St Finnian’s Vancouver GAA's Senior Ladies team pose -- a safe distance away from the "lively looking bears" who invaded their pitch!St Finnian’s Vancouver GAA, Facebook
A Gaelic football match between St. Finnian’s and Eire Og in Vancouver, Canada was abandoned on Thursday, June 20 after two bears invaded the pitch.
“Our Senior Ladies were in action on June 20th against Eire Og in Burnaby Lakes,” St. Finnian’s Vancouver GAA said in a post on social media on June 24.
“The game was a close contest right up until the game had to be abandoned due to two lively looking bears who were looking for the long ball in to the Square.
“We will await the decision from the CCC on whether or not the game will be replayed or not but we’ll keep you posted.”
Over on X, World GAA shared a clip of the St Finnian's side filming the unexpected visitors from a safe distance away on the pitch:
Talk about a bear in the square ?
Game abandoned today because of pitch invasion by two bears in Vancouver @canadagaa ? #WorldGAA pic.twitter.com/szQ8yDD0zs
— World GAA (@GAAworldgames) June 21, 2024
Meanwhile, the Irish Sporting and Social Club (ISSC) Vancouver shared their own clips of the grizzly visitors.
In one of the clips, the two bears can be seen standing up and pawing at each other.
"Bear fight, lads," the filmer says, "in the middle of a GAA match."
ISSC joked: "Don’t think the bears are up for doing umpire anytime soon."
Some locals showed up tonight to show their support for Vancouver GAA ???
Both bears are safe and players from Eire Og & Finnian’s are safely off the pitch as the game was suspended.
Don’t think the bears are up for doing umpire anytime soon ? #vancouvergaa #canadagaa pic.twitter.com/Y7CQRDCkPL
— ISSC Vancouver GAA Club (@ISSCVancouver) June 21, 2024
*Editor's Note - June 27: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the halted match was replayed on Monday, however, it was actually a separate intermediate match that was played on Monday. As of June 26, St. Finnian's and Eire Og are awaiting a decision from Vancouver GAA about a potential replay. Thanks to Sarah from Eire Og for flagging!