In 2004 a young team of 17 players made the trip to Turku, Finland. We were a very mixed bag in terms of experience with lots of very young players, and a handful of players who had played at the highest level in the UK. As a team we’d played the UK Tour, had trained hard for the summer and were as close knit a bunch as mates as you could ask for. We’d taken the unprecedented step of agreeing to go easy on the booze during the week (the blackboard in the clasroom/our comunal bedroom had the rule 'beer in one hand, water in other hand') yet arranged accommodation on the concrete floor of a Finnish classroom. We were a team who ripped the piss, played very hard and enjoyed being around each other.

By the time the game against Russia came around we’d been in some battles and knew we had each other’s backs no matter what. The week had begun with a tight fought win over Lithuania (who we would’ve beaten well had we not felt the rare pressure as favourites!) but since that high note we’d taking a few hidings, most notably to the USA and Finland. We’d lost seemingly winnable games against both Italy and South Africa and we’d also pasted Brazil and the Republic of China. In short, we knew how to win and we were playing well. However, we hadn’t been in a real dogfight, despite trying to manufacture one vs. Lithuania!

The game itself is a blur. remember neither team establishing anything more than a 2 point lead and feeling relatively certain that we’d convert on offence. Séamus Murray remembers: We ran Cluiche Peile [a simple set play to score long goals] in the same way (with you throwing to tigger) literally about 5 times. By the last time, one of their guys was punching the ground in frustration - I think he had spotted what it was and given his teammates the heads up and was frustrated that it still worked for us. They seemed equally able to score at will which lead to trading. As Brian MacDevitt put it ‘I just remember trading, trading, trading and trading - knowing it was going to sudden death. It felt like that kind of match to me. I kept thinking that we were so evenly match that winning had nothing to do with the physical aspect of sport as we couldn't be separated on that’. Sure enough that’s exactly how it panned out. It was a physical game from start to finish, with short fuses, long and loud exchanges and a tension we didn’t encounter elsewhere that summer. Perhaps it was the team we were playing against or perhaps the closeness of the game got to both teams.

Either way, at the end of the match it came down to who had possession (naturally enough). We’d eked out a 13-11 lead but they’d clawed back to 13-13. We went up again and called a timeout when, as Al Murray put it: ‘Malglorious reminded us that "we are fresh" despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary’. We turned the disc over, they scored. 14-14 and the winner takes all. On the line we spoke about control, about focus, about disc retention and shot selection – all the vital catch phrases to try and get people not to make a mess of it when it really mattered. The pull came down, a few passes were thrown and suddenly the huck goes up. Malc decides Tadhg’s free and throws the dodgiest flick you’ve ever seen. It wobbles, flutters, thinks about dropping but lurches on and Tigger rips it down for the game winning score. We’d done it.

Russia weren’t a European powerhouse, they weren’t UK Tour veterans – those scalps would have to wait. What this win was though, was more than that. It was the instilling of belief that Irish teams can and will summon the bottle when needed too. It was the proof that we are mentally tough and that when a game goes the full distance we’ll be there, in the opposition’s face going toe-to-toe until we get the win. It built belief and character that still lives in the faded memories of the 17 players who were there. In short, it was the original ‘we beat Leeds’.

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WUGC 2004 Website (note author of questionnaire!) http://www.wugc2004.org/media/team_profiles/en_GB/ireland_open/index.html

My photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/earley.mark/Worlds2004