners by 2-4 to 1-1. The Shels were well pleased with their victory such was the strength of their opponents in the 30 degree heat and the fact that they had no substitutes.

The second semi-final saw the local Dubai Celts overcome a Singapore Zimbabwe selection, to set up a meeting with Shelmalier. With a 5 p.m. throw-in, though hot, there was not the intense heat as had been there for the semi-finals.

The finals were watched by a huge crowd including the Irish Ambassador in the expectation of a thriller, and they were not disappointed.

Shelmalier were quickly into their stride with three excellent points from Maeve Quill, Leona Tector and Mary Rose Kelly. However, Dubai Celts hit back with 1-4 without reply to lead by 1-4 to 0-3 at the interval.

The Shels mentors swapped Mary Rose Kelly and Leona Tector for the second-half, a switch that was to have a telling effect on the game.

Tector added four points to tie up the score midways through the second-half before Dubai Celts regained the lead with a point.

As Leona teed up to take a free for the equalising score, Mary Rose made a run from her defensive position to collect Tector's perfectly-flighted pass and, using her strength to shake off the tackle, fired a low ball into the bottom left corner of the net to give the Shels a two-point lead.

The Celts closed the gap to the minimum, before Tector added her sixth and final score of the game to run out winners amid joyous scenes on a 1-8 to 1-6 scoreline. Both teams got a standing ovation as they came off the field.

The cup was presented to the winning captain, Leona Tector, by chairperson Darragh McCreevey, and she also won the player of the tournament award.

It was a great team victory with every player playing a huge effort in ensuring success amid the intense heat, quality opposition and no substitutes apart from the two group games. It was a credit to the local organising committee such was the number of teams, and the standard of play.

They deserve immense praise for keeping Gaelic games and culture alive in the Gulf region. Such has been their success that they have managed to increase the tournament to nine-a-side from previously seven-a-side.

Shelmalier: Mag Doherty, Lisa Quill, Leona Tector, Fiona Cullen, Sharon Kehoe, Maeve Quill, Patricia McCormack, Mary Rose Kelly, Naomi Fogarty. Management: Pat Quill, Peter Rice, Liz Quill, Wayne Duggan, David O'Connor.

The Shels also entered the camogie tournament on the Friday after playing the football. They were defeated by Dubai Celts A by 2-3 to 1-0 with Leona Tector the goalscorer, before defeating Dubai Celts B 5-2 to nil with scores coming from Holly Murphy (2-0), Laura Walsh (1-1), Leona Tector (1-0), Mag Doherty (1-0) and Maeve Quill (0-1).

They were in the Shield final on Saturday versus Dubai Celts B who they defeated the previous day but, because of the Shels' girls reluctance to play the camogie shield final before the football championship final, the Dubai Celts B team were given a walkover.