Éire Óg Greystones
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Weekly Notes - 18th June 2008

U14 Football

On the evening of Wednesday 4th our u-14 footballers made the long journey to Tinahely to play the locals in the opening round of the championship. An evening of such inclemency that one would be filled with guilt at the thought of showing the dog the door. No such consideration could be afforded to the u-14s; they had no choice but to fulfil the fixture. It is greatly to the players’ credit and even more to their mentors Carmel Deeney and Russell Gascoigne – adults are, after all, more sensitive to the depression-inducing effects of adverse atmospheric conditions – that they were not at all deterred by the weather and set off on their journey in good spirits. However, they all paid a high price for their dedication; each returned not unlike the proverbial “drowned rat”. One is happy to report that their adventure had no detrimental effect on their health.

Surprisingly, in the conditions which were anything but conducive to good football, the team gave one of their best performances of the year and ran out rather comfortable winners. The Éire Óg superiority had its foundation in outstanding contributions from Marco Patrassi at midfield and Adam Brennan at half back. Ciarán Macdonald-O’Toole, even though new to the position of cornerback, soon found his feet and played a significant part in keeping the Tinahely score to a minimum. Josh Tanner topped off an excellent all-round performance with two beautifully taken goals.

Last Wednesday, the second round of the championship, another dreary dismal evening of cloud and rain. What must the U-14 management do to placate the weather gods? The gloom of the prematurely closing night was lifted somewhat for Éire Óg by the sparkle of the team’s play. Again a comprehensive victory but no illusions of grandeur. From their experiences in the league the team is fully aware of the quality of opponents such as Bray Emmetts, Blessington and Pats who are waiting in the wings, ready to a put an end to their winning sequence.

The Éire Óg scores, which included some very well-worked goals and spectacular points, came for the most part from the boots of David Crosby, James Smullen, Marco Patrassi and Maedhbh Deeney (a member of the county’s highly rated under-14 girls football team). In an excellent back division, Matt Maguire and Raymond Crotty stood out. Barry O’Donoghue in goals coped well with everything the Avondale forwards threw at him.

This evening (Wednesday) they play Naomh Pádraig in the next round.

U14 Hurling

The u-14 hurlers played a championship-contending Carnew – is the old order being restored? – in the championship on Sunday. They lost, but not without having given a good account of themselves. They were best served by Kevin Byrne, Joey Molloy, James Cranley, Daniel Nolan, Dillon Harris, Ben Nolan, Conor Randles, Conor Cornwall, John Foley and Darren Hempenstall. Training for this team takes place on Tuesdays at 6.30pm.

Junior Hurling

The Junior Hurlers played St. Fearghal’s in Ballywaltrim, in conditions inimical to good hurling and also, one would have thought, to spectating. Yet a surprising large group of spectators was on hand to witness a very enjoyable and closely contested game. Éire Óg led until the last quarter, when the superior experience and craft of St. Fearghals’ recently acquired players from the St. Pats’ diaspora began to tell. Result: a narrow defeat for Éire Óg. Martin Joyce, Leon Browne and Ciarán Goff were prominent for Greystones. Paul Gaskin proved to be an able deputy for Michael Walsh in goals and his puck-outs - being both long and accurately placed were particularly effective.

U8 Hurling

Fourteen of our u-8 hurlers – two 7-a-side teams, it’s not as if one does not trust your arithmetic! – took part in Saturday’s blitz in Kilcoole. Both teams acquitted themselves well; they won a few games and they lost a few. Their endeavours were a source of great satisfaction and joy to their mentors (for manager Colm Dorgan, a spirit- raiser after Cork’s defeat the previous Sunday) and it was evident that the players enjoyed themselves hugely. The players involved were Drew Campbell, Jack Ryan, Jack Maguire, Matt Foley, Tom Dowling, Liam Barry, Shane Ryan, Eoin Dorgan, Jeremy O’Donovan, Niall Sheehy, Tommie Heffernan, Conor Barry, Osín Murphy and Gavin Delamere. The Éire Óg management was highly impressed by the manner in which the event was organised and is grateful to Michael Neary and the Kilcoole club for the invitation to participate.

Notices

A reminder of the football VHI/Cúl camp which takes place in the club grounds starting Monday 30th June. Contact Colm Gaskin 087-2711124.

Please note that the starting time of the Wednesday football academy (under 8) has been changed from 6pm to 6.30pm.