Club Notes: 29th December 2019

The Annual General Meeting of Shamrocks Hurling and Football Club will take place this Friday 3rd of January 2020 in the KGK Hall, Knockanore, starting at 8pm sharp.  All the activities and events that took place during 2019 will be discussed, dissected and debated, and there were plenty of those. All are welcome, but only paid up members will be able to vote. So if there’s anything about the running of the club that you disagreed with or have issues with, this is the forum to do it.

As we head into a new year, we look back on a busy 2019, and look forward to what is a new decade. Our year kicked off with a Race Night which was held in the Shamrock Inn in early March, and was a great success, mainly thanks to the efforts of a very strong and committed group who put in a huge amount of work. MC on the night was James Tobin, and as usual he did a great job. On the playing front our first championship outing resulted in a 5 point win over An Rinn followed the next week with an 8 point win over Geraldines in the football championship on 14th April. Tallow were dispatched convincingly the following week in Lismore as the football team continued last year’s good form, losing two of their group games and winning four. Victories over Old Parish, Ballyduff, and Geraldines after a replay gave us our second Western title in a row, so qualifying for the county final against Ballyduff Lower. Having to field without five first choice players finally proved a bridge too far as we went down by four points in the final in Fraher Field. On the hurling front we qualified for the quarter final where once again Ballysaggart proved too strong for us in Lismore on their way to their first ever Intermediate Hurling title, a great achievement for one of the smallest clubs in the country. Our Junior hurlers didn’t have the best of luck this year and were unable to qualify for the knockout stages despite some good performances. We thank coaches Brendan Coleman with the hurlers, and Noel Crowley with the footballers for their splendid efforts throughout the year. We had to play without several key players for much of the year due to injuries, Colm Roche, Bernie Kelleher, and Cathal Herlihy all suffered serious injuries that ruled them out for most of the year, while Padraig Roche was laid low with illness for the final few games, and lion hearted Stevie Lucey left for Australia shortly after the Western football final. Looking forward, I believe we made some progress during the year, but once again our long wait for a county title goes on.

On the Intercounty front, Waterford hurlers, despite getting to a League final, ended up losing all their championship matches and had lost their manager by the year’s end also. The only way is up hopefully…

Shamrocks Ladies Football Club continues to prosper and enjoyed a great year on the playing field with the U 10’s representing Waterford in the Go Games blitz in Croke Park in April, the U 12s won a dramatic county final in September, the U 14s won County Championship, County Feíle and County Community Games titles and went to the All Ireland Feíle finals in Ballintubber, co. Roscommon where the reached the quarter finals. The U 16s won all their matches to win a county title in May. The Minor team reached the county final in November in only their second year in the grade, while the Junior team reached the knockout stages in both championship and League. One of the highlights of the year was in July when the club hosted the France LGFA in Knockanore while they were competing in the World Games in Waterford, a great night in the KGK Hall. Great credit is due to the trainers, mentors and selectors who helped make all this success a reality. Onwards and upwards ladies…

On behalf of CLG na Seamróga, I would like to wish all associated with the club, whether supporters, players, selectors, trainers, committee members, officers, first aid, jersey washers, Lotto collectors and players and  Deise Draw players the best of good wishes for a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year, with thanks also to the local papers who publish our weekly notes throughout the year. We also offer our condolences to all who suffered bereavements during the year, may they Rest In Peace.