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Weekly Notes - 28th February 2007The title 'Dinner Dance' as applied to clubs' annual celebrations is somewhat misleading. Almost invariably on such occasions, a not inconsiderable amount of the evening's time is devoted to post-prandial presentations in which the particular contributions of individuals to the club's profile during the year are acknowledged. For the enjoyment of patrons it is important that a balance be found between giving due recognition to those being honoured and avoiding the tedium that such presentations have the potential to generate. M.C, Gerry Walshe, succeeded admirably in squaring these conflicting interests with the effect that the presentation ceremony's contribution to the evening was a positive one.It has been traditional on these nights to honour the achievements of past teams. This year the club hosted the Intermediate Championship winners of 1985 - hopefully the recounting of their deeds will inspire the members of our present team, many of whom were in attendance, in their endeavours to emulate the '85 team's success. Having been introduced to the gathering, the members of the team were each presented with a memento, of this the 21st anniversary of their victory, by President Des Mitchell. The club is extremely proud of having in its playing ranks three members viz. Darren Hayden, Craig Smullen and Paddy Taylor, of the Wicklow Vocational team which garnered All-Ireland honours in 2006. Teacher, Mary Kenny, who looked after the boys' welfare in St. David's presented them with tokens of the club's regard. It was obvious on Wednesday night in Roundwood that the Intermediates had well and truly succeeded in putting the nightmare that was the drawn quarter-final of the 2006 Division 2 league behind them. In that game Éire Óg were 5 points up with 5 minutes to go and playing well. Who would have blamed them for feeling confident? However, at this point, proceedings took a bizarre turn and this lead was gradually eroded. At the final whistle they were left hanging on for dear life. In the replay in Roundwood they hit the ground running and took the game to Dunlavin from the off. Thanks to the strong wind and the trusty boot of Johnny Groome they were 1-1 up after a few minutes. A goal each from Deccie Hogan and Anto Byrne followed.. Dunlavin failed to score in the 1st half. Against the wind Éire Óg added 1-2 (Conor Monaghan 1-0 and a point each from Darren Hayden and Paul Doherty) to their total. While the backs as a whole played well, the performance of the half-back line of Seán Horan, Stephen "Chester" Kelly and Kenny Naughton was outstanding. Paul Pegman had a great game at full-back. Paul Doherty, back to top form, and James Leonard controlled things at centre-field. Anto Byrne and Johnny Groome were the pick of a hard-working forward unit. The Éire Óg mentors had to have derived a degree of satisfaction from the team's performance. The players' skill levels, particularly their handling skills, were at an encouragingly high level, and their discipline and commitment could not be faulted. With both teams having being intent on playing football, transgressions were at a minimum and spectators were treated to an entertaining hour of sport. |
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