Men of '82:

Edenderry GAA & Festival to commemorate Darby's goal.

On a wet September evening in 1982, two teams were locked in a titanic struggle in Croke park. Kerry, arguably the greatest team ever to play the game were going for five All Irelands in a row. Their opponents and rank outsiders Offaly, were struggling to avoid coming out second best again. With only minutes left and Kerry four points up, it looked like job done for the Kingdom.Two points for Offaly left only two between them but the seconds were ticking away.

A long speculative ball was sent towards the the Kerry goal. Two men rose for it, Kerry's Tommy Doyle and Offaly's recently introduced sub' Seamus Darby. Darby caught it, turned and buried it in the roof of Charlie Nelligan's net and a legend was created.  It was the greatest comeback since Lazarus. Kerry had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and the five in a row would have to wait for another team and another time.

The Festival committee and Edenderry GAA in association with PMB Construction have decided, as part of this years Festival, to relive that great moment from our sporting past. On Saturday night July 6th, we will very proudly present an evening with Seamus Darby and many of the men of 82. The event will take place in the GAA clubhouse.

The night will commence with a showing of the full game on a giant screen which will be followed by a discussion chaired by Offaly hurling legend and TV pundit, Michael Duignan. Michael will be joined on stage by Seamus Darby and members of both teams from that momentous game. Kerry legends Sean Walsh, Mikey Sheehy and Bomber Liston will join in what will be a fabulous evening of laughter and memories.

Festival committee chairperson Bryan Dunne said, "We are very proud to bring this special event to the town as part of Festival 2019."

David Farrell, Chairman of Edenderry GAA and nephew of Seamus Darby said, "We're delighted to be hosting this event and we're looking forward to welcoming the Kerry and Offaly players from '82 to our clubhouse. Some of the all time greats played in that final and it's often forgotten or overlooked just how good of a game it was. As for Seamus's goal, well, it'll be remembered forever more. It's the Cinderella story, the thing every child dreams of doing someday. It was the classic 'punchers chance' and he grabbed it with both hands. It'll be a wonderful celebration".

 

Mr. Pat McBride, M.D. of PMB Construction expressed his delight to be associated with this celebration of a time when Offaly hurlers and footballers were at the very peak in the world of Gaelic games. "I'd like to take this opportunity" Pat said, " to congratulate the Festival committee and Edenderry GAA for bringing this great event to our town". 

 

Enquiries are already coming in from all over the country and from overseas. Put it in your diary and spread the word. Tickets can be purchased from our club website www.edenderrygaa.ie or by contacting David on 086-8668646.

 

The men of '82. Edenderry GAA clubhouse. July 6th. '19 

 

Youth Committee

 

One of the main aims of the ‘Edenderry GAA Strategic Vision and Action plan 2017-2022’ is the promotion of the ‘One Club Model’. Part of this plan is the establishment of a combined Youth Committee for the administration of underage girls and boys activities (football, hurling and camogie). As of May 2019 the Youth Committee is now up and running which will provide a very important role in the club. We look forward to collaborating with Coaching and Games, Child Welfare Officers, Ladies Committee and the Club Executive. 

 

As a Committee our Main Function is the promotion of underage activities for all teams.  Our aim is to improve the quality of experience for each child involved with Edenderry GAA.  In this regard we are asking for your support to run two main fundraising events this year;

Our annual ‘March of the Reds’ planned for September; and

A Lotto Ticket fundraiser.

We appreciate everyone’s contributions through Membership, especially including Club300 and the Car Pooling to games, however with growing numbers of teams comes greater expense.  The proceeds from the fundraising will be used to assist the Club in the expense of running our 30 underage Boys & Girls Teams and to cover such items as;

Playing Equipment,

Payment of referees,

Expenses for Blitz, refreshments etc,

Occasional Transport Costs,

Trips to matches in Croke Park, Mini Blitz and End of season fun activities.

To this end we are providing a book of Lotto tickets for each underage girl and boy to sell. There are 12 tickets (€2 each) in a book and we are asking were possible for €20 to be returned per book. Each underage player will receive their Lotto book during training in the coming week. All sold tickets should be returned to their relevant Underage Coach between the 24th and 28th June. Please note if there are two underage players in the same family (girls or boys) only one sold book should be returned and if there are three underage players in same family then 2 sold books should be returned etc. All sold and unsold books must be returned to the Underage Coach.  As the U13 and U14 boys have been busy fundraising for the Féile competition, this age group will not be required to participate in this fundraiser.

If you are interested in joining the Youth Committee or may be available to help out with the Mini Blitz or ‘March of the Reds’, both planned for September, then please contact any of the committee members. 

Congratulations to the U14 boys who will represent the club and county, as Offaly champions, at the national Feile Finals in Galway at the end of June. The players, coaches and parents have put in a tremendous effort in raising a large portion of the costs towards the trip.

Thank you for your continued support and a huge Thank You to all the boys and girls for the endless hours of enjoyment they give us throughout the year.

 

The Youth Committee

Lisa (086 3588451), Barry (087 1228414), Aisling (086 3896596), Marcus (087 222 8664), Brian (086 6062421), Tara (087 1742889), David Farrelly (087 2641740 ), Angela (086 606 1717), Kyle (085 2894771 ), Colm (087 7638171), David Farrell (086 8668646), Willie (086 833 2932).

 

 

Seniors qualify for league semi final:

 

Edenderry..............4-14

Gracefield..............2-8

 

Edenderry senior footballers qualified for the Division 1 league semi final after a twelve point victory over Gracefield on Friday night at Rosderra Weavers field.

 

The visitors started the stronger and scored the first point of the game but the reds responded with a goal through Aaron McDonnell.

 

Despite trailing 2-3 to 1-2 half way through the first half Edenderry led at half time 2-6 2-4 after a second goal from Aaron McDonnell.

 

Edenderry performed better in the second half restricting Gracefield to just four points while they racked up 2-8 themselves, goals from Richie Dalton and Adam Mahon securing a comfortable victory.

 

Team:

Shane Cummins, Adao Dafe, Sean Pender, Alan Pender, Adam Mahon (1-0), Cathal Farrell, Jordan Hayes, Stephen Guing (0-1), David Moloney, Jamie Coates, Sean Moriarty (0-5), David Hanlon, Sean Doyle (0-5), Ciaran Farrell (0-2), Aaron McDonnell (2-0)

 

Subs used: Richie Dalton (1-1) for Aaron McDonnell (black card), Keith McGuinness for Ciaran Farrell, Gary Blong for Alan Pender, Bobby Reynolds for David Hanlon, Paul Hanlon for Stephen Guing.

 

Junior C championship result:

 

Daingean 1-10

Edenderry 4-11

 

Team:

Padraig Foy, Daryl O'Connor, Wayne Mooney, Liam Kennedy, Johnny Hurst, Eoin Reilly, Dean Cummins (1-4), Dan Lowry (0-1), Ryan Glynn (0-1), Basil Malone (0-1), Jordan Loughlin, Daniel Ryan (3-4), Enda Farrell, Adrian Farrell

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