Éire Óg Greystones
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Weekly Notes - 19th September 2007

With the club catering for three codes in a wide range of age groups, and happily having teams which are there or thereabouts at most levels, it is inevitable that there will be, as the G.A.A. season moves to its close, weeks like last week - a plethora of significant games vying for attention which had our supporters chasing their tails in a frenzy of venue-hopping. On Saturday the u-14s and the minors played in the semi-finals of their respective championships and the u-16s travelled to play Baltinglass in a game to decide their respective opponents in the u-16A semi-finals. On Sunday morning the Intermediates were at home to Kilcoole in the league - local rivalry creates its own importance - and in the afternoon the ladies travelled to play St. Pats in Dunbur in the final game in their league. Then on Monday the Junior Bs faced AGB in Ashford in the 2nd replay of their quarter-final. As to results, the week-end was a mixed bag but was surely tops in effort, commitment and entertainment.

Neither were our hurlers neglected for in the region of 50 of our younger players took on their peers from Camolin in a series of matches run in conjunction with the Intermediate game. The visitors enthused about the hospitality afforded them.

All this activity does not occur of itself - and how uplifting it is to the older members who have lived through leaner times - but it is down to the selfless efforts of many people and the club can count itself extremely fortunate at this time in having enthusiastic and reliable mentors and workers in place at all levels.

Minor Football

Any bookie would have given long odds on Éire Óg coming away from Arklow on Saturday with a victory in the semi-final of the A county championship. Their opponents, Baltinglass, were justifiably installed as strong favourites as in every encounter between the teams from u-14 upwards Baltinglass had come out on top. In the group stages their margin of victory was 4 points. But win Éire Óg did, even if it was only by the slimmest of margins. The victory was all the sweeter for its being so unexpected and for its being the 1st time in 23 years that Éire Óg have contested a minor final. The foundations of this victory were laid in the early Éire Óg onslaught which yielded 2-1 from the boot of full-forward Andrew Kealy, who like his father holds a Senior Schools rugby medal. Briseann an dúchas; his father was also a Dublin minor. The other scores came from the ever-improving Shane Thompsom (1-4), Daniel Webb (0-1) and Adam Merriman (the winning point).

An Éire Óg half-time lead of 0-7 was cut to a point with a minute to go. You can imagine the tension in the Éire Óg camp at this stage. To cap it all Baltinglass were awarded a must-score free from a scoreable position. Thankfully the ball was just wide.

The half-forward line of Peter Keane, Roddy Carroll and Jonathan O'Brien more than earned their "crust". Roddy in particular had a major hand in the victory. His reading of the game and his ability to find space are truly uncanny. Adam Merriman and Oran Bambrick proved to be effective link-men. Adam O'Shea at centre-back, Ronan Hannaway and goalkeeper Lorcan Treanor constituted the solid spine of a mean defensive unit. Ronan did a great job in curbing Baltinglass' star player Ciarán Walsh. Gavin Magee and Dermot O'Rourke worked hard in the half-backs while Seán Horan - his play is characterised by a forceful persistence which never transgresses - and Lee McDonald more the matched their opponents

U-14 Football

In their semi-final the u-14s suffered the disappointment of defeat at the hands of an excellent Rathnew side. This team has had a very successful year but has been shadowed all the way by the Rathnew boys - the final of the Féile competition was one of the best football games of the year with Éire Óg scraping through by a point. In the league, honours were even with each team registering an away victory against the other. The season's demands obviously told on the Éire Óg team and on Saturday they really did not do themselves justice. But, well done, gentlemen! We are proud of your efforts and grateful for the enjoyment you have given us during the year.