JUNIOR A FOOTBALL: March, as Charles Dickens wrote in his Great Expectations, is a month where“the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light and winter in the shade”. And so it has been in this March of 2015 – days of blue skies and tantalising promises of a summer to come followed by harsh reminders that winter's shadow still falls on this month of betwixt and between. A month that tests that spirit. The spirit of Éire Óg's Junior As – and of those hardy souls who made it out to support the onfield efforts – was surely tested on Friday evening, when they took to the pitch against a visiting Baltinglass side. Many of those mainfesting in support on the sideline felt that their stand against the elements was an act of bravery in itself; one can only imagine what it was like for the players. The relentless March wind blowing across the pitch made it extremely difficult to kick with any kind of accuracy, on one occasion causing the head of a Baltinglass mentor to sink into his hands when a free from an eminently scorable position was taken on the wind, ending up over the sideline rather than over the bar. Indeed, the Greystones lads were to deal considerably better with the elements than their opponents, the quality and intelligence of the Éire Óg handling and kick-passing a clear reflection of the amount of intense and consistent training that the players, under manager David Hayden and his team, have put in over the past two months. Jamie McDonald epitomised the team performance with his intelligent and unselfish distribution of the ball as well as his own well-taken scores; Willie O'Hagan defied the elements to score three points from frees while Leon Browne at full back brought a steadiness to the defence that allowed team-mates like Seán Lawless, Liam Maguire, Stephen McHugh and Pearce Kelly to drive an extremely positive and encouraging Éire Óg performance.
SENIOR FOOTBALL : The fine performance by the Junior As was a great morale booster to our Senior footballer before their Saturday afternoon fixture. However, complacent was far from being the state of mind of the Éire Óg players as they set out for Annacurra on Saturday afternoon to play the locals in the second round of Division 1A of the Campus Oil Leagues. The bitter experience of many broken dreams has taught Éire Óg footballers that taking anything for granted going into the traditional footballing areas of the county is an exercise in riding for a fall. There is no doubt that the team was so-cautioned by its mentors entering the fray as, from the throw-in, players showed a commendable determination and commitment. This attitude caught the opposition off-guard and had them on the back foot from the beginning. The conditions underfoot may have been heavy and glutinous yet a sprightly Éire Óg performance produced an impressive thirteen scores from five different players. Top-scorer Daniel Webb ran the opposition back-line ragged in an impressively creative and energetic performance, while his fellow in the full-forward line Craig Smullen provided able support while also notching up three good scores for himself. At midfield, Pearce Kelly refused to be bogged down by the sodden ground and soared above his Annacurra adversaries in a display of high-fielding that lit up the second half. Lorcan Treanor pulled off a miraculous save when under pressure and he was ably supported in defensive efforts with a fine performance by Eoin McHugh. With four points from two games Éire Óg senior footballers are in a strong position moving into their round three match against Newtown on March 24. Tús maith leath na hoibre.
