Under 8s Ballymore Blitz Our Under 8s were in action for the first time this year in the Ballymore blitz last Saturday. We had a very strong turnout of players when we fielded two teams with no less than 9 players making their debut for the club. The Whites got off to a flyer after Ben Egan had the ball in the Fr Daltons Greens net within 60 seconds of throw in which Plunketts went on to win comfortably. They showed great character in the second half of the second game to come back against a physically bigger Longford Slashers side and in the final game they came from two goals down against Southern Gaels to level the game and came within a whisker of getting a draw. The Greens had tough matches to get through but acquitted themselves very well. Liam Carey, making his debut for Plunketts, got on the scoreboard in the opening game against Southern Gaels. The highlight of second match against Fr Daltons Yellows was a super goal from a free by Carson Hanlon, which caught the opponents off guard. There was good support from the parents on the day and the coaches were very pleased with the effort put in by all 18 players. Greens: Liam Carey, Cormac Cassidy, Kelton Hanlon, Carson Hanlon, Michael Flanagan, Martin Wilton, Daniel White, Alex Scally, Ben White, Caoilin Walsh. Whites: Tomas Meehan, Eoin Meehan, Daniel McCann, Shane Ormsby, Conor Garvey, Ben Meredith, Ben Egan, Ross Clinton. OPHC Greens 1 - 3 Southern Gaels (Liam Carey 1-0) OPHC Whites 3 - 0 Fr Daltons Greens (Ben Egan 2-0, Ross Clinton 1-0). OPHC Greens 2-2 Fr Daltons Yellows (Carson Hanlon 1-0, Daniel White 1-0) OPHC Whites 2 - 4 Longford Slashers (Thomas Meehan 1-0, Ross Clinton 1-0) OPHC Greens 0 - 2 Fr Daltons Greens, OPHC Whites 2-4 Southern Gaels (Daniel McCann 1-0, Ben Egan 1-0). Report by Mark Landy.

Summer Table Quiz On Friday 1st June, St Oliver Plunketts are having a table quiz in the Annebrook House Hotel to raise much needed funds for the club. This is always a great club social night, and we hope that it will be well supported by both club members and local people. It costs €40 per table with four people per table.

Summer Draw The same weekend, our Summer Draw takes place on Sunday evening 3rd June. First prize is a fantastic 2 nights in the 4 Star Maldron Hotel in Dublin including evening meals and tickets for a show in the Grand Canal Theatre. Lines are on sale now at the club for €2 and can be purchased from any club member, coach or committee member. Lines will also be on sale at the table quiz on the Friday night (1^st June) and also in some of our shopping centre’s locally over the weekend.

Club Gear & Registration Deadline Day There is still time to put in an order for club gear - the new club jersey, helmet, socks & togs and club bags. Nicky Quinn is taking orders and can be contacted at 087 2989499. Club registration is now due for underage and senior players and it's very important that every player is fully registered. Underage fees can be handed in to the team coaches and senior fees can be handed into Mickey Harris. The deadline for ordering club gear and registration is Friday 1st June.

 Reply

Website & Facebook Don’t forget to keep in contact with our website, the website address is:  www.stoliverplunketts.westmeath.gaa.ie  Also to remind folks that you can find us on Facebook. We currently have over 1200 friends, so don’t miss out. Note that on recommendations from the GAA’s Code of Best Practice, friends on our facebook account are restricted to persons aged 16 and over.

Fixtures Check out the County Board web site for the full list of fixtures or check County Board notes within this paper  –  www.westmeathgaa.ie

Club Notes Anyone wishing to have notes included in our weekly column should contact myself at 086 8062103 before 9pm on Sunday evenings or send an e-mail to   phmurtagh@yahoo.ie

Under 14 – St OPHC v Crookedwood On Thursday 19th of April, Plunketts under 14s played Crookedwood in the League. We got off to a flyer by scoring a few early goals: Craig Reilly, Brian Carter, Ross Corroon and 2 magnificent strikes by Aidan Keena settled the nerves. Plunketts continued to dominate in the second half with Sean O’Brien hitting 3 consecutive points. Goals from Mark Nesther and Kevin Gilmore led the team to a good victory. This was a great result for the St. Oliver Plunketts lads, as they ran out 9-6 to 1-2 winners against the home team. Team: Connor McKenna, Dylan Byrne, Robbie Kindregan, Gary Greville, Jesse Byrne, Callum Crichton, Aidan Keena, Sean O’Brien, Darragh White, Craig Reilly, Brian Carter, Glen Gilchrist, Ross Corroon, Connor Mount, Kevin Gilmore, Lee Archibold, Shane Kelly. Scorers: C. Reilly (2-1), R. Corroon (2-0), A. Keena (2-0), K. Gilmore (2-0), S. O’Brien (0-5), B. Carter (1-0), M. Nesther (1-0). Report by Thomas Casey.

Adult Matters Our Division 5 hurlers had a convincing win over St Brigids on Tuesday last. This team have a bye for the next round of division 5 hurling.

Fundraisers The Club have organised a table quiz for Friday 25^th May, venue to be confirmed and we have been told that the questions for this table quiz will not be as difficult as the quiz held in December. We hope that all club members will bring along some family and friends in order that a good social night will be had by all. We also have a Summer Draw to take place on June bank holiday weekend with a great prize of a weekend for 2 in the Maldron Hotel Dublin with evening meal included and two tickets for a show in the Grand Canal Theatre, draw cards are available from Club committee members and we hope that all club members and supporters will promote this important fundraiser (€2 per line).

Club Gear You can still order club gear and Nicky Quinn can be contacted on 087 2989499 for club gear. The jerseys can be viewed on the club web site (see note below).

Website & Facebook Don’t forget to keep in contact with our website, the website address is:  www.stoliverplunketts.westmeath.gaa.ie  Also to remind folks that you can find us on Facebook. We currently have over 1200 friends, so don’t miss out. Note that on recommendations from the GAA’s Code of Best Practice, friends on our facebook account are restricted to persons aged 16 and over.

Fixtures Check out the County Board web site for the full list of fixtures or check County Board notes within this paper  –  www.westmeathgaa.ie

Club Notes Anyone wishing to have notes included in our weekly column should contact myself at 086 8062103 before 9pm on Sunday evenings or send an e-mail to   phmurtagh@yahoo.ie

CLUB OPEN DAY 2012

The club ran a very successful open day last Saturday 21^st April. There was plenty of hurling related activities on display for all ages to watch or participate in.
First out were the U8s where two exciting games between Clare (in the yellow bibs) & Limerick (in the green bibs) took place. Then on the top pitch, Raharney took on Plunketts in the U14 Open Day shield competition. The Deelsiders were by and far the stronger team throughout and deservedly took the title. The Plunketts selectors however were very happy with the efforts of their charges. A panel of Plunketts senior players picked the Plunketts man of the match which went to Robbie Kindregan for a solid display at corner back. The final match of the day took place between two combined Plunketts U10 & U12 teams – Sarsfields & Wolfe Tones. This turned out to be a showcase event such was the quality of hurling on display. Medals were presented to all teams by club chairman Liam Dalton and senior player Mickey Harris. In the U16 Poc Fada competition, Ryan Purcell took the honours, with Sean Kelly taking 2^nd place. There were plenty of other things to do on the day. One half of the bottom pitch was allocated to the “Have-a-go” corner, where senior players advised hurling novices and experts alike in the finer points of hurling. This included 4 separate stations – rebounders, under the hurdles, hit the target and the ever popular ball in the barrel competition. 25 competitors successfully got the ball in the barrel and at the end there was a draw for a hurley and ball sponsored by Curran Hurleys which was won by Amy White.
There was also club gear on sale such as helmets, socks & togs, tracksuits and the new club jersey and club members also registered at the registration desk. Meanwhile, tea & coffee were being served upstairs while St Oliver Plunketts Camogie Club ran a sweet shop. Curran Hurleys were also at the pitch selling their hurleys and sliotars to those interested parties. Overall the weather held out and the day turned out to be a success, which the organisers were very satisfied with. The various teams that togged out for our open day were as follows;

U8 Limerick: Cormac Cassidy, Carson Hanlon, Alex Scally, Ben Egan, Tomas Meehan, Padraig Casey, Eoin Meehan, Daragh Luby. Clare: Martin Wilton, Kelton Hanlon, Daragh Hughes, Daniel McCann, Ross Clinton, Oisin O’Dowd, Noah Clarke & Caoilinn Walsh.
OPHC U14: Ross Corroon, Robbie Kindregan, Conor McKenna, Gary Greville, Conor Mount, Dylan Byrne, Ian Dinnegan, Callem Crichton, Craig Reilly, Daragh White, Lee Archibold, Killian White, Kevin Gilmore, Glenn Gilchriest, Brian Carter, Shane Boyce, Shane Kelly, Marco Nesther & Thomas Crowley. U10/12: Sarsfields (Black & Amber) – Matthew Cassidy, Lee Scally, Keith Whaley, Caoimhin Duncan, Jamie Kindregan, Michael Dunning, Paul Flynn, Adam O’Connor, Niall Doonan, Shane Murtagh, Ethan Heffernan & Bradley Mee. Wolfe Tones (Green & White) Ronan Casey, Dominic Byrne, Jake Scally, Seanie Hynes, Jamie Moody, Cormac Donoghue, Matthew Cunningham, Zack Ahearne, Brendan Killian, Dylan Glancy & Robbie Greville. Many thanks to all the club members who helped and supported in the organising of the event, also to the following for help and sponsorship; James Heffernan & WCAG, Raharney HC, The Downs GFC, St Oliver Plunketts CC, KC Sports, Curran Hurleys, Colourtrend Paints, Cleary Electrical, Kilmurray Plumbing & Heating Supplies, St Colmcilles NS Gainstown.

New Players & Juvenile Registration Fees

New players are always welcome so call down to the Club grounds on Thursday evenings; it is not too late to start hurling. The fees for 2012 are now due and must be paid as soon as possible for insurance reasons. Juvenile fees for 2012 are as follows; €25 per child, €40 for 2 children, €50 for family membership. Team trainers will also collect registration fees at training or fixtures.

Feile Hurling Report

On Saturday the 14th of April last our under 14s competed in the County Feile in Castletown where they played 3 matches against Lough Lene Gaels, Castletown Geoghegan and Raharney. The first game was against Lough Lene Geals. The Collinstown men led at the end of the first half.  Plunketts were much improved in the second half but unfortunately the Gaels proved too strong and finished up as winners. The second game was against the hosts. Plunketts showed a lot of team spirit in this game by creating chance after chance, and it finally came when a long ball was played into the full forward line and Brian Carter flicked it into the back of the net. That was soon followed by a point from Craig Reilly. The game ended 5-6 to 1-1 to Castletown. The final game was against Raharney.  Despite going behind early in the game, Plunketts made a great comeback when Aiden Keena made a run towards the Raharney 21 and stitched the net to leave 3 points in it. With 2 minutes left, Plunketts won a free just outside the 14 metre line. Craig Reilly stepped up to take it and scored a tremendous goal. The game ended up level with the score St Oliver Plunketts 2-01 to Raharney 1-04. A great turn around by our lads. Team: Brian Carter, Robbie Kindregon, Dylan Byrne, Thomas Crowley, Jessie Byrne, Callum Creithon, Mark Creithon, Craig Reilly, Glen Gillchrist, Darragh Whyte, Shane Kelly, Gary Greville, Conor Mount and Conor McKenna. Thanks to Thomas Casey for the report.

Committee Meeting

This Wednesday evening (2^nd May) at 8.30pm above Canton Casey’s. It is important that all committee members attend.

Westmeath Minor Hurlers

St Oliver Plunketts Hurling Club

ST OLIVER PLUNKETTS HURLING CLUB OPEN DAY. Our club open day will take place this coming Saturday 21^st April and the club will be open to the general public to come down and view our facilities in Robinstown & watch hurling being played by our underage teams. The event will commence at 12pm with registration and club shop (club gear and hurling equipment will be available) open for business. At 12.15pm, U6 and U8 hurling blitz will be underway including teams from Cork, Clare, Limerick and Kilkenny. At 1pm the U10 games will commence and this will include Na Fianna V’s Eire Og. At the same time U12 game will take place between Wolfe Tones and Sarsfields on the lower pitch. At 2pm our U14 squad will be in action, opposing team to be confirmed. At 2.15pm there will be an U16 Poc Fada competition. Also during the event you can; * Visit our "Have-A-Go" Hurling corner to try out hurling for all ages and grades from absolute beginners to experts. * You can order Plunketts club gear at our stall such as our club jersey, socks & togs, club bags and helmets.* Registration for Plunketts players. Final day for registration of players for 2012. If you have already registered, please visit the registration desk to confirm all your details on file are 100% correct. Some please come along to Robinstown this Saturday at 12pm and support Mullingar’s Hurling Club. For more info check our website. Refreshments will be available on the day.

Juvenile Registration Fees The fees for 2012 are now due and must be paid as soon as possible for insurance reasons. Juvenile fees for 2012 are as follows; €25 per child. €40 for 2 children. €50 for family membership.

Calling All Plunketts Members (Past and Present) As you can see from the above notes our Club open day is on this coming Saturday (21^st April) and we have organized a clean up of our facilities on this Friday evening – you have all received the text from the Club phone so please come and help out on Friday evening. We also require help on Saturday for this important event and it is vital that all adult players & coaches, all underage players & coaches, all committee & social members and all retired players & supporters be present to help out from 11.30am on Saturday next. The town of Mullingar needs a strong and vibrant hurling club so get involved; the Club needs your help.

Adult Matters Our senior hurlers had no luck in this year’s Leinster Hurling League, 3 games were contested against senior hurling clubs of Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford but unfortunately all games finished with wins for the opposing sides. Our Division 5 hurlers had a great win against a youthful Raharney side some weeks back on the score line 2.11 to 0.13. More recently our Division 1 hurlers had a convincing 4.08 to 0.07 win over Raharney to make it 2 wins from 2 games in the top division of hurling, well done to both teams.

Underage Hurling Training for all underage teams now takes place in Robinstown and team managers will keep in touch with all players regarding training times.

Condolence St Oliver Plunketts offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Chris Fallon (nee Duffy) of Rathconnell Mullingar. May she rest in peace.

Fundraisers The are two local fundraiser which Oliver Plunketts are supporting;

Table Quiz in aid of heart rate monitor - Joan Ormbsy is organising a table quiz in memory of Baby Stiofan Ormsby for a Paediatric Heart Rate Monitor in the Mullingar Park Hotel on Friday April 20th @ 9p.m. For tickets contact Joan or Tom on 0876684816 or 0872325396 . Stiofans’s brothers Criostoir and Shane are playing hurling with Oliver Plunketts to please support this table quiz if you can. Canal Walk/Run - join Grainne McHugh and her dog Finbar on Sunday next for the 4k Royal Canal Walk or Run to raise much needed funds for her "Camino for Paco" walk where she is raising money and awareness for several charities. Starting at 3pm at St Pauls Chuch. Please be sure and wear your Plunketts Gear on the day to represent your club.

Congratulations We congratulate Dermot Curley and Nuala Anne Murphy on their recent marriage in Gainstown Church and we believe a good day was had by all, well done Dermot and Nuala Anne, we hope you have many happy years together.

Fixtures Check out the County Board web site for the full list of fixtures or check County Board notes within this paper  –  www.westmeathgaa.ie

Website & Facebook Don’t forget to keep in contact with our website, the website address is:  www.stoliverplunketts.westmeath.gaa.ie  Also to remind folks that you can find us on Facebook. We currently have over 1200 friends, so don’t miss out. Note that on recommendations from the GAA’s Code of Best Practice, friends on our facebook account are restricted to persons aged 16 and over.

Club Notes Anyone wishing to have notes included in our weekly column should contact myself at 086 8062103 before 9pm on Sunday evenings or send an e-mail to   phmurtagh@yahoo.ie

St Oliver Plunketts Hurling Club

Senior Hurling League Division 1 Our senior hurlers enjoyed a 1.16 to 0.07 win in their first outing of the SHL against a youthful Castlepollard side. We hope to have a report in next week’s notes. Well done to all concerned.

Indoor Hurling in CBS Indoor training continues in the CBS gym each Saturday.
Newcomers as always are very welcome to come down, even if just you want to have a look. Please wear tracksuits & runners, indoor hurleys are supplied. Please bring a helmet if you have one. The cost of the training is a very reasonable €2 per child to cover gym rental. The club does have a supply of helmets available if you don’t have one. The schedule is as follows:

U8: Born 2004 or later – 1-2pm
U10: Born 2003, 2002 – 2-3pm
U12: Born 2001, 2000 – 3-4pm

The club is always looking for new volunteers to help out and become involved. For any queries, please contact Mark Landy on (086)8197607 and keep an eye on our website for updates on related club news.

Website & Facebook Don’t forget to keep in contact with our website, the website address is:  www.stoliverplunketts.westmeath.gaa.ie  Also to remind folks that you can find us on Facebook. We currently have over 1000 friends, so don’t miss out. Note that on recommendations from the GAA’s Code of Best Practice, friends on our facebook account are restricted to persons aged 16 and over.

Club Notes Anyone wishing to have notes included in our weekly column should contact myself at 086 8062103 before 9pm on Sunday evenings or send an e-mail to   phmurtagh@yahoo.ie

St Oliver Plunketts Hurling Club

Committee Meeting A committee meeting for senior and juvenile executives, coaches and senior players will take place above Canton Casey’s this Wednesday evening 29^th February at 8.30pm. It is vital that all required parties attend.

Indoor Hurling in CBS Indoor training continues in the CBS gym each Saturday.
Newcomers as always are very welcome to come down, even if just you want to have a look. Please wear tracksuits & runners, indoor hurleys are supplied. Please bring a helmet if you have one. The cost of the training is a very reasonable €2 per child to cover gym rental. The club does have a supply of helmets available if you don’t have one. The schedule is as follows:

U8: Born 2004 or later – 1-2pm
U10: Born 2003, 2002 – 2-3pm
U12: Born 2001, 2000 – 3-4pm

The club is always looking for new volunteers to help out and become involved. For any queries, please contact Mark Landy on (086)8197607 and keep an eye on our website for updates on related club news.

Get Well Soon St Oliver Plunketts extends best wishes to Club members Jack Quinn and Ben Egan as they recover from injury, we hope to see you both back training with Plunketts in the near future.

Well Done Congratulations to our County Senior Hurling team on their hard fought 2 point victory over a strong Kerry team in Cusack Park on Sunday last.

Website & Facebook Don’t forget to keep in contact with our website, the website address is:  www.stoliverplunketts.westmeath.gaa.ie  Also to remind folks that you can find us on Facebook. We currently have over 1000 friends, so don’t miss out. Note that on recommendations from the GAA’s Code of Best Practice, friends on our facebook account are restricted to persons aged 16 and over.

Condolence St Oliver Plunketts offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Mary Mooney of Johnstown Road, Enfield. May she rest in peace.

Club Notes Anyone wishing to have notes included in our weekly column should contact myself at 086 8062103 before 9pm on Sunday evenings or send an e-mail to   phmurtagh@yahoo.ie

The 2011 AGM took place last Friday 3^rd February 2012 in the Greville Arms Hotel. There was an increase in numbers from last years AGM and it was good to see such a strong attendance present. Secretary,  Conleth McCormack, treasurer, Dermot Curley and outgoing senior manager Eddie Casey all delivered their respective reports on the events of 2011.
Understandably, there was no-one from the club present on the night that didn’t have the late Tony Donoghue on their mind throughout  the meeting. His very obvious absence at an annual club event that he rarely missed represented the huge void he would be leaving in the club. But the strong attendance and positive nature of the meeting was a true reflection of the willingness of the club to push on with business of running St Oliver Plunketts in his memory. This was epitomized by club chairman Liam Dalton as he paid a warm & heartfelt tribute to his close friend during his speech to the floor.
The final act of the evening was the election of officers for the coming year.
The club wishes to acknowledge the contribution of both Conleth McCormack and Eddie Casey to the club as they both step down from their respective roles after many years of hard work and effort. The lads will continue to be involved with Plunketts in other areas which is great news as the club look to retain good clubmen for the future.

2012 Officers: Chairman – Liam Dalton, Vice Chairman – Paddy Duggan, Secretary – Mark Landy, Assistant Secretary – Michael Coyle, Treasurer – Dermot Curley, Assistant Treasurer – Paddy Gorman, P.R.O – Paul Murtagh, County Board Rep – Kieran Fitzgerald, Registrar – Mickey Harris

The club will host an underage AGM this coming Thursday 9^th Feb in the Greville Arms to elect officers and mentors for underage teams for the coming year.

Tony Donoghue.

On Monday 12^th December we received the heartbreaking news of the passing of our great friend and clubmate Tony Donoghue. Tony was born with a heart of gold and a hurl in his hand; his love of hurling was second only to the love and dedication he had for his family. He arrived to the midlands from Portumna Co Galway as a member of An Garda Siochana and was initially stationed in Killucan for a number of years. While there he played hurling for Raharney and his fondness of the Joristown team was never hidden as was the respect that Raharney folk had for Tony.

In the early 1970’s Tony was posted to Mullingar Garda Station. Tony and family moved to Hillside Drive Mullingar. Pearses’ Hurling Club had just disbanded in Mullingar and Tony Donoghue recognised the need for a hurling club within the town. He arranged a meeting of a number of former Pearses’ members and local hurling enthusiasts, following this meeting Oliver Plunketts Hurling Club was formed in April of 1976. Tony worked diligently with the schools of Mullingar and with great help from local teachers and fellow hurling folk the clubs youth policy brought great glory for the Mullingar based club. One of Tony’s proudest moments was the winning of the clubs first underage title back in 1986 with the capture of the U16 championship title that year.

Tony also recognised the need for Oliver Plunketts to have their own facility and in 1988 with the help of a number of prominent club members and local business people, Robinstown was purchased and developed, to this day remains the home of Oliver Plunketts H.C. Fundraising is the hardest part of any Club’s duties but Tony never shirked from this responsibility. From the bingo nights in the County Hall and The Greville Arms Hotel to lotto and raffle ticket selling duties, Tony was at the forefront of each fundraising event. The respect that people had for Tony was evident by the number of tickets that he returned sold for any given draw or raffle.

There were some sad times within the club also, most notably the sad passing of club members John Joe Lynch, Ben Kelly and Paul “Podger” Daly. Tony steered the club through these sad and difficult times and he always noted that difficult times would make the club stronger. The club now faces its most difficult time; Tony’s passing leaves an enormous void within our Club. He was the father figure to all involved with Oliver Plunketts. It is our duty as club members to ensure that the club continues to grow for the youth and adults of Mullingar as this is what Tony strived to achieve during his fruitful time in Mullingar.

Tony’s removal and funeral took place on the 14th and 15th of December and the large numbers who attended was testimony to Tony’s legacy. People travelled from far and near in order to pay respect to this great character. To his wife Mary, family Kieran, Diarmuid, Sinead and Fergal, sisters, brothers, daughters-in-law, son-in-law, grandchildren, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and many loyal friends we offer our deepest sympathy and support. Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilis.