Up and Running! To borrow a phrase more akin to Cheltenham; the Emmet Reserves; got their season up and running at Clones on Sunday. I’m not sure what odds you’d get for a win but that is exactly what happened and it wasn’t by a short head either. Aaron Murray became the first Emmet to handle the ball for 2017 and Sean Downey was the first to get his name on the scoreboard. Clones had a goal chance glide wide but when Ryan O’Connor at the other end bisected the Clones rear-guard after fifteen minutes he made no mistake and slotted home a well-taken goal. Ciaran Ward delivered a good pass to Cáolin Martin and he delivered the Emmets second goal as we approached half time. !   Emmets goalkeeper Glen Reilly had double-trouble with a high ball but cleared his lines to safety and his timely intervention left the interval score; Emmets 2-06 Tiarnachs 1-01.  After the break Ronan Lonergan in his borrowed boots broke the offside trap and lobbed the Clones goalkeeper with an impish goal to grab Emmet’s third major. Ryan O’Connor, Padraig Marron and Caolin Martin took three more points for the Emmets; all from play and all from fine individual finishing to leave the final Score 3-12 to 1-07. Team; Glen Reilly, Gearoid Jones, Aaron Murray, Ronan O’Callaghan, Caolin Martin (1-01) David Eakins, Oisin Marron, Ciaran Ward (0-01) Ryan O’Connor (1-01) Adrian McCluskey, Ryan Carolan, Laurence McNally (1-01) John McMenamin (0-03) Sean Downey (0-04) Padraig Marron (0-01)

Emmets Handball! For all the handball supporters the place to be was the Emmet Centre last weekend when the Novice Three final was battled out between two Emmet comrades namely; Ronan Kiernan and Gary Beirne; who produced an epic decider which went all the way. Three hard-fought games produced exciting handball for the spectators. Eventually it was Gary who came out on top and claimed the title on a scoreline of 21-10 19-21 21-14. Gary now goes up to Novice Two and no doubt will hold his own with the very best in this grade. For the moment our commiserations to Ronan but judging on this performance a county title can’t be far away and knowing him he will continue to remain the driving force behind the Emmet’s handball and Rounders clubs! Thanks to referee Frank Duffy. In the GAA league the Emmets A team travel to Bawn to play the home team in the semi-final of the competition and we wish them luck on their journey to seek a place the final.

Your Rewards Are Waiting! The GAA new grma rewards programme is now active with thousands of our Members and Supporters expected to sign up in the coming weeks. GAA Members can avail of rewards and offers as a ‘thank you’ or ‘go raibh maith agat’ for engaging in GAA activities and going to games. Register now on gaa.ie/grma to start earning points and check out our exciting range of rewards and offers. These include: €5 off adult ticket for AIB All-Ireland Club Championship Finals on St Patrick’s Day until 15th March 25% off; online voucher for Elverys.ie until 31st March. Special offers on tickets for Allianz Football and Hurling League Finals: Exclusive offers on GAA county jerseys, footballs and sliotars: Special reductions on GAA Museum and Etihad Skyline tours at Croke Park: More exciting offers and rewards will be announced to members registered on the grma programme in the coming weeks. Login or sign up now to start benefiting at gaa.ie/grma

The Club Lotto is now €10,000! The club lotto draw took place this Monday night in the Emmet Centre for a Jackpot of €9,900. The numbers drawn were 01, 06, 18 and 26; there were no matching numbers. There are three ways of doing the lotto (a) buy weekly (b) subscribe yearly (c) or play on-line via the Emmets website: First out of the “lucky dip” was Derek Tumelty for a €50 “Keep it Local” voucher; John Fitzgerald won a €20 voucher while Dympna Finnegan also got a €20 voucher; Morgan Sweeney was pulled out for a €10 voucher! Lotto envelopes are available at Birdy’s Newsagents; McMenamin Newsagents; Hughes’s Coffee Shop; McNally’s Tavern; Carrick Deli; Cassidy’s Filling Station (Ardee Road) Bits and Bobs and O’Rourke Fuels: Thanks to all the sellers for last week.

The Young Emmets! The first two Emmet teams to take the field for 2017 were our under-fourteen footballers on Saturday afternoon. The Division One side had a comfortable win over Castleblayney in the first offering at Emmet Park where they showed good traces of excellent combination and fluent football. The Emmets dominance was reflected in the scoreline of 5-11 to 0-05. Next up were the Division Five lads and they were equally impressive as their colleagues; with ten points to spare at the final whistle. They were never in any major trouble with every player contributing to the well-deserved opening win: Final Score; Emmets 3-07 Faughs 0-06.