CROOM GAA CLUB NOTES

Strictly Croom Dancing:
Last Saturday night saw Croom GAA host a hugely successful Strictly Come Dancing fundraising event to complete the exterior grounds of the GAA club. Over 700 people attended the South Court hotel to watch eleven couples put on a showstopping display of entertainment which was hosted by RTE’s Marty Morrissey.The three judges Nora Kennedy, Bernard Carroll and Donie Ryan were astounded by the high level of talent on display with acrobatic dance combining the elements of classical dance with floor gymnastic skills to create a unique athletic form of entertainment making their decision of Best Act more challenging than anticipated. The overall winner receiving the most public votes on the night was Tom Shanahan and Anna-Marie O Brien. Tom is the owner of Plunkett’s Pharmacy in Croom & Anna-Marie works as a healthcare assistant, born in New Zealand and now residing in Croom. They took on the Bucks Fizz version of “Making your mind up” with a disco Rock and Roll dance which saw the two give full entertainment to the crowd. The judges awarded Best Entertaining Act to Rosemary Ryan and Rory Dunworth. Rosemary works in SPAR Croom and Rory works in Lakeside Restaurant & Halpins bar Croom. The couple lifted the roof off the hotel with their highly energic moves to “Uptown Funk” with a Lindyhop dance and received a standing ovation from the crowd to seal the deal. Marty Morrissey interacted with the audience and took many photos with anyone who wanted throughout the night. All couples provided huge entertainment to the crowd who thoroughly enjoyed the show and Croom GAA are most grateful to all of them for making such a commitment in their lives to help us with this fundraising event and to the public and sponsors who gave such generosity towards this fundraiser

Munster Club Junior A Football:

Last Saturday we played Mullinahone of Tipperary in the Munster club semifinal in Bansha. We had the aid of a stlight breeze in the first half and the match started with both sides probing each other with the game going end to end in an entertaining and open battle. We played some excellent football with great movement and score taking. Although Mullinahone got the first point, we went ahead with scores from Mark O’Riordan and Mickey Cahill. Half way through the first half we were ahead by 5 points to 2 but then continued to attack and 3 in a row from Jamie Greaves left it 8 points to 2 near the end of the half. Mullinahone rallied and pulled 2 back to leave it 8 points to 4 at half time and we were in a decent position. The second half started and Mullinahone upped the intensity and started to dominate the middle of the field winning kick outs and break pinning us back. The scored 1.02 in the first couple of minutes to put them ahead 1.07 to 0.08 and momentum had swung their way. The game was in the melting pot and Croom were trying very hard to get back into the match. A great run on the right wing and dummy saw Ryan O’Shea come in along the by line and a hand pass across the square saw Mark Reidy smash the ball into the net with his fist. A point for Mullinahone brought it level again but scores from Jamie Greaves and Ryan O’Shea put us ahead by 2 points with only a couple of minutes of normal time remaining. This was the critical juncture of the match and unfortunately some mistakes and pondorous play at the back led to Mullinahone turning us over and kicking a point then winning a free and levelling the game deep into the 5 minutes of injury time. A free from the 45 in front of the goals was dropping short and as bodies went up to contest it, a flick on by Alan Curran of Mullinahone flashed the ball over the finger tips of our goalkeeper Shane Bourke just under the cross bar. Elation for Mullinahone and despair for Croom as we tried in vain to get a goal to bring it back level for the last minute. The final whistle went as our lads dropped to their knees after a mammouth effort. We left it all out on the field in an amazing battle but unfortunately lost by 2.10 to 1.10. Mullinahone now play Na Gaeil of Tralee in the final in Mallow. Thats brings the curtain down on all on field GAA activity for Croom this year. Thank you to everyone who helped with the team this year: management, back room, players, and especially the supporters who followed us at all the games. The future is bright next year and we will go all out to win the county in 2020.
AGM 2019:
The 2019 AGM will take place at the clubhouse on Monday December 30th. All are welcome.
Lotto Numbers drawn – 4,8,13,28 . No jackpot winners. Lucky dips- Ollie Cahill c/o John Cahill, Leonie Hickey c/o Hickeys , James Hickey c/o Hickeys , Pauline Tuohy c/o Bridget Kiely , Ollie Cahill c/o John Cahill. Next draw is on in Halpins with a jackpot of €4200. Thanks to all those who support our draw and other fund raising efforts.