The 8th European Championships for Deaf Men’s Football kicked off this week in Hannover, with Ireland facing their first opponents, Poland, yesterday afternoon.

The match began at 3pm Irish time and was live streamed through German website www.EuroDeaf2015.eu with Irish fans both at home and abroad tuning in to watch Ireland’s impressive victory.

The final score of the match was 6-0 to Ireland, with Jason Maguire hailed as player of the match following a hat trick at 77 minutes.

The whole team played as a strong, united force, with the first goal scored just nine minutes in as Watson and Maher play a move finished by Maguire.

As the scores grew, so too did the confidence of the Irish players, with the Polish team getting few chances to try and shoot.  Goalkeeper Walsh stopped short an attempt by Poland at 66 minutes.

At the 45 minute mark, Sinclair took a free kick, making it 2-0 to Ireland, at 70 minutes, Byrne got a top corner goal, bringing Ireland up to 3 goals and from there on in, the goals began to mount; at 72 and 75 minutes, Maguire scored again, before Dudley landed another goal at 81 minutes.

Poland were feeling the pressure as the match drew to a close, at 90 minutes, with four added on for Injury time, Poland tried to score but were blocked by Lowney, who kept the 6-0 victory for Ireland.

The team are now in training for their second match tomorrow (Thursday 18th June) against the Ukraine.