Paris Gaels 2-8 London Camanachd 8-6

Underneath sunny Parisian skies Stade Raoul Montbrand hosted an intriguing and historical match between Paris Gaels GAA club and London Camanachd. The shinty team started strongly taking an early lead thanks to Wink’s distribution from set pieces allowing for any restart in play to put pressure on the Paris defence. The free flowing and end to end nature of the match was a delight for the spectators who came to see the rare sight of clashing camans and hurls on French soil.
London’s recent experience against the London county GAA side served the team well when knowing how to deal with the excellent runners and aerial ability that the Paris Gaels threatened with. Strong defending from Love, Cranston, Beaumont and Dziennik were able to keep Paris restricted to points while the London forwards made full use of Wink’s pin point dead ball deliveries to continue the momentum for London, and de Burca back to his poaching best with a brace of goals. The final ten minutes saw Paris dominate territory and chances though London held on for a famous first victory in European Shinty Hurling.
The end of the match saw the presentation of the trophy to London chair Ó Súilleabháin and exchange of gifts between the two teams with the promise of rematch to come in 2023 an exciting prospect for both teams. London Camanachd wish to thank Paris Gaels GAA for their hospitality and sportsmanship in hosting and facilitating this competition and it was great to see a high number of French hurlers among their ranks showing the growth of Gaelic sports in Europe.