Against all odds, Pearse Og had a pretty impressive 2001. Imagine how successful this Dundalk club could be if a few more people took an active interest in their well-being... All in all, it was a reasonably satisfactory year for Pearse Og. The seniors certainly didn't disgrace themselves while the Dundalk club proved a worthy match for anyone else in the Wee County at juvenile level. Seniors Pearse Og's senior hurlers have every reason to be feeling content with their performance during the season gone by. They put in a tremendous showing in Division Two of the Armagh league (their main league) and were unfortunate to be pipped for promotion to the top flight, losing out to Fermanagh club Lisnaskea by a mere point. The Armagh league season comprised some 14 matches and the Dundalk men led for most of the year but lost their way towards the latter part of the season due to a combination of injuries and holidays. Winners also of the Carrickmacross Shield, the seniors had a less-than satisfactory year within the Wee County. They did record a well-deserved win over Knockbridge in the senior league, but that was as good as it got in that particular competition. The championship, meanwhile, was a bit of a disaster as - short seven key players - Pearse Og capitulated to Wolfe Tones in the semi-final. All in all, Chairman Damien Callan was encouraged by how things panned out for the seniors: "The senior team consists exclusively of locally-born lads and they showed great commitment over the year. It's a good young team and they can go on to bigger and better things if they stick together. The team captain Seamus McDonagh led by example all year but a bad spate of nasty injuries threw a spanner in the works. "For example, Gary Brodigan broke his collarbone and Paul Callan sustained broken fingers . . . by the time we added all the injuries up, we were severely depleted for the championship. Over all, we're happy enough but we're in dire need of help at coaching level. At the moment, we simply don't have the numbers in that area. "But we're happy with how the year went, especially with the commitment and attitude of the senior team. We managed to field for all our games in the Armagh league, which is an achievement in itself. Getting a team up to Maguiresbridge for an 8 O'Clock fixture on a Tuesday evening isn't easy and the lads deserve credit for their commitment. "We had high hopes going into the Louth league - especially as we were top of the Armagh league at the time - but it didn't work out. We lost narrowly to Wolfe Tones, beat Knockbridge and then lost to Naomh Moninne." Juveniles There was success in 2001 for both the club's under 11s and under 12s while the U14s could have beaten Knockbridge had they enjoyed even the slightest rub of the green. Despite receiving only a minimal amount of coaching, the U11s won their section of a very well-organised McCreesh Shield competition, seeing off the challenges of Naomh Moninne, Termonfeckin and Collon. The U12s had an equally successful year, capturing the U12 championship while, much to Damien Callan's disappointment, the U14s never really got going: "The U14 Feile is the competition in which we have the best record over the years in representing the county but we ran into difficulties with the soccer this year and lost out badly. We were winning by twelve points at half time and ended up losing by two. "The people over the soccer told the kids that they weren't allowed to play gaelic games and we were the big losers. Personally, I think that was a terrible thing to do - people shouldn't be going around telling kids what they can or can't do because at the end of the day we're all in this for the same reason. "Playing the U14 and U16 competitions in October/November certainly didn't help our cause as this is the time of year when the soccer season is in full swing. "The biggest problem we're facing in the juvenile end of the club is that we don't have enough people coming in to help out with the youngsters. Paul Callan has tried manfully to keep the whole thing going but we're having difficulties and are no longer functioning like we once were. We're producing fairly good teams but unfortunately they're not staying with us, perhaps due to the timing of the competitions." Another point worth noting is that the Foot & Mouth epidemic also had an impact on Pearse Og (as, indeed, it did on every club in the county) - with them being situated within the exclusion zone, they missed out on a lot of the Feiles, blitzes and other assorted competitions they normally compete in. What's the general mood like in the camp then? "We're happy enough, although we're concerned about the fall-off of players and the lack of commitment from parents in the estates. When we started out in 1985 there were three families who got it all up and running and since then nobody else has come on board at organisational level. Nobody has offered to get involved or support us. We're over-stretched at the moment and would urge people to come down and lend a hand." When in comes to promoting our indigenous pastime, a little help goes a long way. Tweet

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