Year in Review 2015
Year in Review 2015
Ballyhogue GAA Club Secretary Report
Delivered by Cathal Byrne
at Club AGM 27th November 2015
U8’s Football and Hurling
2015 was a very successful year for the U8 panel. It commenced in November 2014 with indoor hurling before progressing to outdoor in April every Thursday evening. Matches started in May and continued until August. These included Monageer Boolavogue, Duffry Rovers, Davidstown, Marshalstown and Cloughbawn in Football and Oylegate Glenbrien, Rathnure, Davidstown, Cloughbawn, Shamrocks and Duffry Rovers in hurling. The teams were competitive throughout at both under 8 and under 6 level. The main focus was developing the basic skills for the young players. The year culminated with a presentation of medals by Wexford Senior Hurling goalkeeper, Mark Fanning where all players got their opportunity to help him master his goalkeeping skills! The team were coached by Vinny Kirwan, Pat Breen, Tony Hennebry, James Breen, James Murphy, James Whelan, Myles Roche and Fintan Doyle with further assistance by many other parents. The panel of players included: Lauren Bates, James Breen, PJ Breen, Anthony Byrne, Luke Carr, Odhrán Connolly Byrne, Jack Cosgrave, Casey Cullen, Harry Devereux, Sam Devereux, Liam Donohoe, Chelsea Doyle, Cian Doyle, Diarmuid Doyle, Ella Doyle, Emer Doyle, Nathan Doyle, Tadhg Doyle, Cathal Ennis, Tom Finn, Cora Finn, Ashley Finnegan, Noah Finnegan, Charlie Grannell, Kyle Harrington, Harry Helps, Maeve Hennebry, Sara Hickey, Donncha Higgins, Riona Kehoe, Charlie Kehoe, Cathal Kelly, Darragh Kirwan, Sam Kirwan, Dylan Martin, Lucy McCormack, Cillian Murphy, Cormac Murphy, Sarah O’Leary, Eva Power, Gavin Ryan, Tadhg Sheridan, Sean Vaughan, Tiarnan Walsh and Kevin Walsh.
U10 Football and Hurling
The 2015 U10 squad in both hurling and football had Denis Asple, Enda O’Brien, Robert Kehoe, James Breen, Colm Bates, Kieran McCormack and a large group of very supportive parents looking after them. U10’s take part mainly in Go Games where no emphasis is put on keeping track of the scores or who wins or loses but this group of players had a very successful and enjoyable year. The interest and attendance was such that the squad of players were normally divided into two teams to play opposing teams. They played in excess of thirty games over the season. The hurling highlight of the year was a Hurling Blitz in Rathnure which did keep scores. The team had some great games and were only narrowly beaten in the Shield Final. Twenty three of the panel travelled to the new Centre of Excellence in Ferns for the Kent Cup football competition where the players created an excellent impression with their levels of skill and commitment. Ballyhogue were one of only five clubs in the county who had two teams present.
The panel for the year included Keith Roche, Zak Levingstone, Conor O’Brien, Daniel Cullen, Darragh Bates, Craig Rossiter, Cian McCormack, Shane Roche, Keith Kschinka, Liam Parnell, Oisín Rochford, Odhrán Kehoe, Oscar Redmond, Mark Dawson, Andrew Doyle, Loughlin McCann, Owen Hickey, Ben Asple, Travis McCauley, Eamon Asple, Adam Cairney, Dylan Carr, Tomas Lambert and Daragh Kirwan.
U12 Football
Shane Dawson and Nicholas Doyle were in charge of the U12 footballers who had a very good year in the Enniscorthy section of the Go Games competition.
An early walkover from the Shamrocks was followed by a 1.8 to 1.5 win over Blackwater in Blackwater. They then beat Oylegate in Oylegate by 5.3 to 1.5.A good win over the Duffry Rovers in Bree by 3.12 to 0.5 was followed by a 3.13 to 4.5 loss to Davidstown in Boolabawn. Four victories out of five were good enough to top the group in the Enniscorthy District. The team then progressed onto the A Shield semi-final where they met Ballynastragh Gaels. The boys played an excellent match and were only beaten by a point from a 21 yard free in the final seconds of the game. The boys showed great dedication and commitment and improved significantly during the year. The panel for the year was Conor Dawson, Shane Sinnott, Ben Harrington, Liam Doyle, David Hennebry, Tobias Redmond, Conor Rodgers, Cormac Kehoe, Martin Doyle, Michael Humphrey, Odin Doyle, Sean Furlong, Nicky Dempsey, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Mark Asple, Adam Murphy, Ronan Page and Conor Collier.
U12 Hurling
The U12 Boys took part in the Mixed District Go Games Hurling and had a great start to the year with an 8.9 to 1.0 win over the Duffry in Bree. The team then played Geraldine O’Hanrahans down in Ross and were well beaten by of 3.11 to 0.1. Kilmore won in Kilmore by 2.8 to 0.4 before the boys defeated Clongeen 7.3 to 1.1 in Bree. The final game of the league section was a 1.0 to 0.0 loss to Glynn Barntown in Killurin. The team took on Glynn Barntown again in the B Shield semi final in Killurin but this time reversed the result and won 3.15 to 1.3. This put the team in the B Shield Final in St Patrick’s Park at the end of August against the Geraldine O’Hanrahans who had beaten them easily earlier in the league. However the boys’ hard work during the year was now evident. This was a well matched game with the boys showing real heart. Level at full time, it went to extra time and finished in a draw, Ballyhogue 1.5 to their 0.8. The replay was in Adamstown on September 5th. The Ballyhogue boys were stronger on the day and the final score was 2.7 to 2.1. Well done to all the players on a fantastic finish to a great season. The winning panel was Ben Asple, Mark Asple, Eamonn Asple, Conor Collier, Conor Dawson, Nicky Dempsey, Liam Doyle, Odin Doyle, Martin Doyle, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Ben Harrington, David Hennebry, Cormac Kehoe, Cian McCormack, Adam Murphy, Tobias Redmond, Shane Roche, Conor Rodgers and Shane Sinnott.
Team managers were Shane Doyle and Shane Dawson while Denis Asple helped out for the final and replay.
U14 Football
The first game of the 2015 season was against Bannow Ballymitty in Grantstown and unfortunately ended in defeat to a strong Bannow side. The team got their season back on track with a win over St. Martins but went under to Davidstown on a scoreline of Davidstown 4-8, Ballyhogue 2-6. Ballyhogue hit top form with a convincing win against table toppers Cloughban on a scoreline of Ballyhogue 6-18, Cloughban 1-3. Travelling next to the hurling stronghold of Buffers Alley ,some late second half goals ensured that the Alley were victorious on the evening. Next up was a game against the Aidan O’ Brien trained Adamstown team where we dominated from beginning to end to win by a 10 point margin.
In June, Wexford, Wicklow and Carlow hosted the National Feile finals and Ballyhogue had the honour of hosting St. Dominics, Roscommon, in the parish for the weekend.
Our first game was against Gloustershire which we lost narrowly but we followed up with a good victory over Arklow Geraldines. On Saturday morning we played our visitors, St. Dominics, who are one of the top u14 teams in Roscommon , but after a very competitive game lost by six points. On scoring difference we qualified for the next round where we went down to Oldcastle(Meath) in a game played in the Bray Emmets’ grounds. Overall the Féile was a marvellous experience with the players improving in every game in spite of playing quality opposition.
After the Feile it was back to the local championship and a good victory over Kilmore. This was followed by a loss to a strong St. Marys, Maudlintown team who eventually were the outright winners of the u/14 championship. In the shield semi-final, Ballyhogue played some great football and got revenge on neighbours Davidstown ,for an earlier league defeat.
The final of the shield was played under lights in St. Patricks Park with a large crowd in attendance. Adamstown were the opposition and in a game where Ballyhogue played some good combination football, they dominated the game from beginning to end. This was a victory they deserved as they were very dedicated throughout the year and improved with every game. The team that played in the shield final was: Evan Murphy, David Hennebry, Peter Rogers, Eamon Doyle, Ben Harrington, Ronan Byrne, Tadgh Malone, John Kehoe, Lee Whelan, Liam Doyle, Tommy Kennedy, Daire Cloke Rochford, David Kelly, Eoin Fitzpatrick(capt), Ian Donohoe. Subs: Alan Doyle, Conor Dawson, Lewis Commiskey, Tiernan Cleary, James Kavanagh, Sean Kishenka, Jason Roche
Nicholas Doyle, Colm Moriarty, Paud Moriarty and goalkeeping coach, Myles Roche, were the mentors for the year. John Kehoe and Tadgh Malone were part of the county u/14 North Wexford team for 2015. Tadgh won the county Feile skills competition and represented Wexford in the Leinster competition.
U14 Hurling
The mentors for the year were Michael Parker, Peter Byrne and Sean Rochford. The 2015 U14 Hurling season was a very mixed affair. We were one of ten teams in the 13 a side Division 5 league and as is always the case in this division many of the teams involved were way too strong. We started off with a loss to Davidstown in Bree at the end of April. The lads held their own for a large part of the game but a number of late goals sealed it for the opposition 3.9 to 1.5. Our next game was against Faythe Harriers B again in Bree. The Harriers turned up with a number of their A team players, gave us a walkover and we played a practise match instead. Our next game was against Kilmore in Bree and this turned out to be a cracker with end to end play right from the throw in. The Ballyhogue lads dug deep and came out on top by one point 3.5 to 3.4. We then travelled to Cloughbawn where we came up against an exceptionally strong side and were completely outplayed. After this defeat it was decided not to play any more of the really strong teams in the group and concentrate on playing the teams that we could be compatible with and train away to improve the skill level of our lads. Our last game as against a Marshsalstown outfit and we won well. All the panel members showed a great attitude during the year, continue to improve and I have no doubt we will see plenty of them well into the future.
The players involved included Darragh Rochford, Alan Doyle, Liam Doyle, John Kehoe, David Hennebry, Eamon Doyle, James Kavanagh, Tommy Kennedy, Sean Kschinka, Evan Murphy, Tadhg Malone, Tiernan Cleary, David Kelly, Peter Rodgers, Ronan Byrne, Leigh Whelan and Ian Donohoe.
Juvenile Football
The U16’s were looked after by Owen Byrne, David Byrne, Enda Byrne and Michael Parker. A great group of young lads started training back in March before embarking on what was hoped would be a successful campaign in Roinn 1B. The first match of the year was played in Bree against St Mary’s Maudlintown which saw a very strong Ballyhogue team win on a scoreline of 3.10 to 2.11. This was followed a week later with a fantastic win over Our Lady’s Island/St Fintan’s 1.18 to 2.7. The ‘Hogue’s winning streak continued with another brilliant win over Rathgarogue-Cushinstown 3.12 to 1.5. The last match the boys played before the exam break was against the Volunteers which saw them record their first loss of the season losing 5.5 to 1.8.
The first game back after the exams saw Ballyhogue have an emphatic win over a weak Munna-Abbain (Taghmon and Adamstown) team on a score of 8.12 to 3.3. The last match of the campaign saw Ballyhogue beaten by a superior Dunbrody Gaels (St James and Horeswood combined) team 7.14 to 1.5. However, our great start to the campaign saw the boys finish in fourth place in the table, ensuring a place in a quarter final, where they would play the winner of Roinn 1A, an unbeaten Bunclody team.
The quarter final was played in Bunclody on a lovely august evening. Unfortunately for us, Bunclody were a much stronger team on the night and won well. The boys trained hard all year and worked extremely hard and were unlucky not to progress further but had a depleted squad due to injuries picked up throughout the competition.
The panel for 2015 consisted of Nick Doyle, Dean Doyle, Chris Byrne, Cian Rochford, Peter Kelly, Enda Minogue, Edward Byrne, Aaron Murphy, Aaron Roche, Cillian Power, Dean Kennedy, Martin Levingstone, Tommy Kennedy, Mark Delahunty, Scott Tobin, Colm Parnell, Paul Sinnott, Ronan Byrne, John Kehoe, Anthony Butler, Michael Redmond and Matt Browne.
Juvenile Hurling
The U16 hurlers played in the 13 aside Roinn 2 with four other teams.
The team was managed by Owen Byrne and, like the Juvenile footballers, were trained by the young partnership of David Byrne, Enda Byrne and Michael Parker. The group started training in March and trained every Monday and Thursday night. Their first game of the year at the end of April saw them travel up to play a very young Buffers Alley team, where Ballyhogue were victorious on a score of 10.15 to 3.2. The next match saw a local derby when the boys played Davidstown in Bree. It was a very close game, which Ballyhogue won in the end by the closest of margins 1.6 to 1.5. The next game was a month later after the exam break where Ballyhogue travelled to Farmleigh to play Marshalstown/Castledockrell winning 5.4 to 2.6. A game against Our Lady’s Island saw the first loss of the season where the boys were beaten by just three points 2.5 to 0.8. Because there were only 5 teams in the division, matches were played on a home and away basis. In the return game against the Alley, Ballyhogue were again victorious winning 3.13 to 3.2. The replay of the local derby between Ballyhogue and Davidstown was in Boolabawn, this time the home team were far better on the night and won 6.11 to 2.11. The second game against Marshalstown was in Bree and this time saw the visitors won 9.9 to 5.11. The final game before the quarter finals saw the boys face Our Lady’s Island again. This time it was a much closer affair and eventually finished in a draw their 2.9 to Ballyhogue’s 3.6.
Having won four of their eight matches, the team finished third overall, entitling them to a place in the shield quarter final. In the quarter final they played Kilross Gaels, an amalgamated team from Kilmore and St Mary’s Rosslare, who were a much stronger team and unfortunately Ballyhogue were beaten 6-16 to 4-5.The panel for the year consisted of Martin Levingstone, Aaron Murphy, Edward Byrne, Cian Rochford, Michael Redmond, Nick Doyle, Colm Parnell, Dean Doyle, Aaron Roche, Chris Byrne, Tommy Kennedy, John Kehoe, Ronan Byrne, Paul Sinnott, Matt Browne, Anthony Butler, Peter Kelly, Mark Delahunty, Dean Kennedy and Enda Minogue.
Minor Football
This team under the stewardship of Ciaran Corish, Jack Fortune, Myles Roche and Ger Cullen began their campaign in the traditional season opener- The Jim Byrne Cup on the second weekend in January beginning their campaign with a win over the Duffry Rovers. After receiving several walk overs in the group the lads progressed to the Jim Byrne Cup semi final where they lost out to a strong combination of Adamstown and Gusserane. Their defeat came as a small surprise and the lads were disappointed with themselves not to progress to the final. Seeking to bounce back their Minor Championship campaign began in early March. The lads found themselves in a very competitive Roinn 1B Group against some very strong opposition. Seeking to bounce back after the Jim Byrne Cup campaign the team progressed through the group stages in impressive style by remaining unbeaten and scoring a cumulative 126 points while only conceding 64. They recorded wins over Crossabeg by 5 points,Fethard by 2 points in a high scoring game that finished 5-07 to 4-08, Oylgate by 7 points, a walkover against St Anne’s, and further wins against the Dunnbrody Gaels by 33 points 8-17 to 1-05, Cloughbawn by 9 points and the Sarsfields by 6 points. The minor footballers drew the Starlights in the County Quarter Final and in a very open game with some fine football from both sides they lost out by a point with the match finishing 2-10 to the Starlights 1-14. All things considered were it not for a bit of good luck on the night the result may well have swung in our favour.
Minor Hurling
In the minor hurling campaign the team got off to a good start with a win over St. John’s Gaels in the opening game of the campaign with the team competing in Rionn 2A this year.. They then went on to secure a second round win against Kilross Gaels before recording 2 draws. Firstly, against St Anne’s and then against Na Fianna a combination of Davidstown and Marshalstown. These results saw the lads through to a playoff game against St Pats Camolin in which the lads were 5 points to the good with 7 minutes left. However, the game had to be abandoned by a decision of the referee due to a serious injury to a member of the opposition team. After some disagreement the game was refixed as a full replay. The replay saw the lads put in a good performance but lose out by a point with a scoreline of 1-09 to 2-07. But there was more to come from the lads as these results saw them through to the shield semi final against Kilrush/Askamore where they recorded a comprehensive win with a scoreline of 0-21 to 0-03. A shield final was in the offing against a combination of Davidstown/Marshalstown where the team recorded victory with a scoreline of 1-12 to 0-07. The team was again ably looked after by Ger Cullen, Dylan Codd and Ciaran Corish.
The Panel for both Minor Hurling and Football included Jack michaels, Jack Reilly, Liam Rossiter, Darragh Byrne, Kyle Byrne, Paddy Carley, Mick Condon, Conor Long, Dylan Dalton, Shane Doyle, David Murphy, Darren Long, Dean Power, Eamon Jones, Eric Keane, Enda Minogue, Shane Fenlon, Fionn Rochford, John Kennedy, Colm Parnell, Conor Rossiter and Paul Sinnott
U21 Football
At U21 level Ballyhogue entered into the Divison 1 U21 competition which is played on a straight knockout basis at district level. The first round saw the lads beat Rathnure on Saturday November 3rd. This saw the lads into an Enniscorthy District Semi Final where they took on Cloughbawn in St Patricks Park. After full time the teams were even Ballyhogue’s 1-09 to Cloughbawn’s 0-12. Extra time came and went with the teams remaining even at 1-13 to 0-16. The replay of the District Semi Final will once again have our lads out against Cloughbawn and takes place tomorrow night Saturday 28th November 2015 at half 7 here in Bree. We wish the lads under the management of Denny Tyrell, Johnny Roche, Des Kehoe, Shane Dawson all the best as they look to go a step further than last year and return the title to the club again.
Junior Football
The league campaign saw the lads under the management of Denny Tyrell aided by Des Kehoe, Johnny Roche and Shane Dawson through to a league semi final where we drew with Clongeen in Bree before being beaten by them up there by 3 points in the replay. We found it difficult to compete in the higher Junior A division following their promotion from Junior B last season. The first game came against Bunclody with the lads unable to get a hold on the game and the match ending with a final score of 5-12 to 0-05. Round two saw the Juniors bounce back with a victory at home in Bree against the Volunteers by 3 points. The break came at a bad time for the lads as they fell to a four point defeat to Adamstown on their return 2-12 to 2-08. With a home game next the lads were looking for a win against the neighbours Olygate-Glenbrien. But a tough match saw a final score of 4-12 to 1-13 in Olygate’s favour. The final group game saw the Junior’s take on Clongeen up in Clongeen and despite a four goal salvey for the lads the match finished up 3-15 to 4-04 in favour of the home side. The victory against the Volunteers however ensured that we stay up in Junior A next year and the experience should stand to what was a relatively young side this season.
Junior Hurling
The lads started back early under the management of Des Kehoe ably assisted by Henry Rochford, Ciaran Power, and Shane Dawson. They finished mid table in their Junior A league which was a reasonable result given their competitors. The Junior A Hurling Championship season started with a big win against Wygram Gaels in the first round with a score of 5-10 to 0-07. The second round say the lads play St Martins who were the favourites to win the competition on a wet Sunday afternoon in early May with the final score reflecting a hard fought game the lads coming short by 2 points, our 1-06 to their 1-08. Round 3 saw a defeat by 6 points to Kilmore meaning that the next match was a must win for Ballyhogue to qualify for the later stages. The lads rallied hard and came away with a 3-11 to 0-07 point victory against Buffers Alley. The final match of the group stages pitted Ballyhogue against a very strong Davidstown team featuring 3 intercounty hurlers. The lads battled hard but ended up losing with a score line of 5-17 to 0-11. However, the season was to go on with word that the lads had qualified by two points for the County Quarter Finals where they would play against Rathnure. After a poor first performance which saw the lads go 8 points down by half time, they rallied and went on to win with late goals from substitutes Darragh Doyle and Mick Parker in the dying minutes with a final scoreline of 3-10 to our 2-14. The County Semi Final beckoned against St Martins in Taghmon. Unfortunately it was not to be Ballyhogue’s day and we bowed out in the final four of the championship against what was St Martin’s second team with a scoreline of 2-21 to our 3-05.
Intermediate Football
The Intermediate Footballers took to the field managed by Denny Tyrell assisted by Johnny Roche, Des Kehoe and Shane Dawson. They took to the pitch firstly in the league campaign where they reached an Intermediate Football Semi Final losing by 4 points to neighbouring rivals Glynn Barntown. In the first round of the Championship they took on Glynn Barntown again who would later go on to win the division. The lads conceded two early goals and while battling hard were unable to claw them back losing by an eventual 2 points a final score of 2-09 to our 0-13 points. The second round saw them take on Ferns in St Patricks Park and this time it was Ballyhogue that got the early goals with the lads running out 11 point winners 3-11 to 0-09. After the break the lads returned for Round 3 where they took on a Craanford team in Farmleigh. The lads eventually coming away with a 5 point win 2-09 to 0-07. Bunclody in St Patricks Park was next. The match was level at half time and with the lads playing with the wind in the second half they expected to push on and win but after a disappointing second half Bunclody ran out winners by 3 points their 1-17 overcoming our 2-09. The final game of the Group stages saw Ballyhogue take on Taghmon in Glynn. A poor first half saw the team down by 9 points at half time. While much improved in the second half Taghmon ran out eventual winners their 3-09 beating our 0-12. While we finished on the same number of points as Taghmon and had a superior score difference the head to head rule saw us not progressing to the next round. Our Adult Panel for both Hurling and Football saw the following representing Ballyhogue this year. Anthony Hanily, Chris Levingston, Cian Rogers, Conor Long, Conor Byrne, Cormac Byrne, Daniel Pim, Declan Power, Denis Leacy, Dylan Dalton, Eddie Galavan, Enda Byrne, Fionn Rochford, Ger Walsh, Graham Parker, Jack Fortune,James Parle, James Whelan, Jim Bob Livingstone, John Kehoe, John Roche,John Sullivan,Kevin Ring,Liam Kelly,Mark Power,Michael Long, Mick Condon,Myles Roche,Niall Doyle,Noel Roche,Paddy Carr,Peter Doyle,Peter Hughes,Philip Walsh, Pj Kennedy, Ronan Minogue, Sean Ring, Sean Rochford, Shane Byrne, Shane Doyle,Shane Roche,Syl Byrne, Tomás Moriarty and Tony Ryan
County Teams
Credit must also be given to those players at adult level who represented us at County Level. Syl Byrne lined out for the Wexford Intercounty Footballers with Shane Doyle now also a part of the squad having captained this year’s County Minor Footballers. Noel Roche and Daniel Pim both deserve credit having being called up to the county Junior Footballers.
Handball Report
Ballyhogue Handball Club had another successful year this year with our juveniles gaining 12 county titles, 5 Leinster titles and 1 All Ireland title. Our Adults were equally successful with 6 County titles , 6 Leinster titles and an impressive 5 All Ireland titles for our small club.
Ben Asple,Cian Mc Cormack and Conor O Brien all competed in their first County Championship this year, wearing the Ballyhogue Jersey with pride, in many alleys throughout the county. Liam Parnell and Odhran Kehoe won their first ever county title in the under 9 doubles.Colm Parnell won the under 15 county title in both the small 40/20 and big 60/30 alley.Anthony Butler won the under 16 county title in both alleys. Liam Rossiter won the under 17 county titles also in both alleys, a clean sweep for Ballyhogue Handball Club.
The only female player in the club ,Ciara Parnell won her first County medal winning the under 14 girls singles title in her first year with the club, going on to contest the Leinster doubles final v Kildare.
Enda Minogue and Anthony Butler won the doubles county titles in both alleys again this year , with Anthony securing the county One Wall championship title. Our juvenile All Ireland titles came in the form of Colm Parnell in the team of six, beating Kilkenny in Leinster and Waterford in the All Ireland Final. Liam Rossiter secured his All Ireland in the under 17 doubles championship. In the adult competitions Michael Rossiter, Billy Rossiter, Eugene English,Sonny Sheil,Peter Hughes and Galen Riordan continue to make a massive impact on the court winning titles in singles and doubles ranging from Junior, under 21, collages,right up to Emerald and Diamond Masters. A total of 18 County, 11 Leinster and 6 All Ireland’s were won by the club this year 2015. I have been asked by Charlie Parnell the Secretary of the Handball Club to pass on their thanks to the GAA club for their co operation throughout the year and many thanks to John Doyle for the upkeep of the Alley.
Off the Pitch
2014/15 was a every bit as busy off the pitch as well as on it for Ballyhogue GAA Club. The first meeting of the new committee was held on 10th December 2014 here in the hall. That night the club committee set out its intentions for the coming year and how it planned to build on the great work done under former Club Chairman Des Kehoe and his committee. While our treasurer Fintan will provide details on the club’s financial activities for the year I propose to outline a short synopsis of our activities off the pitch. There were five goals set by the club committee on the night of the first committee meeting. 1. Sand both of the two main pitches. 2. Design a club muriel for the wall of the Club Complex. 3. Set up a dedicated Club Website for Ballyhogue GAA Club. 4. Have the Club’s Accounts Audited for presentation at the Club AGM. 5. Errect Dugouts on the Middle and Lower Pitches and Erect barriers around the lower pitch to help with crowd control. It gives me great pleasure to be able to report back to you that all of these goals have been achieved this year with the barriers expected to be erected within the coming year. Other highlights from the year off the pitch include the events of of January of 2015, when the club organised its inaugural biggest loser competition, a combination of a run, walk and cycle held over several weeks between five teams drawn from around the Parish. The teams and their team captains were in Galbally Ciaran Corish, in Boromont Maurice Condon, in Bree Eddie Galavan, in Ballyhogue Niall Doyle and Eoin Byrne in Craan/ Wilton James Whelan and Shane Dawson. The event saw almost 300 contestants “weigh in” in Bree Hall and eventually saw Michael Jordan successfully win all three events with the team from Bree under Captain Edward Galavan the eventual winners.
Saturday 21st of March was the date of the Ballyhogue GAA Club Dinner Dance which saw medals being presented to the successful U21 District and County Runners up, the Junior B Football District and County winners by the Chair of Leinster Council John Horan.
At county board level the club saw it being well represented with John Curtis as Chair of the County Finance Committee, Paud Moriarty as Secretary of the Football Advisory Committee, Willie Wickham on the CCCC Disciplinary Committee, Liam Curtis as Chair of the Hearings committee and Syl Doyle joining the Referee’s Administration Committee.
This was the first year of the pitch maintenance subcommittee at club level. Established at the clubs first committee meeting back in December its membership consisted of Paud Moriarty, Denny Tyrell, Nicholas Tyrell, Des Kehoe and Henry Rochford. Credit has to be given to the lads for their hard work in organising the sanding of the pitches, the dugouts and the steps between the bottom and middle pitches which would not have been possible without their endeavours. Special mention must go to Nicholas Doyle for his continued work in arranging the booking of the pitch. Not an easy job given the high demands for the pitches during the playing seasons.
Credit also has to be given to Club Chairman Tony Hennebry and Paud Moriarty who in conjunction with Minister Paul Kehoe TD secured the sports capital grant funding for the club in the tune of €80,000. It is proposed that the new committee look to use this funding for further pitch work including the barriers at the lower pitch and upgrading the club’s complex. In a time of increasing financial pressures on GAA and other voluntary organisations across the country this money is to be welcomed and credit to those who successfully obtained such high levels of funding for us.
This year saw renewed efforts to examine the question of membership and the structures we have in place within our club surrounding the collection of membership. At the behest of the Chairman I worked with Club Treasurer Fintan Doyle on this area. As a club we audited our membership records from previous years over several months. We are now in a position to say that we have a total 219 registered paid up members made up of 93 adults and 115 underage members. As a club, we have increased the amount of money we collect in membership by 21% with total membership up from €5762 in 2014 to €7350 in 2015. Some legacy issues remain in this area but it is hoped to address these in the coming months.
September saw the club holding its annual family fun day which saw the families of the parish both young and old turn out in great numbers to enjoy an afternoon of old fashioned races and activities while being well feed from a BBQ.
On a personal note I would like to thank my fellow officers Tony, Fintan and Patrica for their hard work help and assistance during the year. I see first hand how hard they work. I also want to pay special tribute to Eilish Rochford who is stepping down as Cosite Na Nog Secretary tonight-she was always only a phonecall away, as well as PJ Doyle, Tomas Moriarty and Jim Doyle for their suggestions and guidance during the year. I would also like to thank you the members of the club for putting your trust and faith in me to carry out the job for the year. It is a big responsibility being an officer in any club and the role of secretary is not one that I take lightly.
I would also like to thank all those trainers, coaches mentors, volunteers and members of the wider club who make it all possible. Our club is only as strong as its volunteers so thank you.
That concludes my secretary’s report.
Cathal Byrne
Secretary Ballyhogue GAA Club
085-1461164