Easts Yellow defeated Sarsfields by 4 points in the final of the 2003 Mens Summer Competition.

Running over six weeks in October/November, the 11-a-side summer competition was held on Wednesday nights at Willawong, and attracted plenty of interest with 14 teams involved, including two mens and two womens teams for the Celts.

Match Reports & Photos
Summer Comp. Results & Unofficial Standings

	Conan Dyar - Easts Seniors Best & Fairest 2003

In good spirits and a great show of support for the Easts Celts Gaelic Football Club, more than 75 members, players and friends attended the 2003 Presentation Night.

Many thanks to Fiddlers Elbow for their hospitality and service!

Easts Award Winners
Awards Night Photos

Well done to Easts Celts Narelle Saward and Nathan Ram who represented Queensland in the 2003 Australasian Gaelic Football Championships, held in Sydney from 30th September to 5th October.

Narelle played in the Queensland Womens Team who reached the Championship Final with four wins in a row, including shutouts of Auckland and South Australia & a 1 point win over New South Wales. With the chance to claim back to back Championships, Queensland were denied by NSW in the decider, falling by 1 point in overtime (and torrential rain!).

Nathan was part of the Queensland Minors Team, who were unlucky not to crack a win in their four games at the tournament after losing by 1 point (twice) and 3 points to eventual Minors Champions South Australia.

Three Easts players have been honoured with League Awards for 2003:

Congratulations to Chris Guice, who has been selected for the International Series Australian Masters team to play in Melbourne in late October against an Ireland Masters team. This is held in conjunction with the AFL vs GAA Internationals.

Chris went to Ireland last year with the Australian team and had the privilege & honor to captain the side.

"It is yet to be confirmed, but it's certainly looking like we are playing one of our matches as the "curtain raiser" at the MCG prior to the Aus vs Ireland International match on Friday the 31st of October."

"Gee, age is a great leveler, being 49 running around against blokes around your same age!"

"Naturally Annette and I are very excited about this opportunity to not only represent my country, but also feel my club East's as well."

SENIORS - CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER FINAL

WOMEN - QUEENSLAND LEAGUE
John Mitchels d Easts Celts

RESERVES - QUEENSLAND LEAGUE
Easts Celts d John Mitchels (Forfeit)

Easts Seniors have snapped a six game losing streak in the Qld League with a two point victory over Shamrocks. The much needed win also ends a nine game winning run by Shamrocks over Easts, with the Celts last defeating Shamrocks in June 2001.  Match Report

The Seniors conclude their regular season campaign next Sunday against John Mitchels, in a preview of the Championship Quarter Final which will be contested by the two sides the following weekend.

In other games today, Easts Reserves defeated Shamrocks, and O'Reillys Women defeated Easts.

Easts have narrowly missed out on back to back Toowoomba Cup success, falling 2-1 to Souths in the 3 matches played in Toowoomba on Saturday.

Easts won the Reserves match on forfeit, with Souths squaring the ledger by winning the Womens game. The Cup was up for grabs going into the Seniors match, with the Magpies edging out the Celts by two points to claim the silverware.

2003 TOOWOOMBA CUP SCORES:

RESERVES - Easts wof Souths

WOMEN - Souths 5.9.24 d Easts 2.6.12

SENIORS - Souths 0.14.14 d Easts 2.6.12

* Congratulations to Steve and Stacey Ryan on the birth of their daughter! *

Hello Easts,

Firstly I would like to say I'm sorry that I didn't get to see you before I left. I am working in North Queensland at the moment. I had a job interview on Wed 23 weeks ago and on the I was driving off the next Wed up North for work and started on the Friday. Michelle and Paris are staying in Brisbane till the end of the year.

I will be following your progress on the Web and wish you all the best. I will drop in to say hello when I get back to Brisbane.

All I have to say now is GO EASTS.

Cheers Neville

It has been somewhat disappointing to see the East Senior men's side slip since our fantastic start to the season. Injuries have hit us hard and with the loss of some key players from the previous year, and the start of the current year, it has been an uphill struggle for the Seniors.

The potential from the Senior squad is amazing, although converting that potential to points each Sunday is rather frustrating. There are not many games left to the league. The Championship is well and truly upon us. We need to get the finger(s) out, NOW!

Men, rather than an instruction, I would ask you all to make a special effort to attend training every Wednesday night until the season is over. In addition, we need to pull together in the same direction as a team and confirm in stone our attendance for the games on Sundays. I full heartedly believe that if everybody just puts in that special effort, East's will be a name to remember come the Championship later in the year. Its about pride, dignity, love and commitment - not just a kick around - come on, I know you all can do it for the Club!

So please, pass the word to the players - remember we need at least 35 men (5 subs) to take their places come Championship time. "Think outside the box" - doubling up may be fine for a while, but we will never progress that way.

What can I do? Get your arse to training, and to Willawong on Sundays! Call one of your pal's to come back/out! You can do it!!!

I look forward to seeing you all there, as a team, as a club, as winners..........

Ronan

ps - Thanks to the boys on Sunday who togged out against Souths - much appreciated. If we can start the first half this Sunday the way we started the second half last Sunday, and sustain that level, we WILL win. Importantly, Toowoomba is only a couple of weeks away - we need to prepare to hold on to the Silverware...

Kicking off the day, Easts Reserves were looking to maintain their winning run in the Qld League against Shamrocks. In the 13 a side comp, Easts needed three injured players to step in just to make up the 13 required to avoid a forfeit. Kicking with the breeze in the first half, Easts settled early, combining well to push out to a handy halftime lead. The trend of play continued in the second half and Easts extended their lead to post a valuable win.

No shortage of players for Easts Women in their game against Shamrocks, having their full compliment on the bench and several players able to sit out. Easts had the use of the breeze in the first half and stamped their authority on the match with good passing and teamwork to lead well at halftime. Shamrocks hit back in the second half with a couple of goals, but the Celts maintained their determination to secure the victory.

Easts Seniors had only 15 available players for their match with Sarsfields. Easts jumped out of the blocks and were a goal up inside the first minute with Shane Farmer capping off a great solo run with a three pointer. However, Sarsfields began to exert their superiority from then on with well structured play to take a commanding lead into halftime. By this stage, Easts were down to 14 players, who battled on in the second half to pressure Sarsfields and prevent the scoreline from being a lot worse. In spite of the heavy defeat, it was an improved performance on the previous week for Easts Seniors, against a quality team in Sarsfields who remain undefeated in the League for 2003.

Good commitment was shown by all the players for Easts this week, with special mention to the players carrying injuries stepping up to play. The Celts have yet to forfeit a match in any grade this season, this is credit to efforts such as today.

In the only Easts game today, the Reserves defeated Souths 0.7.7 to 0.2.2.

Easts had the run of general play throughout the match and created numerous scoring chances, however Souths defensive pressure and wayward finishing from the Celts kept scores close. In the end, the hard work of the Easts defenders combined with some excellent saves from Easts goalkeeper Marc Griffiths secured victory for the Celts. The win leaves Easts Reserves undefeated in the Qld League.

Reserves - Easts Celts 3.9.18 d Harps 3.5.14

East Celt Reserves ended a 2 year drought by winning the Brisbane Shield in style against Harps. Easts were in front from the start with Mark Morris leading the way up front with 2 goals and 4 points. Our back line can be proud of their efforts in which they dictated terms for a majority of the match. Loic and Marc (in goals) had standout games in defense, with Adrian as consistent as ever in not letting his man get into the game.

Credit must be given to Harps who staged a come back in the second half, but thanks to the steady play of Nathan, David & Dov, Jay's hard attacking football and the ever reliable Buddha who stepped up a gear stopping any resurgence by Harps.

A number of the team was playing two games (9) so the bench was constantly used throughout the night. All players contributed to a great win for the club and can be full of pride in the way they represented Easts Celts Gaelic Football Club.

Seniors - Shamrocks 1.10.13 d Easts Celts 2.5.11

East Celt chances in Friday nights Brisbane Shield, Queensland's first Gaelic football match played under lights, were soured before the start of the game by heavy injuries, a number of players backing up (9) and players with other commitments (Ronan in Cairns). Mark Ram, Chris Woods and an injured Ash pulled on a jumper to make up numbers. Given these circumstances you wouldn't berate the team for a poor performance. However this could never be further from the truth. East's refused to give in at any time and it was a hard fought game from start to finish. Shamrocks were never given the chance to take total control of the game and this can be seen by the 2 points difference at the end.

There were many standout performances throughout the night with Shane running hard all night, Loic and Gus working hard in defense and Marc having a solid game in goals. Our forwards worked very hard, but for some very poor and inconsistent umpiring the score would have been different. Special mention needs to be made of those players who go out each week and do the job asked of them without question; Nathan, Adrian, David, Greg and Dov - without players of this quality East's would not be the club it is.

The game which was played in front of a large crowd started with Shamrocks continued attack in our back half. Our backs continually hit the ball hard, repelling those advances. The conditions on the night didn't help either side as there were turnovers, poor ball movement and lots of dropped ball. The first half settled down to be a tough contest, with both sides not giving an inch. East's went into the half time break 3 points down.

In the second half Easts were under enormous pressure and needed players to stand up and fight the game out. The edge was with Shamrocks as they were a fresher outfit. From the start of the 2nd half we hit the ball hard and attacked at every opportunity, which started to work in our favor. With ten minutes to go a Shamrocks player (without being red carded) kicked Joel in the hand when he was picking up the ball, which in the end penalised us as the ball quickly returned to their end of the ground. Being a man down in our backs they scored a goal to put them up by 5 points. We continued to play attacking football which resulted in an own-goal by the Shamrocks fullback. We continued to attack and seen to be getting the upper hand, but were unfortunate not to be able to convert this effect into scores. Our experienced players such as Shane, Barry, Loic, Conan and Mark all led by example which assisted the other players to lift their game and play to a level which our club can be proud of.

As I have said before both teams can hold their heads up high as they did their club proud. We as a club can't feel fulfilled by the reserve win, we now need to go on and prove to the rest of the competition what we already know, Easts are a tough, hard, skilled side, who refuse to give in.

We had a number of injured players give support on the night and I would like to thank them for their efforts (sorry Mick for hitting you with the water bottle). I would like to thank Veronica for creating the banners, also to all the women's team who turned up to cheer us on I would like thank you, the men's teams appreciate all your efforts (I liked the give me an e, E give me etc).

Team Selection

The task of team selection is very challenging, where you take into account team plans, strategies and players. I was accused of letting perceived personal issues come into the selection of the team. This is completely incorrect. The selection of both teams on Friday night was not a one man show; I listen to and was open minded to suggestion from senior members of the club. In selecting the team each position was discussed and the most appropriate player for our strategies and the strengths and weakness of our opposition were taken into account. At no time did any perceived personal issues effect the team structure.

If any player is despondent with where they are placed in the team, I encourage them to discuss it with myself or Ronan and if you are not comfortable in that, talk to your captain. I encourage healthy discussion and I am prepared to support these decisions with solid reasoning. I do not appreciate a player leaving his team mates in the lurch because of a temper tantrum and I especially don't like being abused by a team member 5 minutes into the second half of a final with the threat of physical violence. I encourage all players to use the appropriate means to communicate any problem or clarify their position in the club.

Neville Whiteley

Easts Seniors have secured their first win of the Qld League, defeating Souths 1.12.18 to 0.6.6. Albeit Souths were undermanned this afternoon, however the win for the Celts was just what the doctor ordered ahead of this Friday's Brisbane Shield Final. Standouts in a good overall team performance were Barry Harper with 7 points and John Dillon with a superbly headed goal.

In other Easts matches, the Reserves had a win over Shamrocks, 4.11.23 to 4.3.15, and the Women were defeated by Souths, 5.14.29 to 4.3.15

Easts Reserves have maintained their winning form, defeating Harps 1.11.14 to 2.4.10. In similar fashion to their last meeting, Easts jumped out of the blocks to take a big lead into halftime, with Harps finishing strongly in the second half to narrow the scoreline. The sides will face off for the third time in five weeks when they contest the upcoming Brisbane Shield final.

Easts Seniors are still searching for their first win in the Qld League, being defeated by Sarsfields 1.13.16 to 1.6.9. In a spirited match with the sides locked at halftime, Sarsfields finished full of running to push ahead and remain the only undefeated team in the Seniors League competition.

Easts Women had their first loss in the Qld League, falling to Harps 3.14.23 to 1.4.7.

In today's Queensland League matches, Easts Women posted a big score to defeat Sarsfields, 5.13.28 to 1.2.5, and Easts Seniors were defeated by John Mitchels, 1.16.19 to 0.3.3.

A win and two losses, but good signs this afternoon for the Celts with competitive performances in all three grades.

Coming off a Bye, Easts Seniors were seeking some redemption from a big loss two weeks earlier in a rematch with Shamrocks. Easts started well and had the better of play in the first half, and took a narrow lead into halftime. The tables were turned in the second half however, with the Celts unable to breach the Shamrocks defence, who in turn rebounded the ball to set up scoring opportunities to overtake Easts and win the match, 1.9.12 to 2.2.8. In spite of being on the wrong side of the scoreline, the Celts can take plenty of heart from the endeavour shown throughout the match, and can look forward to the return of some key players to bolster the side.

Also coming off a Bye, Easts Reserves opened their Queensland League campaign in fine fashion against Harps, the 2001 & 2002 Reserve Champs. In a free flowing encounter, the Celts combined well to create numerous scoring opportunities, leading the game all the way and holding off a fast finishing Harps outfit to post a 4 point win, 4.8.20 to 3.7.16.

Easts Women put in a committed effort throughout their match with John Mitchels, but couldn't convert possession into scores whereas Mitchels displayed clinical finishing skills, running out winners 3.17.26 to 1.5.8. This weekend completes the Brisbane Shield competition for the women, with the Queensland League kicking off next weekend.

Thanks to the blokes who stepped up to take charge of the Senior & Reserve sides today in the absence of the regular coaches, Ronan Harper & Neville Whiteley.

Easts women have secured their second win of the Brisbane Shield competition, storming home to defeat Shamrocks 3.8.17 to 2.8.14.

The win snaps a three game losing streak for the ladies, and is their first victory over Shamrocks since March 2001.

Despite losses in all three grades, there was some good news for Easts today with the Seniors claiming a spot in the Brisbane Shield Final.

This was in spite of a big loss to Shamrocks, 3.17.26 to 0.3.3. A mix up with match times didn't help matters for Easts with only a few fresh players available, with the bulk of the side being players backing straight up from the reserves game immediately beforehand. No excuses though - Shamrocks dominated the game from early on, and were unquestionably the better team. To their credit, the Easts players put in a wholehearted effort and battled to the end but couldn't match Shamrocks, who remain the only undefeated senior team this season.

In their first game in three weeks, Easts Women had a tough assignment against impressive newcomers O'Reillys. The Celts produced some good passages of play, however O'Reillys proved the stronger team and continued their winning form, scoring 8.13.37 to 0.4.4.

Easts Reserves had their first loss of the season, losing to John Mitchels 3.9.18 to 1.3.6. On the positive side, Easts competed hard for the ball throughout, and trailed by only 4 at halftime, but ultimately couldn't catch Mitchels, who stretched their lead in the second half.

Easts Celts have maintained top spot on the Reserves Ladder with a big win over Souths in Round 4 of the Brisbane Shield.

In hot conditions, Easts took control of the match in the first half, constantly posting scores and pressing Souths into turnovers. Leading by 6 at halftime, the Celts snuffed out any notions of a Magpie comeback, stepping up a gear in the second half to inflict a rare thrashing of Souths, 1.13.16 to 0.1.1.

An inspired performance by the Easts defenders, including a second half shutout, secured victory for the Celts and clinched a place in the Brisbane Shield Final.

Easts Reserves made it three wins on the trot with a hard fought victory over Shamrocks, 2.3.9 to 0.6.6 in Round 3 of the Brisbane Shield. In a scrappy game in which both sides squandered possession and scoring opportunities, the highlight for the Celts was the continued form of Mark Morris, who notched his 5th goal in the last three games.

A slow start proved costly for Easts Seniors, who had their first defeat of 2003, losing to Souths in a high scoring encounter, 6.8.26 to 3.9.18.

Easts Women were also defeated by Souths, 4.19.31 to 0.4.4.

Easts Celts Seniors continued their early season form with a second half comeback, complete with a last minute goal by Shane Farmer, to defeat Sarsfields 3.7.16 to 2.9.15 in Round 2. A great team effort, with special mention to Liam Harte, who was a standout in the center for the Celts.

In earlier games, Easts Women were defeated by Harps, 2.12.18 to 1.2.5, and the Reserves defeated Harps, 3.8.17 to 2.4.10.

Easts Celts made the perfect start to the 2003 Season with wins in all three Grades in Round 1 matches.

In slippery and humid conditions, the Reserves kicked off the day with a solid performance in defeating O'Reillys 2-7-13 to 0-4-4, Easts Women had a big win over Sarsfields 5-10-25 to 0-1-1, and the Seniors capped off a great day for the blue and gold, defeating John Mitchels 0-6-6 to 0-4-4.

Easts Celts Committee has confirmed the coaching staff for 2003:

Mens Squad (Seniors and Reserves) -
COACH: Ronan Harper
TRAINER: Neville Whiteley

Womens Squad -
COACH: Narelle Saward
ASSISTANT COACH: Seamus Sullivan
MANAGER: Veronica Snowdon

Nice and early Saturday morning the guys and girls from East Celts assembled with other teams to march proud in the St Paddy's Day March. We marched from George Street to St Patricks Church in the Valley with the Easts banner and in our gold and blue jerseys, showing our gaelic footy skills the whole way kicking the ball around. The crowds were out and the sun was hot but a great effort put in by all who participated.

The drinks were flowing for many hours afterwards at Dooleys Hotel, once again a great effort put in by members of Easts who sold raffle tickets for the Qld Association and who handed out flyers to recruit players for the 2003 season.

A special thanks for Durro who designed and printed the flyers and for organising the new Easts Celts Stubbie Coolers (already a hit!). With only a week to go until the start of the season it was a great day to get the club together.

Click here for more St Patricks Day photos...

A large turnout of Easts players and supporters at the AGM saw the election of office bearers and committee persons for 2003.

2002 custodians Jamie Byrne (Buddha), Cathie Orgill and Ronan Harper were returned as Club President, Vice-President and Treasurer respectively.

Renae Whitehead was elected as Club Secretary, with Nicole Borzatti to assist in what is a busy role vacated by Jo Small.

Anthony Durrington, Chris Guice, Veronica Snowdon and Liss Tierney were appointed to the Club Committee as were Greg Bryant, Marc Griffiths and Seamus Sullivan who were returned from 2002.

Fiddlers Elbow generously hosted the AGM in their cosy surrounds, with Brad Small doing a great job manning the barbeque and feeding the hungry masses.

Special thanks from everyone at Easts to Jo Small for all her efforts for the Celts over many years!