Éire Óg Greystones
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Weekly Notes - 6th December 2006

The final date for the return of the Club Development Draw tickets is rapidly approaching so the pressure is on for the return of counterfoils and monies.

The club's a.g.m. takes place on Thursday 14th at 8pm in the clubhouse. Tá fáilte roimh anyone who has a sympathetic interest in Gaelic games in the Greystones area. By attending you will learn of the work being done to promote these games in the locality and the financial hurdles facing the club. Your presence would also be a source of encouragement for the committee. Please do not be discouraged from attending by a fear of being pressed into an active role in the club - unwilling horses will not be forced to drink!

'Blow, blow, thou winter wind, Thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude….' A few lines of Shakespeare learned at school and brought to mind by to-day's (Sunday) gale. True, the wind's lack of consideration may not affect one like another's thanklessness, yet it can nevertheless be quite inconsiderate. One had been hoping to be writing about the heroic endeavours of our u-16 hurlers against Glenealy in the B County final but the wind has robbed us, albeit temporarily, of this word- generating topic. See the Juvenile Fixtures for date of re-fixture.

St. David's hurlers eventually met their match in the Leinster championship. They were beaten by an admittedly superior team from Carlow in the final in Arklow. The 6 point margin does not do justice either to the gallant efforts of the Greystones lads or to the closeness of the exchanges for most of the hour - there was hope 'til the last few minutes. St. David's got off to a whirlwind start and Paul Sutton soon had 3 goals on the board. The Carlow mentors quickly realised where their greatest threat lay and took immediate action to stem the flow of ball to Paul. Unfortunately this proved effective and his scoring opportunities were reduced to a trickle. St. David's cause was not helped by the absence, through injury, of Scott Smullen.

St. Laurence's hurlers, managed by teacher Clare Conway, had a great victory recently over Wicklow in Wicklow in the 9-a-side Cumann na mBunscoil league. The win was all the more satisfying for the Laurence's boys since they had lost their home game against the same opposition by a not insignificant margin. The panel was James Smullen, Ryan Brandon, James Cranley, Jack McDonnell, James Nolan, Josh Campbell, Niall Kinsella, Kevin Byrne, Christopher Boylan and Tom O'Connor.

Christmas Draw tickets will be distributed this week. Insurance, team registration etc. fall due immediately post-Christmas and the profits from this draw go some way to covering these costs.

The poor oul' G.A.A. - everbody's whipping boy. Last week, Dr. Joe Barry, a member of the government sponsored National Advisory Committee on Drugs, accused the association of hypocrisy. He was referring to the publication by the G.A.A. of its manual on alcohol and drug abuse prevention (ASAP) while they still accepted the Guinness sponsorship for the hurling All Ireland. Admittedly there appears to be an inconsistency in the behaviour of the G.A.A. in this matter but that inconsistency is being exaggerated by Dr. Barry. To my knowledge the Guinness campaign is very much a brand rather than a drink promotion. The Guinness approach is positively demure when compared to that of Heineken 'in your face' promotion with respect to the European Rugby Cup. Guinness do not demand that the winning team photo be peppered with opened and unopened magnums of their product. Then there are the Guinness padded goalposts, the Guinness east stand, the Magners' league, the Carlsberg Cup etc. And it is the G.A.A alone who bear a moral responsibility in this area! Dr. Barry, we in the G.A.A. would love an open and transparent debate on alcohol advertising in sport.