23 Éire Ógers made the trip to blustery Bournemouth on Sat 25 Feb. With a mixture of grizzly veterans and fresh faced new players we set off.
First up, Éire Óg ladies played St Judes ladies, this was the first match for the Bournemouth team.
Conditions were difficult for Éire Óg in the first half, playing into a swirling gale. This meant Éire Óg played a running game which certainly tested their fitness levels! At half time the game was in the balance Éire Óg trailing 1-07 to 0-05 points but they now faced a strong wind at their backs to make life easier. The Seasiders started the second half well with a quick goal. Éire Óg rallied and scored some marvellous points, one in particular from Sorcha Mulligan was outstanding. However the old adage persists; goals win games and the Éire Óg Ladies could not find the back of the net, despite Deborah Cuddy hitting the crossbar and post! At the end of an exciting game it finished St Judes Bournemouth 2-11 Éire Óg 0-11.
Team: E. O’ Dwyer, G. Tynan, L. Dunne, D. Cuddy, N. Coll, C. O’ Toole, S. Mulligan, Team Mentors: C. Curry & E. Rodgers.
Next up came the Men’s game. Éire Óg started with the swirling breeze however got off to a slow start, the St. Judes boys playing a nice short game. Éire Óg began to battle their way back into the game and put some nice moves together – Peter “The Point” O’ Donovan was living up to his name. At half time the score was level, St Judes Bournemouth 0-06 Éire Óg 0-06. Again the Seasiders started brightly in the second half using the wind well. They tagged on points and scored a nicely worked goal. Again this young Éire Óg side battled their way back into the game having lots of possession but not finding the target as often as they needed. Harrison Davies impressed on his debut. A nice game of football to watch, which finished St Judes Bournemouth 1-15 Éire Óg 0-11.
Team: T. Griffin, E. Connaughton, N. Burke, D. Behan, C. Forde, R. Henry, E. Toomey, C. Dillon, H. Davies, C. Carr, P. O’ Donovan, T. Gaughan, S .Troxel, E. Devlin. Team Manager: J. Gaughan.
Huge thanks to our hosts for a great game of football and of course a great night out in Bournemouth after. We are looking forward to hosting them in Oxford in the coming months. Massive thanks to Kieran Doyle of St. Judes in particular for helping to organise the trip down.
