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Weekly Notes - 29th March 2006The Intermediates have built themselves a solid foundation in the League – to date they have accumulated 3 points out of a possible 4. Tosach maith leath na h-oibre – well begun is half done. On Saturday they defeated newly demoted Carnew in Greystones in conditions which were anything but conducive to good football. Intermittent rain made ball handling difficult and the soft sodden ground introduced a degree of deception into the ground/ball relationship. Fair play to both sides they coped well and served up an entertaining afternoon’s sport. The game was scarcely 4 minutes old when the ball was in the back of the Carnew net. A morale boosting score and, as proved later, vital to Éire Óg victory. The goal was a thing of beauty in its execution. A delightful sweeping movement from deep in the heart of the backs found Johnny Barry on the "40", a quick transfer to the in-running Eoin English, a steadying toe-tap, a rasping shot deflected by a defender over the head of the goalie and we were 2 points in front. A game of point for point scoring and heart stopping moments ensued; the sighs of relief from the home supporters when Carnew fluffed golden opportunities for goals could be heard in Blacklion. All in all, a satisfactory performance for a team short of many of its regulars. Supporters took particular satisfaction from the fact that our players were not fazed by the robust uncompromising Carnew tackling. The backs had a torrid time against an extremely lively forward division but succeeded in keeping a cap on the Carnew return. The English brothers played well and Paul Doherty was a powerhouse at centre-field. Paul scored a spectacular point from 60m after a supercharged burst from deep within the Éire Óg defence zone. Another highlight was a really sublime point from a free taken by Johnny Barry 35m out on the sideline. The game also had its frustrations from the Éire Óg point of view – some going-nowhere cross-field play and can’t-make-a-decision around and around soloingA few short years ago who would have thought that 3 schools from Greystones would field teams in a hurling competition? Well it happened last Thursday in the Cumann na mBunscoil ‘sevens’. St. Laurence’s fared best; they reached the final where they were beaten by St. Cronan’s from Bray. St. Brigid’s and St. Kevin’s proved themselves well able to hold their own against the best in the competition. The tournament was very well run and the Greystones participants derived great enjoyment and satisfaction from the experience. The teams were managed by Colm Gaskin, Gerry Barry and Brendan Cuddihy. We wish them every success in their efforts to cultivate hurling in the "stony soil"- metaphorically, of course - of Greystones. A club functions on its pocket and without adequate funds it is limited in the services it can provide. Incidental costs associated with the clubhouse development together with beginning of the season equipment costs – is there a more expensive field-game to run than hurling? – have near emptied the coffers. Club membership fees, which are now due, would provide some financial relief. Finola Nolan and Felicity Keane will be on hand this evening,Wednesday, in the clubhouse from 7.30 – 9.00pm to collect registration forms and fees. These may also be returned to managers. At the weekend the u-14 footballers were in Blessington to participate in the pre-Féile mini-blitzes. Information is sketchy but one gathers that they won both games – one of them against Bray Emmets – and played well. As many of you may know, the football Féile is being hosted this year by Wicklow. One cannot overestimate the magnitude of this undertaking with well over 2k boys and girls from all over the country and from abroad scheduled to descend on the county over the last weekend in July. Our representative on the organising committee, Carmel Deeney, has been highly impressed by the work ethic of the co-ordinators appointed by the County Board. Every year the G.A.A. organises two Féile, one in hurling and one in football, in which up to 5K 14yr olds take part. These events get, at most, a passing mention in the National press. That it is capable of successfully mounting such mammoth enterprises year after year on an overwhelming voluntary basis is something of which the G.A.A. can be justly proud. What other organisations, sporting or otherwise, would be capable of such a feat? Yet scarcely a whisper from its p.r.o. machine! |
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