Ireland began its campaign in the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships in spectacular fashion in its opening match of the group phase yesterday against Uganda, winning 17-1.  

The talk of the tournament thus far has certainly been the huge enthusiasm shown by the Uganda players, and the warm welcome and support they have received from all the other tournament participants, and the local Denver community.  It was truly an honour for the Irish team to be the first team that Uganda - the first ever African team to compete in a lacrosse world championships - would come up against.  

As soon as the match commenced, it was clear that Uganda was not participating in the event for the novelty alone - they had as much skill, knowledge of the game, speed, strength, passion and commitment as any other team competing in the tournament.  What they may have lacked though is experience - and it was in this area that the Irish team was able to impose itself on the game.  

Ireland kept up a steady scoring pace. Tom Riley stood out with 4 goals and 1 assist, as did Mike Shea, who got 2 goals, 2 assists, and led the team on ground balls.  Paddy O'Leary also pitched in with 2 goals and 2 assists.

Tadhg Bolger scored his first ever goal for Ireland, as did Sonny Campbell, who was making his debut for the team. The rest of the goals were spread throughout the Irish team in a very balanced display of offense.  Face-off duties were shared amongst three players - Zak Jordan won 7 out of 9 taken, Tadhg Bolger went 4 for 6, and Aaron Cahill went 4 for 5.  Kevin Quinn and Connor Sweeney shared goalkeeping duties - Quinn took the first and third quarters, while Sweeney played in the second and fourth quarters.  

There were two highlights for Uganda worthy of mention - their goalkeeper Allan Amone made some great saves, and Castro David Onen scored their only goal of the game in the third quarter, much to the delight of his teammates and the Denver crowd.  

The game was then postponed with 13 minutes remaining when a wild storm spread across the tournament venue - heavy rain pounded the field, which then turned to hail, and all players and teams were instructed to seek shelter in the main stadium as word spread that there was a tornado alert.  Play was suspended for approximately 45 minutes, after which time the tournament organisers deemed the match to have finished at 17-1 in favour of Ireland.  The team now looks ahead to its match-up against France today at 11am Denver time.

Tom Beary