|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Weekly Notes - 27th September 2006Hear ye! Hear ye! An important announcement from the Éire Óg committee. No doubt your curiosity is calling for instant satisfaction. Relax, all will be revealed in short. You, like many others I'm sure, have admired our, as yet incomplete, club premises and have complimented the committee on their foresight in having undertaken such a project. Éire Óg was indeed fortunate in having in place an enterprising chairman and a supportive committee who did not baulk at what was, for a club like ours, a truly intimidating undertaking and who were also willing to devote many hours of their free time to see it come to realisation - all for the greater good of the Greystones community. Unfortunately the said building carries with it a debt in the late hundreds of thousands. A debt like this had never been envisaged; projections had been made on the assumption of a second instalment from the National Lotto which did not materialise. The promised announcement: The committee is anxious to clear the debt as soon as possible and to this end is launching its 1st fund-raising enterprise on Wednesday 4th October at 8.30pm in the Clubhouse with a Cheese and Wine reception. The broadcaster, George Hamilton, will be acting as M.C. on the night and other well-known personalities will also be present. You are cordially invited to attend. Beidh fíor-chaoin fáilte romhat ar an oíche. The Intermediates find themselves in another cul-de-sac in that labyrinth which is this year's Intermediate Championship. Last Sunday in Arklow they drew their quarter-final match against Carnew in a game so frustrating that it had your correspondent reduced to an inarticulate babbling idiot at the final whistle. For once, this state of affairs could not be laid totally at the feet of the players. Admittedly they were guilty of some loose marking, especially in the first half and often, through hasty passing and misdirected kicks, lost the initiative - on one occasion an Éire Óg mentor was heard to remind a player that the club's colours were blue and white! Overall, however, Éire Óg played the better football and delighted with some beautiful passages of combined play. Both of our goals were of the "peach" variety. A pass of Kieran McDonald precision from Johnny Barry way out on the wing found an inrushing Darren Hayden who, having eluded a closing Carnew defence, duly dispatched an unstoppable shot to the Carnew net. The second goal, by Declan O'Mahony, was somewhat more individualistic in character. Declan cleverly played the ball inside his man, collected it and, after a short solo-run slipped it nonchalantly past the goalkeeper. We were 7 points up and coasting at the 46 minute mark. At this stage the Stratford ( the winners' opponents in the semi-final) observer beside me remarked that he could see no way back for Carnew so much were Éire Óg in control. Then things began to fall apart. An uninterrupted series of close-in frees saw Carnew eat into our lead. Then thuit an lug ar an lag (the sky fell in on Éire Óg). Chester Kelly dispossessed a Carnew forward in what appeared to us to be a miracle of timing - the ball flew clear and the forward's motion was unimpeded. A free for Carnew. The Éire Óg players were transfixed in an inertia of disbelief. Then, in a scene reminiscent of the famous Mikey Sheehy goal against Dublin, the Carnew player took a quick free and found an unmarked colleague who did not spurn the gilt edged opportunity presented. Another point for Carnew followed. Éire Óg a point behind and the game is in time added on. Is the unthinkable of 10 minutes ago about to happen? Lo! Help is at hand. Kenny Naughton is thundering up the right wing. He collects the pass and, without breaking stride, steers the ball between the posts from the narrowest of angles. Game over. On Saturday the club played host to the "Travelling u-8, u-10 hurling-blitz show". Three clubs took part viz. Éire Óg, Kilcoole and Glenealy. Kilcoole was the venue on the previous Saturday. Proceedings at both venues were greatly enjoyed by the children and their camp followers. It is intended that the blitz visit other hurling clubs during the coming months. The enthusiasm generated in this, the early stages of this new initiative for the promotion of hurling in the N.East, bodes well for its success. We are grateful to all those involved in the provision of refreshments on Saturday. We in Éire Óg extend our sincerest sympathies to Jackie Fitzpatrick, to his family and to the Byrne family on the death of Jackie's wife Vera. The very large attendances at the obsequies were a testament to the esteem in which Vera and Jackie were held. Ar dheis Dé go raibh anam Vera. |
||||||||||||||||
