Montreal 9s 2025 - "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”
- May 19, 2025
- 2 min read
Over the weekend the Rebels ventured north of the border for their first competitive matches of 2025 in the Montreal 9s tournament. In 2019, under a slightly different format, the Rebels were Junior Football Champions over a set of strong, predominantly Irish Canadian teams. This feat would not be repeated six years later.
8:30am
Albany Football vs Ottawa
At halftime, the Rebels were only down two thanks to an aggressive and organized defense and Pierre Massena stealing a goal against the run of play. Ottawa’s quality would show in the 2nd half as they poured it on. Final score: Albany: not enough, Ottawa: big number
9am
Albany Football vs Montreal
In the past, Montreal has fielded an A and a B team for this tournament. In the past, the Rebels beat the B team and get smoked by the A team. This year there was only one Montreal team. While this mix gave the Rebels some hope of keeping things close, an early red card for dissent against elite dissenter Ryan Molony had the Rebels down a man for most of the game.
Final Score: Albany: at least 3, Montreal: way more than that
9:30am
Portland vs Ottawa
Rebels football coach Henry Best had a transcendent performance as a referee only missing a couple of blatant fouls and getting in the way of play no more than three times.
10am
Albany Football vs Portland (Maine)
In the last game of the group stage, the Rebels finally got an opponent that wasn’t several levels above Junior D (our level). And a couple of minutes into the second half with the Rebels down two the skies opened up, lightning split the heavens, and the game was called.
Despite the beatings, the Rebels were able to observe the difference in how the good teams play vs how the game is played at the Junior D level. The goal now is to incorporate these hard earned lessons before the start of the league season.
Noon
Albany/Kingston Hurling vs Cuala
A break in the rain gave rise to the eternal optimism of the tournament organizers. And the break lasted long enough to get in a couple of games. One of those games was Albany/Kingston vs Cuala–a Senior level (highest level) Toronto based hurling club. Albany/Kingston surprised everyone with an early goal and after that it was impressive to see how easy the young Irish athletes on Cuala made everything look.
Rebel Debutantes
Football: Tyler Hornsby (one of Canada’s native sons)
Hurling: Geoff and Taylor
Tournament MVP: the bartender at McLean’s Public House. Every year they seem surprised to discover 100+ people are coming to the post-tournament party and have only one person there to tend the bar.
Next Game:
5/31 Columbia High School
Albany Hurling (1:30pm) and Football (3pm) vs Rochester
This write-up had me laughing and nodding the whole way through — "Albany: not enough, Ottawa: big number" is honestly the most honest scoreline format I've ever seen. The red card for dissent against "elite dissenter Ryan Molony" is the kind of detail that makes a recap truly great. But what really resonates is that silver lining: even in a tough tournament, the team walked away with real lessons about how top-level Gaelic football actually looks up close. That's genuinely valuable. It reminds me of how students tackling complex subjects through a Management Assignment Writing Service UK often say the same thing — sometimes you have to face a higher standard before you truly understand what you're working toward. Here's…
The Rebels' trip to the Montreal 9s tournament in 2025 was a tough test, marked by challenging matches against Ottawa and Montreal. Despite strong defensive efforts and standout moments like Pierre Massena’s goal, the results weren’t in their favor. This kind of detailed sports report makes a great case study for students analyzing team dynamics and event summaries. For those looking to explore such topics academically, our Assignment Help Nottingham service provides expert guidance and support to craft insightful, well-structured assignments.