GOREY CELTIC: The Gorey Celtic Under-14s will be heading over to Nottingham Forest from Friday, August 27, to Sunday, August 29. This is for some special pre-season training. They will fly into East Midlands airport where they will be met by representatives of Nottingham Forest Academy. They will have lunch and after that they will get down to work, having a two-hour coaching session.

They will then have dinner and will be brought bowling.

They will have an early start on Saturday with a 10 a.m. match against the Nottingham Forest Under-14 team which is coached by former England and Forest midfielder, Steve Hodge. The match will be played on their Academy pitches just five minutes from City Ground. They will then head to the Forest v. Norwich game, followed by a tour of the ground and a chance to meet the pro's in the players' lounge.

After all this they will be allowed to have the run of the Academy's facilities which includes a games room, pool, snooker, tennis courts etc. where the apprentices and youth players normally lodge. They will fly out on Sunday morning back into Dublin.

This trip is a great chance for the lads to bond as a team and to work hard in a top football environment, and a real chance to see how a top under-age setup in the U.K. performs on and off the pitch. We would like to send a big thanks to Dave Webster, the Youth Development Officer, and all the staff at the City Ground who have been superb and couldn't do enough for us. We hope to be able to repay the favour to Forest by having their Under-14 team over for a weekend.

ENNISCORTHY RUGBY

The first match of the season is on Saturday next at home to Dungarvan in a pre-season friendly. The SE final is in Rathdrum on the following Saturday, August 21, with a 5.30 p.m. kick-off.

Senior training is on Wednesday at 7.30 p.m.

There is a Junior disco on Friday, August 20. Admission is €5 and it's with D.J. Dave from 9-12.

Youths training re-commences on Thursday, September 2, the Thursday after schools return.

Mini-training resumes on Saturday, September 11.

Meanwhile, 2,800 points, 1,600 tries, 700 barbeque burgers, 220 men, 195 women, 168 tags, 150 matches, 80 table quiz questions, 30 tag teams, 25 African arums, 14 referees, ten weeks, six pitches, five hypnotised lotto winners, four Blue Moose's, three comedians, two cans of cream, one Céilí and a lightning strike all added up to a fantastic summer of tag rugby!

The season finally came to an exciting end recently. At a packed Ross Road venue, finals night climaxed with the three Cup finals taking place under the new floodlights. And what a season it has been! From the 'try for free' open nights way back in May through to the finals night, Thursday nights has most definitely become known as tag Thursday!

And it really has been a game of two halves! On the field, 30 mixed teams with over 400 men and women at all levels of skill and fitness have enjoyed playing in specially-graded leagues. The non-contact nature and social aspect have made it accessible to both men and women, especially for individuals who have never played rugby before.

Once the games finished, players and supporters enjoyed the varied Après Tag entertainment in the clubhouse every Thursday night. The Après Tag nights began with a hilarious hypnotist show in week one and continued weekly to include live music from Blue Moose, a riotous comedy night, the annual tag table quiz, Jabba Jabba drum night and a good old-fashioned céilí.

One of the great things about the tag season is the fact that all teams participated in play-offs on finals night, even if it was only to decide the most coveted wooden spoon position! However, the business end of the season saw three Cup finals under the new floodlights.

The Beginners' League Cup final demonstrated how quickly newcomers pick up the game, as a very tight game saw The Misfits crowned champions by beating Fit to Drop 9-3. The Grade C final was a super exhibition of all that is good about tag rugby. It was won by Slaney Sirloins in a high-scoring game, defeating I'll Have What he's Having 2213.

And finally in the top league, last year's Grade C winners, Scorthy Hookers, were finally beaten in a very fast and skilful Grade B Cup final by new champions Karmasutra Kings. Three female tries were ultimately the difference in a 16-7 winning scoreline.

Elsewhere, in the Beginners' League, Tagalicious were comprehensive winners in the third/fourth play-off against Tagalong for the Ride. D Junkies overcame the gallant Blue Lineout in the seventh/eighth place play-off whilst in the fifth/sixth play-off, Saffron Strikers were the victors against an ageless Bladerunner team!

Over in the very competitive Grade C League, The Professionals were comfortable winners against The Forward Passes in the third/fourth play-off. The fifth/sixth play-off was a tight game with The Killers edging out last year's Beginners champions, Fearstream. Seventh place went to Class Act who overcame a not so headless Headless Chickens.

In the experienced Grade B league, The Pretenders won the fifth/sixth playoff by the narrowest of margins, 20-19, against Tagtastic. In the third/fourth playoff, D'Unbelievables were just too strong for an understrength Antagonisers. Tag Party ran in the night's highest score in taking the seventh/eighth play-off with a 22-17 victory over last year's Grade B winners, Pump Palace Pros.

The unfortunate teams who collected their wooden spoon prizes, in good nature, at the awards party were The Wexicans, Crusaders and Ever Readies. The teams who won the ninth/tenth playoffs and avoided the wooden spoon walk were Odds n Sods, Midget Mayhem and Pump Palace Pros.

For those who can't bear to wait until next year, Enniscorthy R.F.C. and the I.R.F.U are hosting an end of summer Beach Tag festival on Saturday, August 14, on Curracloe beach. The entire competition takes place in one day, and runs from around midday until later afternoon, depending on the tides that day. A beach tag side comprises five players instead of seven as in normal tag rugby. For more details, and to book your place, check out www.irfutag.ie as places have been snapped up in record time.

SOUTH EAST ROAD CLUB

The South East Road Club under-age section produced some very fine performances to win three of the four races on the final night of the Leinster underage league held in Dublin recently.

With clubs from all over Leinster competing, this was a terrific achievement and further proof of the level of cycling talent from the catchment area of the club, which is the south Wicklow and north Wexford areas.

Elliott Young was a clear winner of the Under-10 race while Eoin Bracken, despite having a fall, gave a great account of himself. In the Under-12 race, Reece Young in a surge of power went from the start to overhaul the entire field of some 20 riders and soloed to a fine victory.

Keith Furlong and Becky Heaney finished in fifth and seventh places respectively. Reece lost on the overall league victory as he had divided his time between Slaney C.C's league and the Leinster league. Stephen Bracken, who is his first year in the Under-16 category, won a three-man sprint to clinch the overall league prize.

Not to be outdone by the success of the under-age squad, four South East Road Club members finished in the first six in a Wexford Wheelers inter-club league race on Tuesday night last, with the best placed being Stephen Furlong in second, followed by Ciarán Furlong, John Canavan and Matt Heaney in third, fifth and sixth places respectively.

Three South East Road Club riders represented Leinster last weekend in the Mayo International Youth tour, which is one of the top competitions for underage cyclists in Europe, with entrants coming from the Isle of Man, Scotland, England, Wales, Belgium as well as club teams from all over Ireland. They were Becky Heaney, Stephen Bracken and Reece Young.

On stage one Reece was in seventh place while Becky finished in 13th place from a field of more than 30 cyclists. Reece was in twelfth pace in the time trial, which is normally his strongest event, as the result of picking up a stomach bug, but made up for his disappointment by taking an excellent fourth place in the afternoon stage and was also the first Irish rider home. Becky was in 17th place overall after three stages and in sixth place in the girls' category.

After three stages Reece is in seventh place overall and sixth place in the points category. Stephen Bracken is having an excellent race, always finishing in the top one-third of the field, which comprises over 60 cyclists. He is the fourth-best Irish cyclist in his category after three stages.

The South East Road Club was very proud of the achievements of three of its under-age squad who represented Leinster in the most prestigious international under-age event in these islands which was held in Mayo over the August Bank Holiday. As the final races were held on the Bank Holiday Monday, they were not available for inclusion in the last week's report.

On the final stage, despite having what was thought to be a broken arm from a crash caused by another rider, Reece Young took a superb fifth place to end up in seventh place overall from a field of over 30 of the top under-age riders from five nations. This is a superb achievement for someone whose first major race was the All-Ireland championships last year and whose results over the three days anchored the Leinster team to an excellent second place as well as giving excellent support to Slaney C.C. member Adam Thatcher who was third overall.

Becky Heaney finished in 19th place overall and was one of the leading female cyclists. Stephen Bracken finished in 21st place from over 60 riders. Stephen had the advantage of some tough competition recently such as the inter-club league races and the recent South East Road Club championship where he was the most combative rider but was unable to match John Maguire in the sprint to take the club championship honours from Garreth McCabe and very promising Junior, Tony Breen.

In Balbriggan on Sunday last, John Maguire was the best-placed South East Road Club member and finished in tenth, while Anthony Mills and Tony Breen were comfortably in the bunch.

Plans have been drawn up for the 'Falling Leaves' Classic on Sunday week and, with excellent prize money from very generous sponsors, it should attract a very good field for a challenging but technical and fair circuit, that will suit good climbers and descenders. The race headquarters is the Woodenbridge Hotel.

ENNISCORTHY HOCKEY

Senior ladies' training commences on Monday, August 16, at 7 p.m. in the Astro Active Centre, Enniscorthy. New members are welcome (all levels - beginners and experienced).

For further details, visit www.enniscorthyhockey.com or contact the club P.R.O. at 087-6493738.