Weekly lotto: Remember, we haven’t been able to run any fundraisers so far this year, so our weekly lotto is our only source of fundraising income, so please do support. Get your tickets HERE. The winning numbers in last week’s draw were 7,22, 23 and 28. Nobody matched all four numbers to an extra €100 is added to the jackpot which is now €3,100. The weekly cash prize winners were Eoin O’Neill and Carmel Deeney.
Fixtures and results: We’ve some exciting adult and juvenile matches coming up this week.
- 14 Aug: Senior Hurling Championship v Kiltegan, 16:00 in Aughrim
- 14 Aug: U14 ladies football v Arklow, home
- 15 Aug: Men’s senior football v Coolkenno, 11:30 at home
- 16 Aug: Minor boys football v Michael Dwyers, 20:05 at home
- 18 Aug: U16 camogie v Annacurra, away
Remember, all fixtures and most results are available at https://eireoggreystones.com/fixtures-results/
Adult ladies football: Éire Óg fully deserved their victory at home to Valleymount last Saturday evening in Division 2 of the football league with a half-forward line of Aoife McTague, Kerryanne Hamilton and Rachel Purcell providing a total of 1-13 of their total and all three in tremendous form throughout.
The opening exchanges were quite even with the opening four scorers divided between the sides. However, on eight minutes a beautiful flowing move involving McTague and Purcell saw the latter unselfishly offloading to corner-forward Aisling Roche who hammered the ball to the net from close range.
The game was still tight at this stage with both defences on top with Sophie Gummerson for Éire Óg and Valleymount’s Maia O’Brien especially catching the eye. After 25 minutes the Roche goal was all that separated the sides, but a scoring burst of three points just before the interval for the home side saw them pull away to a 1-7 to 0-4 half-time lead.
The second period saw the fitness of the Éire Óg girls shining through with Kerryanne Hamilton a ball of energy throughout, clipping some beautiful scores or providing the groundwork for McTague to add the gloss to a flowing move.
Valleymount battled bravely with Annie Maguire unlucky more than once not to get a green flag raised to reignite the visiting side’s challenge as heroic defending or brilliant goalkeeping from Ella O’Reilly denied her.
Slowly but surely Éire Óg stretched their lead and with ten minutes to play were ahead by 12 when their second goal arrived. McTague put the ball into space and Purcell showing great determination to slide it home.
A further run of scorers McTague (2) and Hamilton really gave the scoreboard a look that Valleymount didn’t deserve. Late on Maguire got the goal she deserved. Collecting the ball 30 yards from goal she took off like a train before arrowing to the net.
A decent game with Éire Óg the better side but Valleymount will feel they should have been closer. For the visitors Maia O’Brien, Annie Maguire and Katie Maguire played very well.
Éire Óg had excellent performers all over the field with Orla Minogue at centre back, McTague and Purcell all superb. However, player of the match was Hamilton whose lung bursting runs really ran Valleymount ragged.
Best wishes to Valleymount corner-forward Caroline Cahill who went off with a bad knock late on
Éire Óg: Ella O’Reilly; Sarah Doyle, Deanna Clarke, Sophie Gummerson; Ella Horgan, Orla Minogue, Megan Maguire; Ciara Patrick (0-1), Kerryanne Hamilton (0-5); Aoife McTague (0-7), Rachel Purcell (1-1), Aoife Roche (1-1); Eimear Ryan, Chloe Downey (0-1). Subs: Robin Carroll, Sophie King (0-1), Lisa Murphy, Eimear Ryan, Sophie Dallaghan, Julie Rose O’Brien.
Senior Hurling: Eire óg 2-16: Glenealy 1-19
‘So how the hell did this happen,’ was probably the question Éire Óg Greystones hurlers and supporters were asking as they left the County Grounds in Aughrim last Saturday evening having watched Gary Byrne fire home a late goal to save Glenealy from the jaws of defeat in the opening round of the Lightning Protection Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2021.
Eamonn Scallan’s men had engineered an almost complete reversal of the recent league final between these two sides and had looked head and shoulders the better side but were caught by that never-say-die attitude of Michael Anthony O’Neill’s Glenealy who can thank the outstanding free taking of Danny Staunton and the late major from stalwart Gary Byrne as significant factors in them sharing the spoils from this intriguing battle.
Éire Óg led by 2-13 to 0-11 after nine minutes of the second half and looked destined to get their campaign off to a dream start but they would score just three more points in the following 21 minutes while Glenealy would add an amazing 1-8, six of those from Danny Staunton (four frees and one 65) who produced a stunning performance just when his side needed it the most.
There were several changes to both sides from the league decider but none that would suggest that such a transformation would be on the horizon. Kristan Flynn, Sean Lawless and Leon Browne started for Éire Óg while there were a number of positional switches with Stephen Kelly to centre back and Anto Byrne to full-forward. For Glenealy, Sam O’Dowd came in at half-back in place of Paul O’Brien while Jamie Byrne was preferred to Jack Kavanagh. Warren Kavanagh was switched to full-back to try contain Anto Byrne, Danny Staunton and Tommy Doyle were in midfield while Alan Driver was centre forward with Bosco Snr inside with Billy Cuddihy for company.
A Danny Staunton free got Glenealy up and running but you knew by the first water break that there was no hope of a repeat scoreline from the league final given the energy and hurling that Éire Óg were bringing to the party, despite them being a point down at 0-7 to 0-6.
Mick Walsh and a James Cranley free for a foul on Andy Walsh pushed Éire Óg ahead early on but Jonathan O’Neill Snr’s radar was very much on, and he sent a missile over the bar after a foul on Jamie Byrne.
The Greystones side laid down a bit of a marker for the next score. A Glenealy ball to Alan Driver was cut out and worked to Shaun Cranley and the Wicklow midfielder drove over from half-way much to the delight of the Éire Óg players and supporters.
They led by 0-5 to 0-3 at one stage but Glenealy came roaring back to edge them at 0-6 to 0-5 thanks to points from Bosco (two frees) and one from Matthew Traynor but a Shaun Cranley free and another Bosco beauty sent the Reds in leading at the first water break by 0-7 to 0-6 but realising they were very much in a game. Danny Staunton had been brought back to centre back to try to handle Andy Walsh and shore up the Glenealy defence.
The first goal arrived after 25 minutes and opened up a 1-8 to 0-8 lead for Eamonn Scallan’s men, Mick Walsh grabbing the goal after quality play from Shaun Cranley.
Glenealy added three wides to their tally over the next few moments, one a goal chance and then Éire Óg hit a serious purple patch with scores from Leon Browne and James Cranley (two frees) to lead by 1-11 to 0-8 although a late free from Bosco would reduce that by one.
All seemed changed from the league final. Glenealy’s pace, their incisiveness, their creativity all seemed missing in action. Warren Kavanagh’s influence from centre back was notably absent but he was having a fierce hard time trying to mark Anto Byrne who would get the scoring underway early in the second half having lost Kavanagh.
Danny Staunton added a point from a free for Glenealy and the action raged up and down the field with Peter Keane, Dan O’Connor and Warren Kavanagh and Ronan Manley working hard to prevent scores at both ends.
But Éire Óg were flying. Brimming with ambition and confidence they were playing with a real sense of adventure and when James Cranley went long to Anto Byrne, the full-forward picked out Leon Browne who buried it past Cian Staunton for a 2-12 to 0-10 lead.
After 10 minutes of the second half, things changed slightly. Danny Staunton informed Éire Óg that any transgression from his 45 to their posts would be punishable by a score. He bombed over two incredible strikes to make it 2-13 to 0-14.
Anto Byrne hit back, and Mick Walsh added another as Michael Anthony O’Neill opted for experience and sent in Wayne O’Gorman for Gary Hughes with 14 gone, 2-15 to 0-14.
And slowly but surely the Reds started reeling Éire Óg in. Danny Staunton with three epic scores (two frees and a 65) closed the gap but James Cranley stopped the rot after 25, 2-16 to 0-17.
Gary Hughes came back in for the injured Jamie Byrne and he would have something very significant to say by the end of this game.
Tensions rose, tackles were hard, but things looked like they were going beyond Glenealy when they suffered three wides and the loss of Bosco to a red card for what looked to be dissent.
Danny Staunton reduced the Éire Óg lead to three points and you said to yourself, ‘are you serious?’
Éire Óg overcarrying gives Glenealy a free. Danny Staunton sends in the perfect ball. It’s goal or nothing now.
The ball breaks and the quickest to react is Gary Hughes. He sends it in to Warren Kavanagh who feeds it out to Gary Byrne. An Éire Óg body approaches like a demon but Byrne swings and strikes and the ball whizzes into the bottom corner of Dan O’Neill’s net.
It was as though it was written in the stars.
After the initial euphoria from the Glenealy supporters died down and a kind of stunned silence descended on the County Grounds, a recognisable voice rang out in the evening air, that of Sheila Driver: ‘We’re never down,’ she shouted, ‘we’re never down’.
That Glenealy only scored 1-3 from play might be considered as a concern but you could also look on it that they were winning those frees and 65s in the first place.
Éire Óg were vastly improved on the league final for most of this game and look like a very capable outfit when hurling with freedom.
However, it’s how they respond to being reeled in that’s the big question, but they won’t have much time to dwell on it given they face a rejuvenated Kiltegan this weekend.
Éire Óg Greystones: Dan O’Neill, Peter Keane, Billy Cuddihy, Dan O’Connor; Nathan Unwin, Stephen Kelly, Kristan Flynn; Sean Lawless, Shauna Cranley (0-2); Mick Walsh (1-2), Andrew Walsh, Danny Nolan; Leon Browne (1-2), Anto Byrne (0-3), James Cranley (0-7, 6f). Subs: Gavin Parslow, Brian Lawless for D Nolan (50).
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