GRASS ROOTS

ST PATRICK'S

Well done to the county Senior footballers on their win over Dublin in Parnell Park on Sunday last.

While it was an experimental Dublin line up, any win over our neighbours is to be savoured.

The club are well represented on the panel at the moment and we wish all the guys well in preparation for the step up to Division 3. It's great to see that all the perseverance and hard work has paid off for Padge and that he has been able to get back to the level he was at prior to injury.

Congratulations to former club player Chris Kavanagh and Arel Banks who got engaged while they were both home from Australia over Xmas, hopefully it won't be too long before we see Chris once again wearing the blue and white.

Congratulations also to Laura Leonard who celebrated her 18th birthday recently.

A players meeting for the Senior hurling panel will take place in the club house at 8.30pm on Friday 18th, all new players or anybody who is interested in getting involved are welcome, contact Pat Stapleton on 086-8068170. A reminder that the refurbished clubhouse bar is available for parties/functions etc. please call Sean O'Brien Jnr on 085-1328653.

VALLEYMOUNT

Our Intermediate team were beaten by Kilcoole in Newcastle on Sunday morning in the Division 2 relegation play-off and will now have to face Ashford to determine which team regains Division 2 status for 2013. Venue and time to be confirmed.

There was no winner of the club lotto this week. The numbers drawn were 1, 7, 10, and 14.

The four €25 winners were Philip Ryan, Jimmy Flynn, Maura Byrne and Eamon Byrne Jnr. The next draw will take place on January 26 with the jackpot now standing at €4000.

The club would like to send our deepest condolences to the Baker family, Rathdrum and Balfe family Blessington on the death of Miley and to the Balfe family Kilbride on the death of Catherine. Congratulations to Shane Carroll celebrated his 21st birthday at the weekend. Also, congratulations Pat and Ciara Reid on the birth of baby Dearbhla.

Well done to Wicklow who beat Dublin in the O'Byrne Cup on Sunday.

Our annual AGM took place on January 5 with the following officers being elected for 2013.

Chairman: Anthony Geoghegan; Vice chairman: Philip Ryan; Secretary: Sharon Nolan; Ass. Secretary: Aislinn Nugent; Fixtures Secretary: Liam Kavanagh; Treasurer: Brendan Hughes; Ass. Treasurer: Jimmy Byrne; PRO: Brian Flynn; Registrar: Shay Geoghegan; Youth Officers: Declan Cahill and Aislinn Nugent; Alcohol and substance abuse Officer: John Cahill.

ANNACURRA

Pre season training takes place for all adult footballers at 8pm on Tuesday and Friday nights in the field with Gym work at 7pm on Saturday night.

New players are welcome with any experience level for the adult teams, if interested please come down to the pitch when training is on. Membership is still due from all. Players' membership is €100 and includes a ticket for the county board draw. Students are €45 with a half ticket for the county draw and non players are €20.

There is club merchandise available for sale, iPhone covers and mugs in club colours with the crest on them. 20% of revenue goes to the club. Please see annacurragaaclub.com/merchandise for details. Please contact the club PRO Sean McGrath on 086 3508941 if you don't wish to order via the website.

GAA lotto results for January 7: Numbers: 5, 6, 12, and 22. No jackpot winner. Match three winners: Georgina Finn, Avoca; Pat Lacey, c/o Johnny Thompson, Teresa Moron, Tinahely. Jackpot stands at €4,000. Next draw takes place on Monday night January 14 in the.

DONARD-THE GLEN

The winning numbers of 7, 12, 23 and 28 were lucky for one person last Monday night January 7 when Tom Kinsella, Graiguecullen, Co. Carlow came up with the winning combination. He bagged the €20,000 jackpot and well done to him. There were six who matched three numbers each receiving €35. We are back to €4,000 for the new jackpot.

A good crowd turned up for the GAA AGM in Donard Hall on Friday last and there were quite a few changes in personal.

Dermot Doyle takes over as Chairman with Jim Corrigan as his assistant. Seamus Daly is still secretary with Amanda Butler his assistant. Brian Lennon is treasurer assisted by his father Eamon. P. Toomey is still P.R.O. David Case is still fixtures. Larry Daly is grounds man but all clubs using the field will have to supply an assistant to Larry. Jerome Kelly and Helen Eager will still run the Juvenile section of the club with Peter Lawless, Brendan Daly Jim Metcalfe, Helen Byrne and Edel Geoghegan. Lastly George Finlay will be player's representative and Colm Toomey is registrar.

The county 40 X 20 handball leagues are being held at the moment and in Coolboy on Tuesday night. Gerry McGrath beat young local star Wayne Kinsella 2-1.

The Junior league starts this week when Donard players will represent the west and the winner here will go to the county final.

BALTINGLASS

The lotto jackpot stands at €10,700. There were no winners. Numbers last week were 23, 24, 29 and 30. Buy your tickets local in all shops or so ease to buy online.

Seniors are back training. Our juvenile chairman is putting in place coaches for the upcoming year, while the ladies are looking for coaches. Anyone interested please drop into Damian in Patterson's or ring Theresa on 087-8505718.

Lads' county U-15 trials are on Saturday 19 AT 11am in Laragh. Anyone born on 1998 is welcome to attend.

Leinster GAA Coaching Conference is on in March in IT Carlow.

The conference will cater for club coaches from U-6 to U-12s. More details later.

The Club send their sympathy to Jo Coogan on the death of her brother Willie O'Toole, Ballymore and Terry Lawler and girls Ciara AND Emma on the death of Niamh. R.I.P.

Well done to Wicklow with their win over the Dubs.

BLESSINGTON

Local student Dermot O'Neill who played football with our club is one of nine students from Naas CBS travelling to Mazabuka, Zambia in March to assist with projects there and live among those less fortunate than themselves for two weeks.

They will bring much needed funds to help them in their work.

There will be a fun quiz in Hennessy's Lounge on Friday January 18 in aid of Zambia Immersion Project. Quiz starts at 9pm. Team of 4 - €40.

Hard luck to Wicklow who were beaten by Carlow in Bray on Wednesday last. Barry Murphy and Paul McLoughlin played the full game, Mick McLoughlin came off injured in the second half, while Kevin Hanlon played the first half and Eoin Keogh played the second half.

On Sunday the last match took place against Dublin in Parnell Park and Wicklow won 1-11 to 010, Anthony McLoughlin and Paul McLoughlin played the full game with Anthony getting two points. Also on the panel were Eoin Keogh, Kevin Hanlon and the injured Barry Murphy and Michael McLoughlin.

The U-21's are playing in The Hastings Cup. They beat Carlow 2-12 to 0-06 on Tuesday last. We had Eoin Devlin and Stephen Bohan.

On Saturday they played Longford in Kenagh and were beaten badly, Eoin and Stephen were not in attendance due to exams. They play Roscommon next Saturday, January 19 at 1pm in Johnstown (Clan na nGael).

The Pitch Rota will be used again in 2013. Team Managers can text Chris O'Connor 086 2239403 with their preferred days and times and when they plan going back training and we will do our best to accommodate each team.

Our Club 7s will commence on Sunday January 20 at 6.30pm on The Astro. Come up and enjoy the craic and have a cup of hot soup. Each player to pay €2 a week.

Thanks to Noelle McGarr who made the soup for the Wicklow Minor game last week and to Olive Devlin, Karen Hanlon and Ann Richardson who served to both teams.

The county Minors trained in Blessington on Friday last. Thanks to Geraldine Boothman who made some tea for the parents while they waited on such a cold night.

Mouth guards are now compulsory from academy to Minor in 2013 and adult in January 2014. You can purchase shop ones from €7 to €12 or fitted ones €50/€55.

The fitted ones will be done after surgery hours and in groups of 10 so if anyone interested text Jessica 086 8602822, Noreen 087 2858375 or Chris 086 2239403.

We are going online with our lotto so more information will follow so keep an eye on our website blessingtongaa.ie or on our Facebook page.

Birthday wishes this week to Geoff Elliott, Niamh Carroll and Kate Hennessy.

The club sends speedy recovery to Shauna Richardson just home from hospital. The club sends deepest sympathy to the Balfe family in Manor Kilbride on the death of Karen.

BRAY EMMETS

Wicklow v Carlow - Bray Emmets hosted the Bord na Mona O'Byrne Cup Group B match between Wicklow and Carlow on Wednesday, 9th January.

On a bitterly cold night, a large crowd attended a keenly contested game which ended in a three point win for Carlow.

Harry Murphy would have been pleased to have given some of his fringe players a useful run out but overall he would have been a little frustrated by the performance.

However, any disappointment will have been short lived as a stronger Wicklow side secured a superb win over Dublin in Parnell Park on Sunday.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the stewarding and kept the tea flowing in the kitchen and shop. It was a great night for the club and we hope to host more county fixtures in the near future.

Registration - Notice will be communicated to all members shortly regarding club registration 2013. As usual, it will be mandatory this season that all players (adult and juvenile) who wish to play for Bray Emmets GAA Club will need to be registered with the club.

The on-line registration process is reasonably straight forward to use and can be found on the club website www.brayemmets.com.

Any member who doesn't want to register on line can come along to the club registration day on a date to be announced in March.

GAA Foundation Coaching Course - The club has arranged to host a foundation coaching course for adult playing members beginning on Saturday, January 26.

The Foundation Award is the introductory award for coaches of Gaelic Games.

The course is aimed at beginner coaches and will enable participants to assist a coach in the organisation of activities to develop hurling or football.

The course is seven and a half hours in duration and covers four key modules, as well as introductory and conclusion modules. These four modules are: (1) Introduction to Games (2) Skill Development (3) Movement Skills (4) Coaching Children, Youths and Adults.

Participation for our adult players is highly recommended. Further details for those interested are available from Ian Smith (086-8515722)

Garden County Awards - The Garden County GAA Awards take place at 7.30pm next Saturday, January 19 in the Arklow Bay Hotel. A good night is guaranteed for all those that attend especially as Bray Emmets will have two recipients of awards.

Luke Maloney captained the victorious Minor hurlers as they won the county championship in a replayed final against Glenealy and was an obvious choice for Minor hurler of the year.

Conor Flannery will pick up the Junior C Footballer of the Year award after guiding his team to an emphatic victory with some vital scores against Blessington in the county final last October. Congratulations to both Luke and Conor. The club is extremely proud of your achievements.

Football Blitz - The St. Cronans Gaelic Football Blitz for boys in fifth and sixth class begins this week on Tuesdays in the school field and on the astro pitch on Friday nights at 6.30pm. Great football is guaranteed from the young stars of the future!

Referees wanted - Fancy yourself as the man in the middle? As a new season approaches, Wicklow GAA are in the process of recruiting new referees. Full training will be provided in early February and anyone interested should contact the club secretary, Anne Healy (healy_anne@hotmail.com) before Monday, January 21.

Sympathies - The club extends its deepest sympathies to club stalwart Pamela McDermott on the sudden death of her father Patsy over Christmas.

Pam is captain of the Senior ladies footballers and does fantastic work as PRO for Cumann na mBunscol in Wicklow.

Sincere sympathies also go to Sinéad Ní Chrean-Loinsigh on the death of her Mum Jane.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dilis. Sinead teaches in Scoil Chualann and does Trojan work in promoting our national games.

Mailing List - The club notes are also circulated every week by e-mail. To be included on this mailing list, please send your details to brayemmetspro@gmail.com and we will be happy to include you in future correspondence.

KILCOOLE

Intermediate Football - Our Intermediate footballers had a good win over Valleymount last Sunday.

This win ensures we keep our Division 2 status for 2013. It was a great all round team performance and a deserved win.

At times we played lovely controlled football and scored some great scores both from play and dead balls.

Our scorers were Matt Gilbert 0-8, Eamonn Hughes 1-01, Ronan Keddy 0-3, Jim Keddy 0-1, Darragh Keddy 0-1 and Stephen Coughlan 0-1.

Well done lads and best wishes for the coming season. Thanks to Newcastle GAA for the use of their pitch and facilities.

AGM - All nominations and motions should be given to Colm Hatton as our re-convened AGM takes place this Friday January 18 in the clubhouse at 8.30pm.

Minor Football - Anyone interested in helping out in any way with the re-establishing of a Minor football team for this year should contact Liam (Jacko) Gahan 086 667 4322 or Gerry Curry or Noeleen Evans.

Kilcoole GAA club sympathise with the O'Meara family with the recent death of Rosaleen.

Rosaleen was a great community activist and great servant to our club over the years and will be sadly missed in the village. Rosaleen O'Meara R.I.P.

EIRE OG GREYSTONES

Lotto - Buíochas le Dia the lotto is again up and running. One apologises if one sounds like a broken record when harping on about how important the return on the lotto is to the financial health of the club. But shure isn't one only telling the honest truth.

However in doing so it is hoped that, in líne with what has been described in an uncomplimentary fashion as the Jesuit philosophy of education “throw mud often enough and it will stick”, this constant repetition will bring home to you how vital your continued support for the draw is in keeping the multifarious activities of the club in running order.

The organisation of the lotto had been, for many years, in the hands - and safe hands they were - of Nellie Vickers (R.I.P.). Her death before Christmas threw its logistics out of kilter and one worried for its future.

Nellie was a reliable and very capable co-ordinator and the club recognises with gratitude the work she and her family did in ensuring its continuity and profitability for over 20 years. Go raibh míle maith agaibh agus beannacht Dé le h-anam Nellie.

Thankfully, neighbour Veronica O'Reilly, a former Lord Mayor of Greystones and a long time supporter of the club, has expressed a willingness to take on its management. Maith thú Veronica!

Football - Éire Óg received many compliments for its facilities (there cannot be many grantees of National Lottery Funds who enriched them with such added value out of their own resources) from spectators at the recent Bord na Móna O'Byrne Cup game between Wicklow and DCU.

However some of them expressed a little frustration at the absence of a scoreboard, a luxury for which we in the club have devoutly wished for some time.

Regrettably this is a deficiency unlikely to be made good in the medium term. Two factors militate against one being installed in the near future. Firstly its cost and secondly the fact that the present relative seclusion of the pitch would sadly make it very vulnerable to being vandalised.

Éire Óg's James Kelly received special mention for his performance in the game. His brother Stephen (Chester) was unavailable as he is resting to reinvigorate his system after the rigours of his role as dual player at both club and county levels in 2012. Our other Senior county player, Darren Hayden, is plying his trade with Carlow I.T. in this competition.

John Deeney, Daniel Wood and Daniel Keane were members of the U-21 Wicklow squad which lost to Louth in a recent challenge game.

At the moment, between hurling and football, nine of the club's players are involved with various county panels and the manager of our senior football team, Philip Smullen, is worried and justifiably so.

If, as has been the case in recent years, county players are not allowed tog out with their clubs he will be down at least eight of his panel members for the league and the team's chances of retaining Division 1 status will be severely compromised.

Bon Voyage - While mourning his loss to hurling within the club we all wish Daniel “Doc” O'Connor, a graduate in Hotel Management, gach dea-ghuí for the duration of his 12 month stay in New York.

His hurling colleagues were on hand on Friday night to give him a rousing send-off.

CARNEW EMMETS

The excitement is building as the date for the 2013 Bash for Cash fundraiser nears for the Carnew Emmets and Craanford GAA clubs.

Some of the finest male human specimens ever to walk the streets of the town of Carnew will step into the boxing ring in the Amber Springs Hotel in Gorey on February 2 to take on the mightiest men of Craanford.

Tickets for this monumental event are on sale in Victor's and in Doran's Bookmakers and also from the new chairman James Doran or any committee member.

Be warned the tickets are selling fast and there are strict regulations as to how many people can be admitted on the night so buy your tickets fast.

You will recall that a short film was released ahead of last year's event when Carnew Emmets took on Kilrush-Askamore. Well the creators of that wonderful little cinematic gem have came together again and are currently working on another masterpiece.

Filming took place in the town last weekend and some motorists and pedestrians may have got quite a shock when a group of robed athletes ran charging through traffic to break a trio of evil criminals from their jail transport.

Suffice to say that no hurlers or footballers were harmed in the making of this film.

However what may have shocked locals more during filming was the sight of the much respected and revered Brian 'Rusty' Doran arriving on set dressed as the delicious Brigid with her nest of black curls, her ill-fitting brazier and her skin-tight ski-pants. What a sight to behold as the lovely Brigid pranced around the set clutching her bunch of grapes. But seriously, well done Brian, it’s a look that works we think!!

Maurice Molloy takes over as chairman of the juvenile committee and Eddie Brennan is secretary. A large crowd attended the AGM and a lively meeting was enjoyed by all. Training is now in process for all teams.