Bride Rovers

Brilliant Launch..

On Monday night a crowd of just over 150 people were in attendance at Scoil Bride in Rathcormac for the launch of ‘Pathway To 1928’ a new era for the Bride Rovers Club. Seldom if ever have we seen such a gathering of Gaels in support of the Development plans for the Club. It was just brilliant to see so many present. From the four corners of the parish they came from 17 to 84 years of age, people with deep roots here in the parish and others who have made their home in our midst. I think we had 8 Counties represented in the crowd! Chairman Gerard Lane opened proceedings with his opening address ‘Welcome tonight and thanks to the Board of Management for the use of this hall its very much appreciated. I want to welcome Matt Lawless from Club Force who are our partners with the online lotto. As we are here in Scoil Bhríde I can assure you all of one thing at the outset that you will all have homework tonight! Tonight, is an important night in the history of the club we begin a new and exciting journey as we plan for our Centenary and for our longer-term future As a club we have come a long, long way since our founding fathers gathered at the band room in Bartlemy in 1928 and so the story of Bride Rovers began. The club had success at the very beginning of its life in the 1930s but fell on difficult times too in the 1950s with the club going out of existence for a few years but were reformed again in 1964 and has progressed ever since. Winning East Cork hurling titles in 66 68 and 69 were a major fillip to the club and again a valley period in the late 70s and all through the 80s we really hit the big time in 1998 County Junior Champions. 2003 County Intermediate champions and Senior hurling for the club. Two East Cork JAF championships were added before a major disappointment in 2008 SH final that we lost by a point but the club has retained its Senior Status

Over the last number of years we have done some major improvements at Pairc na Bríde including a New Astro turf, New Concrete driveway, new perimeter fencing, Concrete Pathway, New seated terrace, CCTV installed, new Ball Stops at both ends. We have also purchased and developed a new pitch for underage ladies and juvenile matches

The club has grown substantially in recent times with an explosion in the population of the parish both rural and urban, it now stands at around 3000 people.. Our two Schools have 440 and 110 pupils respectively and we field Club teams from u6 to Senior across the three clubs. Tonight begins a new journey. Last September we came to an agreement with Pat Pyne and family on the purchase of 13 acres of land at Ballybrowney. Pat has gifted us the current playing field and we have purchased 7 acres adjoining this field. I must commend Pat and Eily Pyne and family for their generosity to the club and the ease at which these negotiations were conducted and remain to this day, we should be forever grateful for the opportunity afforded to us to expand the club facilities. Coupling this with our existing Pairc na Bride and the purchase of the 3..3 acres will give us a land bank of 22 acres for playing facilities…Of course its great news we are thrilled with this and excited about it. However, it does present a very challenging situation for a volunteer led organisation to finance such a largescale development. Our current sources of income to the club is our Club Lotto and the club 100 Scheme which are both in place and well supported

Our Club 100 is an alternative for many supporters to tonight’s initiative, it’s very simple we have 3 packages Gold €40per month, Silver €30 per month and Bronze €20 per month and may I say a huge THANK YOU to each and everyone for your generosity to date.

Our Vision for Pynes Include 3 pitches, 2 full size and one slightly less than full size. One of the pitches sands based and flood light for night games. Dressing rooms 4 teams and toilets and gym and meeting room and a Car park for 200 cars and also a Walking track. Tonight, is where we begin the journey to a new Bride Rovers club for the next generation of Bride Rovers its up to us to provide the security for the next group and hand the club on in a better place.

A subcommittee led by Dave Burke, myself Aiden Dorgan Michael Carey and Maurice Dooley have been working to improve our presence with the online lotto and our research and results to date would suggest its worth pursuing with yourselves tonight

I wish to acknowledge the wonderful work of our lotto sellers over the last 26 years it has been truly outstanding and appreciated and we need you to continue this work for the club.

What we are bringing forward tonight is a plan to support this work and make it into a wonderful fundraiser for Bride Rovers new developments Technology is a tool we cannot ignore, and every successful business has an online presence and Bride Rovers should be no different we have to embrace technology’ Gerard then introduced Dave Burke who along with a small subcommittee has spearheaded the Pilot Project for the promotion of the online Lotto. Dave gave a brilliant and professional presentation. He outlined the history of the Club Lotto since 1996 and showed the ‘Paper’ ticket sales each week as well as Online and Yearly ticket Income. He explained that the potential of the Online Lotto is vast. Basically he demonstrated the potential income stream that we could generate. Each person present was asked to contact friends, relations, work colleagues, and contacts everywhere asking them to join the Bride Rovers Lotto. A €10 contribution buys 5 tickets and using modern communications methods purchasers have the option to Auto -renew their ticket buying and that’s where the huge income generating potential is. Online Lotto players can keep in touch with ongoing Club Developments as well as following the day to day activities of the Club. Pre-prepared Text and email messages for sending to potential buyers are on the Club Website. Dave and Gerard stressed the importance of this being promoted by all Club members and supporters. Matt Lawless from Club Force also addressed the gathering and promised full support from his company.

This is a major undertaking for the Bride Rovers Club and requires an input from everyone but the potential gain is massive. The people and businesses who each week sell the Lotto tickets will be as important as ever and hopefully this new Online sales marketing will just add to their work of the last 26 years.

On next Sunday March 6^th Dave Burke and other Subcommittee members will be in the Clubrooms from 5 o clock until 7pm to provide technical assistance and advice for members who want to promote the Online ticket sales. Chairman Gerard Lane in his closing comments asked everyone to pull their weight and make our Mission Statement ‘To be the best at everything we do’ a reality.

SENIOR HURLING..

Bride Rovers played Na Piarsaigh on Sunday morning last, the team’s first game of the year. It proved to be a good workout for both teams in preparation for the league. Both teams had little hurling done as they concentrate on strength and conditioning work at present. Despite the inclement weather recently the pitch was in great order. The format was 3 x20 minute ‘thirds.

This enabled all the panel to get some game time and with so many new players on the panel this year, this was important.

In the opening 20 minutes the Rovers scored two goals from Michael Collins and Adam Hayes. Points from Adam Walsh, Brian Roche and Ronan O Connell had the Rovers on top in the early stages. Na Piarsaigh were back in the game with some well taken points in the 2nd 20minutes of the game. Overall a well contested game finished with the Rovers in front 2-11 to 0-13.

Panel: C. Hogan, T O Sullivan, A. Buckley, D.Barry. R. O’Connell, E.Roche, S. Walsh, K.Kearney, C. Ryan, A.Walsh, D. Dooley, D. Buckley, A. Hayes, B. Roche, M. Collins, B. Hogan, L.Collins, J. Pratt, J. Mannix, P.O’Flynn, L.Forde, C.Hazelwood, S. O’Connor, J.Powell, DJ Cahill, C. Barry, E.Cashman, J. O’Keeffe, O.Roche, W.Finnegan.

Our next game is v Kilworth on Sunday 6th March in Rathcormac at 10.30am.

The first SH league match is fixed for Sunday 13th March at 2pm v Carrigtwohill in Rathcormac. A special welcome to Strength & Conditioning Coach, Will Twomey, from Kilworth. Will brings many years of experience at performing at a high level with Kilworth, Avondhu and Cork.

Congratulations to Liam Forde and Grace Kearney on their engagement.

JUNIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

We commence our JFL campaign with a home game in Pynes field on this coming Saturday at 4 o clock against Carrignavar. By then we’ll know the Championship format and Groupings, these were to be finalised in Midleton last night.

MINOR (u17) HURLING;

Bride Rovers 5-13.Bishopstown 1-16
Last Sunday we travelled to Bishopstown to play our first Hurling league game in our P2 league programme. Both teams after completing their warm ups on the excellent 4G pitch were waiting for the referee. No referee turned up. After a few phone calls Brian Barrett from Douglas agreed to ref the game.
We settled into the game and it was score for score until the city team found a purple patch and hit 4 unanswered points to go 4 ahead. Just before we struck a well worked team goal finished by Louie to reduce the lead to a point at half time 1-8 to 2-4. A little chat at half time and a few positional switches saw the lads play a lot better and beating the Bishopstown defensive system which the city side were playing.
Goals from Ciaran and Cillian along with points from Ryan Louie, Ronan and Cormac had us in a comfortable position. Our half back line of Luke Oran and Kieran were supplying better ball now to our forwards and with Cameron and Cormac running from midfield to support our forwards they helped to beat the sweeper system. Adam, Darragh and Eldon were dealing with everything that was coming their way. Frank again was super in goal. Kamso is growing in confidence with every game he is playing. Gearoid, Conor and Cormac all contributed when introduced. Final score 5-13 to 1-16. Team; Frank, Darragh, Adam, Eldon, Oran, Kieran, Luke, Cameron, Cormac Kamso, Ronan, Louie, Ryan, Cillian, Ciaran, Conor, Cormac and Gearoid.
Training continues on Mondays & Wednesdays. Our next Match is Minor Football on 13^th of March away to Mayfield Next Hurling game is on 19^th of March, home to Inniscarra.

Lotto.

Our Lotto takes place every Tuesday evening. Next Draw is Tues March 1st for € 18,200

Results from our Draw on Tues Feb 22nd

Numbers drawn 7, 25.26,27 NO WINNER

The Link to the Bride Rovers Lotto is http://bit.ly/BrideRoversLotto

Lucky Dip winners of €30 each were:

Lisa Pyne Ballybrowney, Denis Mulcahy Clykeel, Laura Troy Monanig

Brian Hogan Rathcormac, Ann Lynch Cobh.

So tell everyone you know about it -by phone , text, email, whattsapp, tictoc, doorknock, homing pigeon, letter, postcard and fax.

UNDER 10’s BACK.

The U10 boys returned to the pitch last Saturday morning at 10am. Hurling is on the agenda for the next few weeks back as the lads regain their touch and skill levels. New players as always welcomed, as well as any parents who wish to join the coaching setup. Registration is ongoing with the Club 100 being a great option for families. It’s great to see the boys back and enjoying themselves!

GREAT WIN FOR EAST REBEL OG.

Well done to the Rebel Og East Under 15 hurlers who won out the Inter Board Competition last weekend. The games were played at the MTU (formerly CIT) grounds. We had four hurlers involved so well done and congrats to Conor O Riordan, Jack Collins, Cormac Barry and Tomas Riordan.

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