Donegal native oversees first ever game of Gaelic football in Antarctica 

The first game of Gaelic football to ever be played on Antarctica took place on St Patrick’s weekend with Portnoo native Sean McLaughlin part of the action. 

At 10 am last Sunday morning, in freezing conditions, and winds that any club on the west coast of Ireland would have struggled to cope with, 32 members of the Rothera Research Station's bravest gathered for an introduction to the game. 

The event started with what would have resembled a Cúl Camp training session: balls down, listen up,  line up behind the cones and pay attention! 

We began with a few minutes of fist passing and light running to get everyone warmed up before moving on to getting the toe under the ball for correct pick-up method. 

Once these skills were mastered, we progressed to one bounce, one solo and pass it to the next person. I was extremely impressed with how quickly the participants took to the basics.  

Watching the few games on GAA GO definitely made a lasting impression as most the techniques and rules were already understood.  

In order to have a few subs for each team, we played a 12-a-side match.  In the early stages of the first half, both teams struggled with the conditions, with any form of kick passing proving difficult, with or against the wind. 

With the wind at their backs, ‘An Tom Creans’ pressed for an opening score, but Paul Carroll (Kildare) between the sticks prevented ‘Pointe Rothera’ from leaking any early goals. 

Playing around in your own backline is a risky game, and Pointe Rothera paid the price. An intercepted pass by Phil Edge led to a finely kicked point from Eloise Saville breaking the deadlock and registering the first official score of a GAA match in Antarctica.  

Pointe Rothera then began to find their feet and knew the running game was their only option against the wind. Dan Probe (Canada/Antrim), Elliot Perez and Juilan Flynn showed off their newly found soloing abilities and made multiple breaks into the opposition half in search of an equaliser. 

However,  Tom Creans’ towering full-back line of Sam Hunt, Alex Rootes and ‘wee’ Andy Croy managed to absorb  the majority of the pressure, with keeper Katie Handford proving a safe pair of hands for any balls dropping short of the target.  

Somewhat against the run of play, a fine passage of short passing including Handford, John Molyneax,  Redmond, Hunt and Francis Tobin found Edge in enough space to play a long ball over the top of the  Reds’ defensive line. 

An unmarked Toby Bond who made no mistake in front of the goal and earned his team a well-worked goal. It was the game’s and indeed the continent’s first ever Gaelic football goal and An Tom Creans took a 1-1 to 0-0  advantage. 

Players from both sides pictured after the first ever Gaelic football game to be played in Antarctica

Against the wind, Pointe Rothera held a solid defensive structure, with multiple blocks and tackles coming from Bolt, and Fen Orr-Ewing to keep out the attempts of Rich King and Luigi Cafolla ( both Tom Creans).  

Andy Croy (An Tom Creans) reached highest during the throw-in to the start the second half but an excellently timed tackle from Daisy Scott (Pointe Rothera) allowed Morgan Thompson to scoop up the loose ball and feed Elliot Perez for Pointe Rothera’s opening goal. 

An Tom Creans were then let off the hook after the referee had already blown for a clear throw ball from Thompson to Perez.  

A quick break down the left wing found Sam Prentice (Tom Creans) with yards of space though the strong wind thwarted his long range attempt, Pointe Rothera were caught napping in the full-back line, with Francis Tobin (Tom Creans) claiming the ball and taking full advantage of the one-on-one situation with Joseph Chalkley. 

However, an earlier infringement for picking the ball straight up off the ground had seen the referee already blow his whistle and Pointe Rothera were spared their blushes. 

Pointe Rothera, with the wind at their backs, began to test the defence of An Tom Creans. A strong defensive effort but ultimately some over-enthusiastic tackling from Terry Tobin and Will Fogg (Tom Creans) saw Perez awarded a free kick just outside the opponent’s 20m line. 

While An Tom Creans packed their goal line, Perez, a wise head on young shoulders, opted to take his point. The words of  Keogh “take your points and goals will come” clearly still ringing in his ears.  

Under constant pressure from the Pointe Rothera, and against the strong wind, An Tom Creans found  themselves pinned back and unable to break out of their own half. 

The pressure finally became too  much for An Tom Creans, and after a few missed attempts, Aaron Stannard’s (Pointe Rothera) attempt  found the back of the net to level the scores.  

Both teams had chances to snatch a victory in the dying moments of the game. An Tom Creans full forwards Prentice and Saville saw their chances blocked down and tackled by Thompson and Handford.  

While at the far end, Rootes made great saves to keep Jacob Wyborn from clinching the game as matters ended in a draw. 

Thank you to Matt Hughes for his photography skills and to Hugh Hutchison for agreeing to attend as our independent witness to the event.  

Those that took part included: Paul Carroll, Matt Smith, Gráinne Keogh, Katie Handford, Jono Redmond, Toby Bond, Aaron Stannard, Rich King, Alex Rootes, Will Fogg, Phil Edge, Julien Fynn, Dan Probe, Andy Croy, Joseph Chalkley, Jacob Wyborn, John Molyneax, Luigi Cafolla, Hugh Hutchison. Eloise Saville, Sam Hunt, Sinéad Bolt, Daisy Scott, Fen Orr-Ewing, Seán McLoughlin, Elliot Perez, Sam Prentice, Morgan Thompson, Martin Allen, Francis Tobin, Terry Tobin.