Éire Óg Greystones
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Weekly Notes - 7th September 2005

With the senior teams suffering a double whammy at the hands of Ashford everyone in the club had accepted that the rest of the season would be played out with the not unfamiliar sense of resignation. This was without taking the Ladies into account – what shameful neglect. They duly provided a gloom rending antidote on Sunday in Aughrim with their win in the Junior B Championship Final. This is the first bit of silverware in their 7 year history. Their opponents were Baltinglass and worthy and sporting opponents they were. In the first half Baltinglass were on top for long periods and but for an opportunist goal from Leslie-Ann Long the half-time hue would have been far from rosey. Indeed, matters were very much in the balance until Laurie Ahern scored the outcome determining goal twenty minutes into the second half. Thereafter Éire Óg kept the Baltinglass defence under pressure with long, high balls à la Jack Charlton and three more goals followed from broken ball. Much of the credit for this victory must go to our backs: Luka Hargan, besides her excellent all-round play, brought off two heart-stopping, last-line saves, Eimear Ryan defended her corner assiduously and effectively. Jade Coffey and Míde Ní Shúilleabháin gave their opposite numbers very little scope. Lorna Fuschiardi was a dynamic link between backs and forwards. Maria O’Neill, who cut short her rain bedevilled trans-euro jaunt to be present, didn’t put a foot wrong after replacing the injured Niamh Sherlock.

Simultaneously with the girl’s endeavours the u-16 hurlers were contesting at home with neighbours, Bray Emmets, in the league. The outcome was a 3-10 to 3-6 victory for Éire Óg; an achievement which, it cannot be denied, evoked a feeling of elation in our team and its manager Colm Gaskin – not least because Éire Óg were very much the underdogs. This is not the end of the story, however, as the league is played on a home and away basis and in the next encounter Bray will have home advantage. Nevertheless we will savour this unprecedented victory while we can. It is a truth universally acknowledged (apologies, Jane Austen), except by those in this country who cannot accept that any good can come from the Gaelic tradition, that hurling at its best has no equal as a team sport. Anyone present at this match, it could be ventured, would not demur. For this was a game of end to end play with skill levels way beyond what could be expected from the age profile of the team, with many wonderful scores and above all exemplary sportsmanship. The cliché "this was a team victory" becomes a statement of fact in relation to this game and so one feels somewhat guilty about highlighting individual contributions. However, acting on the premise that the best way to handle guilt is to ignore it, here goes. The half-back line comprising Scott Smullen, Conor Grennan and Keith Nolan was instrumental in snuffing out many threatening Bré moves. Phelim Byrne turned in his usual solid performance and bagged himself 1-3 in the process. Martin Joyce scored some wonderful long-range points and Conor Finn found the net on two occasions. Paul Sutton was man of the match. His unerring hand-eye co-ordination saw him gain possession in the most disadvantageous of situations; a joy to watch, as were his stick skills and ball distribution.

This season teams from the club have reached the semi-final stage of the football Championship in all grades from U-12 to Minors – a tribute to the ability of our players and our dedicated band of mentors. This weekend the U-14s and the U-12s have their semi-finals in Avondale at 3:00pm on Saturday and 6:00pm on Sunday, respectively.