A Gaelic football match had to be abandoned in Canada after a pair of black bears invaded the pitch.
The third round of the Vancouver Senior Ladies Championship between St Finnian’s and Éire Óg at Burnaby Lakes was called off after the two “lively” bears wandered onto the playing field “looking for a long ball into the square.”
Patrick Quaile, who has been living in Vancouver for over 10 years, said he has never seen the likes of it before.
The Fermanagh man and public relations officer for St Finnian’s, said the game was almost over when the bears made a surprise appearance.
“There was about five or 10 minutes remaining when the two black bears decided to wander onto the pitch and tried to score a sneaky goal,” he laughed.
According to Mr Quaile, Burnaby Lakes, where the GAA pitches are located, is surrounded by woodland and greenery.
“We have heard that there were bears in and around the area alright, but never have they come out into the open like that before, certainly not in the 10 years that I’ve been living in Vancouver. He said:
According to Mr Quaile, the St Finnian’s squad have been using the sporting facilities at Burnaby Lakes since 2018 and have “never had this type of wildlife encounter before”.
“They were actually up on their hind legs kind of play fighting with each other while the game was going on.
“When they started to get closer to the goals where our keeper was playing, the referee decided to stop the game,” he said.
At that point, St Finnian’s were losing the match by three points. Both teams are now waiting to see whether that result will stand, or whether the match will be replayed.
That decision now lies with the Competitions Control Committee.
“I would love to be a fly on the wall for that meeting because I’m sure the topic of bears crashing a GAA game has never been discussed,” he laughed.
While Mr Quaile has “never seen bears in Burnaby before,” he believes that they could be “coming closer to civilisation” for many different reasons.
“We will just have to be on the lookout for them now. Instead of a size four or size five O’Neill’s coming in on top of you, you might be getting a bear as well!”
After the encounter, the club now has a new mascot, or maybe a few extra subs on the bench.
“We will have to get wee toy bears and put St Finnian’s jerseys on them, and sell them at each game,” Mr Quaile said.
