Eire Og's return to All County hurling was delayed due to torrential rain having rendered St Teresa's pitch unplayable. But three days later the Ogs took the field. Unfortunately they were well beaten by a decent Glen Road team. Experience told as St Teresa's ran out comfortable winners. After an encouraging first half, Eire Og dropped their heads and lost the game.
Eire Og then picked up their first points, albeit by default, when Mitchells did not field.
After the Ogs' disappointing first match against St Teresa's, Larne provided a chance to improve but due to an epidemic of Champions League-itis, Eire Og struggled to field. The youthful Sean Rice, Pat Rice, Brendan McPoland and Sean O'Neill all started. Veteran Matt Morgan's hurling skills were almost required. Confusion reigned as no keeper had taken his place between the posts as the ball was thrown in. Sean O'Neill then dropped back to literally fill the goalkeeper's position. Gary "Gluts" Sweeney also lined out at centre half and showed some good touches but played Muldoon-esque in the free roving role.
Eire Og actually took an early lead before Larne poached a couple of soft goals within ten minutes of the start despite O'Neill's agility in goal. The Ogs rallied and matched the Larne men for the rest of the half and went in 2-06 to 0-04 down, with the points coming from Niall Rice and Paddy Rice.
The second half was also competitive though Larne's finishing was better on the whole. Waldorf and Sadler were reunited in the second half, the former in nets and the latter as umpire, and barracked the Eire Og full back, Fintan Morgan. O'Neill somehow got down low to turn away a goal bound shot but then minutes later his considerable bulk could prevent a long hopeful ball from dropping between his legs for a goal.
The Ogs' defence of Morgan, Pat and Ronan Rice, McAuley and Wills had tightened up considerably from the first game. Niall Rice had a great game in midfield along side Paddy Rice. Up front yet another Rice, Colm, battled well, as did Barry and full back come full forward Joe George who scored 2 points from play. Damien Trainor also pitched in with three good points.
Eire Og continued to improve against Creggan. They battled well but, missing several players due to prior Bank Holiday arrangements, they went down to Creggan's more efficient shooting.
Goalkeeper Sean O'Neill had a good game, showing composure in fielding high balls. The full back line of Fintan Morgan, Gerry O'Reilly and Aidan McGowan were unlucky to concede two first half goals, being tight all game, while the half back line including Colm McAuley and Conor Wills, also did well. Peter Elliott and Niall Rice played well in midfield while Dara notched up a goal and a point in the first half. Crik Browning marked his first appearance this season with a good game at half forward. The Ogs trailed 2-03 to 1-01 at half time.
The second half was much the same as the first. Eire Og weren't able to convert their possession into scores yet they matched Creggan in many areas. Colm McAuley pointed for the Ogs before O'Neill conceded his now customary 'through the legs' goal.
Eire Og travelled to the perpetually cold and windy Mallusk Playing Fields for an away game against a strong Ardoyne side. The Ogs were outplayed by a battling Ardoyne side, with Crick Browning and Joe George doing well in defence, Niall Rice in midfield and Sean O'Neill, freed from his goalkeeping duties, playing well in half forward.
Lamh Dhearg were next up for the Ogs and it was a totally different performance. The Ogs matched the Hannahstown men and would have led at half time had the forwards taken their points and not gone for goal constantly. Level at half time the Ogs would concede two soft goals and one very dubious goal, which looked as if the sliothar had gone gone wide, in the second half to give Lamh Dhearg a very flattering win.
Due to Champions League commitments (or lack of) Eire Og failed to field against Sarsfields and forfeited the match. Next up were St Teresa's at Woodlands. The Ogs struggled for a team and had to play with 14 men. But, despite that they matched, and even dominated, St Teresa's for long periods. Mickey Hughes in nets was unlucky to see the sliothar bounce just before him for a first half goal and the Ogs conceded just four other first half points. Then, with the wind at their backs, St Teresa's upped the pressure. The extra man began to tell towards the end of the game as the Glen Road men netted three times and took several points. But the Ogs put up a very good display, especially the minor hurlers Niall Maurice and Aidan Magowan in defence, Niall Rice in midfield and Niall Cochrane up front. Barry O'Hare and a surprisingly active Fra Grimley both played well at half forward and half back respectively.
La Tharna Og 1-10 Eire Og 4-03
The Ogs travelled to Larne for this tricky away fixture having lost by a large margin at home to Larne earlier in the season. Once again the Ogs had several late cry-offs as throw in time approached and took the field with only 14 men (including team manager Pat Rice). Larne edged ahead after about 10 minutes with a long point aided by a stiff breeze but the Ogs defence showed resilience and determination with Browning and Fra (Chunky) Grimley standing up strong and the home team found scores difficult to come by. After 15 minutes however they had moved four points clear with a couple of frees but the Ogs kept threatening and eventually Colm Rice tucked the ball into the Larne net to keep the Ogs in the game. The stiff breeze however was proving a significant factor and once again Larne moved four points ahead. With 5 minutes to go in the first half however, the "lost car"? containing two more players arrived and Colm O'Grady's introduction to left-half forward had an immediate impact as his drive into the opposition box caused panic in the home defence and the ball ended up in the net to reduce the deficit once more to just one point. The dubious goals committee later awarded this score to Declan Rice despite the claims of his cousin, Colm, that his shot had crossed the line.
Larne now put the Ogs defence under even more pressure but Grimley (advised by his rugby guru to put on even more weight?????????), Browning and McGowan were superb in a very strong half back line and Gerry O'Reilly and Fintan Morgan played their opponents very tight around goal to prevent any goal-scoring chances. Larne managed another two points before the break to leave the half-time score 0-09 to 2-00 in favour of Larne but with the Ogs very much in the game.
The Ogs started strong in the second half with McAuley's darting runs causing all sorts of problems to the home defence. Taking scores however proved difficult in the first 10 minutes of the second half with Niall Rice, Desi O'Reilly and Colm Rice all going close but failing to add to the half-time score. Larne were having trouble getting the ball out of their own half, such was the Ogs' dominance in midfield and in the half-back line and eventually the pressure paid off when a 65 was dropped over the bar by Ryan. Another point from Ryan cut the deficit to just one point but then Desi O'Reilly drilled a powerful shot into the Larne goal to put the Ogs two points ahead with about 12 minutes to go. The Ogs continued to dominate and some fine fielding from O'Grady and Ryan set up attack after attack but some wayward shooting let the Ogs down. All the effort put in however was starting to catch up on the players and as the Ogs tired, Larne mounted a few attacks of their own. From one of these Mickey Hughes in goal made a tremendous double save to keep the Ogs ahead. A well-worked passing move from Larne put their full forward through on goal and under pressure from Fintan Morgan, he shot low and hard for goal. The keeper however got down smartly to make a fine save. The rebound was again struck goalwards and this time Hughes, while still lying on the ground from the initial save, blocked the ball with his foot and plucked it from the air as it spun upwards towards goal. Mickey then coolly got to his knees and stroked the ball out to Aiden McGowan and safety. Noel Skeehan himself would have been proud.
Mickey's efforts however looked to have been in vain as Larne pegged back one point and then, with only a few minutes to go, scrambled a goal to put the home side two points ahead. The Ogs' display however had been about heart and determination today and they weren?t prepared to be denied. They went straight back onto the attack and Aiden McGowan stroked over a fine point from 40 yards to reduce the gap again to just one point. Then with only seconds to go, the same player struck a long ball into the full-forward line but it evaded everyone, including the Larne keeper, to nestle in the back of the net and give the Ogs victory by two points.
This was a fine all-round team performance in which the half back line of Grimley, Browning and McGowan stood out tall as did the midfield pair of McAuley and Ryan. Up front all six players battled hard and deserve great credit for a hard-earned victory.
Scorers: Aiden McGowan 1-1, Colm Rice, Declan Rice and Desi O'Reilly 1-0 each and Ryan 0-2
Eire Og travelled up to Creggan on a hot Wednesday evening. Playing up the hill in the first half the Ogs held their own, and a point from Sean O'Neill followed by a Barry O'Hare goal left only three between the sides as the Kickhams side led through pointed frees 0-07 to 1-01. Unfortunately, for no apparent reason, the Ogs' challenge fell apart in the second half. They became ragged and allowed the Creggan midfield and forwards too much room. Three late goals were conceded. The Ogs replied with O'Hare adding a point to his goal, Ryan Jackson got a point and super sub Desi O'Reilly scored three points. The Ogs had a chance of a consolation goal right at the death but Conor Wills' first time pull hit the side netting from an angle.
Joe George had a man of the match performance at full back, while the rest of defence, Gerry O'Reilly, Crik Browning, Niall Morris, Fra Grimley and Aidan McGowan all had excellent games. Up front Niall Rice was very unlucky not to score, while Colm McAuley, Desi O'Reilly and Peter Elliott had decent games.