COMMITTEE REPORT ON 2003 SEASON

THE COMMITTEE

The season started with our Annual AGM on 16th February 2003. A committee of eight people were elected and although one or two fell by the wayside a core group of six were involved in the running of the club throughout the season. There was a good mixture of older club members and new members with new ideas and enthusiasm, and glad to say the enthusiasm never waived. Although self praise is no praise it is generally agreed that the club is stronger than ever before regarding off the field activities. The level of finance raised, sponsorship gained and general organisation is better than ever before and long may it continue. One of the first objectives of the committee last year was to improve the performances on the pitch. A major step forward in achieving this was the appointment of John Collins as trainer. Having the London County trainer bringing new training methods and ideas to Tuesday, Thursday (and sometimes Wednesday) nights was a tremendous boost to the club and the general consensus amongst the players was that this was a great coup for our club and it certainly seemed to have a positive impact on our street cred. amongst the London GAA fraternity. A second objective was to attract more players to the club, and again everyone involved, not just the Committee achieved a notable goal in this regards. Regularly there were in excess of thirty players training on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a result that for the first time since its inception, Neasden Gaels were able to enter a team into the reserve team Championship. Thirdly, we wanted to improve the image of our club on match days. In a day when designer tracksuits, sweatshirts, polos, kit bags etc. were the norm amongst other Senior Clubs, Neasden often appeared for games looking like Ragball Rovers. We have taken our first major step towards catching up in the posing stakes thanks to the sponsorship of Mann Construction who kindly supplied the squad with polo shirts and kit bags. Some of those things are matters that may be taken for granted by some people, but nevertheless need organisation and co-ordination. There are other matters on the horizon, which did not materialise last season, but will remain objectives for the season to come. Rome was not built in a day.

THE SEASON 2003

“A” TEAM The season started with a friendly match arranged against Roger Casements in Coventry. What was supposed to be a team building exercise became so, but not for the reasons we wanted. We ended up travelling with a bare minimum fifteen “players” and gained a creditable draw with the last kick of the game. However the day was marred when our bus was broken into as we made the most of our host’s hospitality and some kit bags were stolen. The local constabulary duly listed the watches, wallets, sheepskin coats, crocodile shoes etc that went missing before we set off home. As stated earlier the p*** taking started on the journey home and the team building had started. The league started well with a win against Shannon Rovers/Sam Maguires. However the following week we were beaten by the same team in the Conway Cup, and lost one of our best players in the process, Declan Bunns who suffered a fractured cheekbone – an injury that meant he wouldn’t play again for us. Back to the league and we were beaten by a very poor Moindearg side at Jubilee Park, and a strong Parnell’s team at Northwick Park. With further league matches deferred it was not the greatest of preparation of a Championship which saw us drawn the larger of the two groups with seven matches to play and only two teams qualifying. However, the draw for the sequence of fixtures was kinder in so far as we did not have to play the two favourites until last namely St. Brendans and Parnells. In our first match we beat St. Kiernans and so got the start we were looking for. Our second game was altogether a whole new experience, as we had to travel to Jersey to fulfil our fixture against Jersey Irish. A party of 32 travelled from Gatwick to play a very confident Jersey Irish team, who played perfect hosts. I’m not sure even now how many of the players realise the amount of hype there was in Jersey about our fixture amongst their own media and sponsors etc., but being involved in the arrangements rest assured this was very much the case. The match itself was a classic played on a beautiful day, a terrific pitch and a very good crowd. Neasden came out deserved winners after a very good performance and a good night of celebration followed. Next up was Moindearg who were despatched after an early shaky start so now the table read Played 3, Won 3. The spirit in the camp was high and training was stepped up, to three nights a week with still large turnouts in preparation for our final run in. In a close fought fourth match at Ruislip a hard fought match with Garryowen ended in a draw with Neasden equalising late in the game. Round 5 followed with a victory over Thomas McCurtains before what transpired to be a “quarter final” with St. Brendans. A week before the St. Brendans match we had a rearranged league fixture with Round Towers – a perfect preparation, not a shambolic team turnout and effort left morale very low by losing by 18 points. However, on the day of the St. Brendans match preparations were good and again in a closer match than the 5-point defeat suggests, Neasden performed admirably. We were out of the Championship but far from disgraced finishing 3rd in our group after losing our final match to group winners Parnells. The final group standing for 2003 are attached. The remaining league fixture as usual fizzled out as interest seemed to have gone and surprisingly to us when the final tables were compiled we still managed to finish 5th.

“B” TEAM As mentioned earlier for the first time in our history we were able to field a team in the “B” Championship. This was a straight knockout competition between eight teams. In the quarter final we were drawn away to a very strong Round Towers team but an excellent performance saw us through to the semi-finals where we met Tara. An anticipated tougher draw against the eventual Club Champions of Britain proved to be so, but once again at Ruislip in an evening fixture that virtually finished in the dark, Neasden rose to the challenge and beyond our wildest anticipation were in the final. Unfortunately the timing of the final and the fact that we came up against a resurgent Tir Chonaill Gaels club who fielded a very experienced team, we were well beaten in the final. Elsewhere we also played in Parnells four team invitation event for the Dick Munnelly Trophy. However, we declined an invitation from Tara to play in their Ladies Golden Jubilee Celebration.

CONCULSION From the Committee’s point of view there were a lot of pluses but a few minuses for us to learn in the future. The commitment of the large panel of players, during the Senior Championship campaign was second to none. Training sometime three times a week and a match at the weekend meant four days involvement in Neasden Gaels. The conduct of the team, both on and off the pitch under the captaincy of Fergal Cunningham was again of a very high standard and no more so than on our trip to Jersey where behaviour was excellent. The down sides were that the general level of commitment other than the Championship was not up to acceptable standard, especially for league fixtures. The support given to the ‘B’ team in their first season of the Reserve Championship from the ‘A’ team was more than disappointing.

OTHER PLAYING MATTERS We would like to congratulate those players who represented Neasden Gaels on the Senior London Panel – Brendan Moore, Fergal Cunningham and Keith Geraghty. We would also pass on heartfelt congratulations to two of our players who were selected in the very first London All Star team, Keith Geraghty and Colm Cassidy. I’m sure they’ll tell you that their recognition was in fact a recognition of how well Neasden Gaels performed in the championship – but knowing Cassidy he won’t!

FINANCIAL MATTERS Once again as you can see from the attached financial statement we are in a stronger position that we were last year. This is despite the expense of our Jersey trip. Our two fundraising events of the year are a Race Night and a Golf Day. Yet again they were both very successful this year but the Race Night this year was specifically held to finance the Jersey trip, a one off expense that won’t have to be met again. We intend running the same two events this year, but if anyone has any other novel ideas for fund raising we would be glad to hear. We would also welcome any volunteers to join a fund raising sub-committee. Women particularly welcome, to get them involved with the club. I think you agree that the effort of the Committee in raising funds is top class, and that the finances have been astutely managed.

2004 SEASON

The 2004 Season obviously starts here off the field, but training has commenced for the players already. All new members are welcome. Already we have a “play off” fixture to maintain our Division 1 league status next week on Sunday 29th February at Ruislip v Garryowen. Further details will be available during the week. We also have a challenge game against Roger Casements (Coventry) on Sunday 21st March at Jubilee Park. Further details to follow. The league groups, championship diviions and a master fixture list are all attached. The league commences on 28th March and the Championship on 20th June. There is a two-week fixture break in August. The County Board have also introduced a photographic I.D. Registration Scheme for this year. There are plenty of Members Registration forms available and there will be more at training. These need to be completed with the relevant back up before our game with Garryowen next week. All new players are welcome. Before moving on the formalities of Election of Officers we would also like to thank Keith Geraghty for his development of the website. The guest book section is well used by a few and it helps us all to keep up with the gossip. Some people have now even learned to knock off CAPS when typing! We intend to make further use of this facility this season through the news and announcements section, so please log on if you don’t already know to www.neasdengaels.com for latest information. We will now proceed to election of officers. As you probably know already John Collins will shortly be returning to Ireland and will be a great loss, but regarding officers I don’t believe any of the existing Committee wish to step down, as there is unfinished business on the table. This concludes the Committees’ Report.