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Weekly Notes - 3rd October 2007

Leinster Hurling Féile

For those who like sport at its pristine best, unsullied by professionalism or "great-occasion" syndrome, there was no better place to be on Saturday morning than "down at Éire Óg". For there they could have gorged themselves on a 4 hour feast of hurling played with élan and abandon by 13 year olds and younger from clubs in Dublin, Kildare, Westmeath and Wicklow.

Seeing the disparity in the sizes of the players as the teams took to the field, one was filled with apprehension for the safety of the smaller players. However, as the games progressed, one's fears evaporated as one came to the realisation that hurling, when well refereed and played in the proper spirit, is inherently a very safe sport. Both criteria were fulfilled on Saturday - the games were all excellently refereed by Paul Sutton and were played in a spirit of ball-centred sportsmanship - so the event was essentially injury free. Indeed encounters between the bigger and smaller players constituted many of the highlights of the blitz. One marvelled at the bravery and persistence of some of the more vertically challenged players and one rejoiced at those occasions where their superior skill triumphed over the brawn of their more physically endowed opponents.

A parallel blitz was held in Kilcoole and the teams finishing in corresponding positions in the two venues played each other. Éire Óg finished 2nd behind overall winners St. Sylvesters, Malahide. The games were played on the huge expanse of the new pitch (groundsman Patsy Vickers had the sod in great condition for hurling so the players were able to show their ground skills to good effect) and, while this made for good open play, it placed huge physical demands on the players. So it is unlikely they gave their parents much bother on Saturday night! Yet the lads never relented in their efforts and provided us with hugely enjoyable and exciting entertainment to the final puck of the day.

The Éire Óg boys played very well and improved with every game. Their play in the final game against Ratharney of Westmeath was replete with cameos of intelligent and insightful interchanges, and most of their scores were the culmination of rapidly effected interpassing movements.

End of the event analysis has the hurling fraternity remarking on the freshness that the playing of teams from other parts brought to the attitude of the lads, ;and they bemoaned the fact that few teams within the county are able to play at the level witnessed in these games on Saturday.

Intermediate Football

A columnist on one of the Sunday papers expressed himself less than impressed by the comment he had heard on "it says in the papers" about the Irish supporters in France after the team's defeat by the home country, viz. their celebrations at the loss were such that one wonders what they would be like in victory. Not, he felt, the attitude of genuine followers. The sterling supporter, he opined, would feel such losses in his heart to the point of pain, and his mood would be anything but celebratory. This columnist would have found evidence for his thesis in the downcast demeanour of the loyal band of Éire Óg supporters leaving the Gaelic grounds in Aughrim on Sunday. They had just witnessed their team's exit from the Intermediate championship at the hands of Stratford and they were finding it difficult to come to terms with their disappointment. It was a game we could have won. For 20 minutes after the interval Éire Óg had Stratford pinned down in their half but showed very little return on that dominance, and unfortunately, on the few occasions that Stratford did bring the ball into Éire Óg territory, they scored. During that period we had three genuine opportunities for goals - a little sang froid might have delivered on the first two, and luck was absent when a wonderful opportunistic shot from Declan O'Mahony hit the bottom of the post.

Lethargic is a word one would have recourse to in describing the Éire Óg 1st half performance and the consensus among spectators was that they were lucky to be only a goal down at half-time. Stratford were excellent at opening up the Éire Óg back line and creating the extra man in attack whereas Éire Óg, while having more of the ball, seemed always to be kicking into a crowded goal mouth and running into cul-de-sacs with ball in hand. Then there was the kicking away of possession and the reluctance to 'have a go'. Stephen "Chester" Kelly had an outstanding game at full-back and initiated many an Éire Óg attack, Eoin O' Neill coped with a very skilful opponent, Daniel English played well throughout and Paul Doherty worked hard.

For your diary

The u-14 hurlers play Glenealy in Wicklow at 11.00am on Saturday in the semi-final of the County championship. Then it is on to Pearse Park in Arklow to support the minors in the final of their championship at 1.30pm