Éire Óg Greystones
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Weekly Notes - 23rd April 2008

Intermediate

The report on this paper of Annacurra’s recent comprehensive (erring on the side of understatement) victory over Kilbride painted the picture of a team of a superiority of “the rest of the intermediate teams can give up the ghost” variety. It was no wonder then that the Éire Óg camp, as they headed for Annacurra on Sunday, quaked with apprehension at the thought of the psychological trauma their team was about to suffer. We lost. But it was not the slaughter which the above mentioned report foreboded. The margin was a single point which was tuned over the bar by the final whistle immediately after Éire Óg had got an injury-time equaliser. The provenance of this point was somewhat bizarre; the ball had been brought some distance from the scene of action where there had been a bit of an exchange to be hopped close to the Éire Óg 13m line. The outcome was the punched winning point. Hopping the ball would seem to imply equality of guilt and under such circumstances somewhere further out would seem to have been the fairest place to do so.

There was huge disappointment at a defeat which owed as much to the team’s malfunction as it did to Annacurra’s prowess. Éire Óg’s 1st half dominance, rather than being reflected on the scoreboard, was frittered away in a series of inexcusable wides and elementary errors. The 2nd half became an uphill battle with the dismissal of one of our players on a second yellow (is binn béal ina thost – a closed mouth catches no flies). Then, how we bemoaned that first half profligacy – those quick frees when the more leisurely “ball on the ground” approach would have been the better option, the two gilt-edged goal opportunities spurned and the many times players insisted on soloing themselves into trouble.

Despite its negatives this was a good exciting game of football from which Éire Óg could take more than a little satisfaction. The team’s work-rate was highly commendable particularly after it was reduced to fourteen. Pity about the result.

Ladies Football

One asks oneself is it a tactic to lull the opposition into a false sense of security or is it a frisson our ladies get from living on the edge that has them giving the opposition huge early leads which are annulled just when the fat lady is about to sing? In their last two games (both away) they have fought back from 9 point deficits; to equality with Baltinglass and to victory against St. Pats. Their heroine – or should it be hero in these times of gender equality – against St. Pats was assuredly Caoilfhionn Deeney who was responsible for 2-7 of the team’s total. No more than a bird can fly on one wing, a team can never be victorious on the efforts of just one player. This was truly a team victory with particularly significant other contributions coming from Rebecca Fusciardi and Deirdre Walsh in the half-back line, Aisling Leonard and Kellie Ryder in the half-forwards and Jenny Groome at corner back.

Open Day

In an effort to raise its profile in the community and to bring its existence to the notice of the huge number of newcomers who have lately moved to Greystones, the club is holding an Open Day this Saturday from 3-5pm. You are cordially invited to come along to view the club’s facilities, to hear of the work in train and, most importantly, to meet the people behind the teams. In these times when many of the influences acting on the community tend to being centrifugal in their effort, we in Éire Óg would like to see ourselves as a force for inclusion and social cohesiveness.

Oidhreacht gur fiú í a chaomhnú – an inheritance worth preserving.

Club Lotto

At time of writing the Lotto stands at 10,000 euro. Not to be sneezed at! Will it be 10K or 2K as you read this? In either case it is worthy of a flutter – it is for a good cause.