Dublin Hammers Meetings - Season 2009-2010

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 17th May 2010

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

This year’s AGM must have been the quickest ever... thought last year was quick... but all done in an hour! Here is a quick overview of the main points...

The Treasurers Report:
After all costs had been deducted the club was up €600 on last season’s closing balance. Des Doyle was given a special mention for his contribution to club funds by selling the "Spot the Balls". Thanks to Jimmy Conway for his hard work as treasurer. As Jimmy left the meeting dressed in a Gucci Suit to travel home in his new Porche, it was agreed that Fran Ryan would check the club accounts next season!

The Committee 2010-2011:
Secretary-Liam, Chairman-Eddie, Treasurer/Travel Sec-Jimmy, Committee Members-Dave & Gerry N. Same as last season.

Proposals:
Dublin Hammers members attending the unofficial meetings at Murrys (plus other establishments) will now be able to pay into the free trip draw kitty. Two Season tickets for the coming season have already been purchased and Dublin Hammers will be getting their own facebook page!

Dublin Hammers 20th Anniversary Celebrations:
A sub-committee was set up to arrange an event to mark and celebrate 20 years of the Dublin Hammers.

That was about it, we then headed downstairs where free drinks were bought from club funds and members discussed the last trip of the season and various ideas for the 20th anniversary party!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 24th April 2010

WEST HAM 3 vs WIGAN 2

Small turn out for this important match v Wigan. We all took our seats hoping for a better performance then the one we gave against Liverpool. Everybody to a man was not happy to see the line up what was Zola thinking only one change Parker back in midfield.

Disaster four minutes in, an own goal as Spector heads into his own net under no pressure, up hill task or what. Looking around the club members I could see "not again" written all over their faces. "Come on you Irons was the cry from the faithful, we need to win this one", then Cole breaks free, one on one with the keeper, he rounds him only for his effort to be cleared off the line. With Kirkland down injured the club members felt this might not be our day. Zola looked stunned, Clarke looked like he didn’t care.

For long periods Wigan looked like the home team, keeping the ball and making West Ham work very hard to get it back. Up popped a goal flash, Hull where one down a cry went out "come on we can win this". When Cole did run at the defence they stood off him, he passed the ball across the box and Ilan put it away 1-1. The fourth official held up his board five minutes of extra time, then we won a free kick. Noble was the man to stand up and take the kick, Kirkland gets his hand to the ball only to palm the ball into the line of Kovac who heads into an empty net bedlam, everybody goes wild.

Then the talk got around to Britain’s got talent with Gary saying we could do with some talent on the pitch!

Second half, Wigan get a corner, 2-2, Zola must change something, but no, Clarke looked like he was asleep on the bench, does he really care?

For long periods Wigan held onto the ball, West Ham chased and chased and looked second rate. Most members were working out results needed to see us stay up when Parker got the ball in midfield, he ran at their defence then took a shot 25 yards out, bang 3-2 to the Irons everybody goes wild. We see it out till the end of the game, relief and I mean relief, you could see it on everybody’s face.

Hull had lost, 2 games to go six points clear with a superior goal difference all we need is for Liverpool to beat Burnley heres hoping! Whether Zola and Clarke are there next season we do need a clear out and new blood with a fighting mentality.

Good luck to all the members heading to the Man City game hope you all have a great time.

Many thanks to Brian Madden for taking the time to send this report in!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 10th April 2010

WEST HAM 1 vs SUNDERLAND 0.

A little better... not a lot... but at least we managed to get the much needed win! About 15 members turned up for this meeting and with a beautiful warm, sunny spring day on view out of the pub window, it's not hard to see why? After watching West Ham stutter through a grim first half, one member wished he had gone to the swings with his little girl instead!

However, 5 minutes into the second half Da Costa’s free kick was headed on by Cole and Ilan stuck a leg out to score the only goal of the game! Then we had some luck (for a change) as Bent fell over with just Green to beat. As usual, we sat back for most of the second half. Franco was introduced, he proceeded to dive at every opportunity... embarassing... however he then showed what he is capable of when he decides to stay on his feet, the ball was crossed in and he finished in fine style... cue dublin hammers mayhem... offside... adjudged to have handled it. Still by then it was too late for Sunderland and the final whistle went! Members didn't hang about, it was off to enjoy the rest of a beautiful day!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 23rd March 2010

WEST HAM 1 vs WOLVERHAMPTION WANDERERS 3.

Dear Oh Dear... what a shambles... it's hard to come up with anything positive to say... er... scott parker... thats about it! Team looked like they had no direction, no game plan. They made Wolves look good! Parker hit the post at 1-0 down, could have been different, but looking at the way we played, I doubt it!

On a more cheery note, it was good to see everyone again, the best craic of the evening goes to GP... "This team has got some serious issues"... GP replied... "Zola will be selling Big Issues in the morning". It's good to laugh, but with "Your not fit to wear the shirt" echoing around Upton Park it was all a bit grim! Surely it will not get any worse and a good home win against Stoke City will follow... Fingers crossed!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 15th February 2010

QUIZ NIGHT & FREE TRIP DRAW.

Another highly entertaining evening! The quiz started with Quiz master Fran issuing a stern warning about the conduct of contestants, no mobiles, no back chat and only table captains would be allowed to ask questions! However, as usual, the wise cracks soon started, to be followed shortly after by a flurry of yellow cards! The Quiz was then held up after two table 3’s were submitted, after a steward’s enquiry, the appropriate red card was shown to Table 4!

Half time saw the drawing of tickets for the Free Trip Draw. With 3 trips to the last home game of the season up for grabs, silence ensued as the names were drawn... Eddie, Brian and... you knew it, how does he do it? Gerry! Congratulations to you all and enjoy the trip!

Back to the quiz... inbetween each ten question round, Fran introduced a new filler round called ‘Who Am I?’. Using West Ham players, past and present, he read out five facts about that player. Quiz teams could choose to enter their guess after 1 question for ten points, 2 questions for 8 points, 3 questions for 6 points and so on. I must say, really enjoyed this.

So who won? Congratulations go to Dave Reid, Gerry Nolan and John O’Leary, and the Simpsons? Brian Thompson, Mara and Gerry Murtagh! After the now legendary singing of the Simpson theme, we headed home.

A special thanks to Quiz Master Fran, whose time and efforts make this a great night!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 17th January 2010

ASTON VILLA 0 vs WEST HAM 0.

No report from this meeting!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 3rd January 2010

WEST HAM 1 vs ARSENAL 2.

No report from this meeting!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 28th December 2009

TOTTENHAM 2 vs WEST HAM 0.

According to the club website, it was a narrow victory... Not from where I was sitting! We were lucky it wasn't more. The usual poor performance against spurs found Franco isolated up front, Defoe getting his usual goal, and injuries to Parker and Ilunga early on... the only plus points were the performance of Tomkins, and Diamanti's efforts in the second half.

Away from the football, members were relaxed and in good christmas form with plenty of chat.

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 20th December 2009

WEST HAM 1 vs CHELSEA 1.

No report from this meeting!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 5th December 2009

WEST HAM 0 vs MANCHESTER UTD 4.

A poor turn out for what is usually the busiest meeting of the season! Was it the fact that the saturday afternoon kick-off clashed with christmas shopping duties OR the more likely fact that we are so poor at present that members could not be arsed to make the journey into town on a rainy afternoon just to witness a spanking?

And a spanking it truely was, two half chance for us, chance upon chance for them. Green had no chance with any of the goals, the first two from Scholes and Gibson absolute pile-drivers. Disappointing. In fact the whole occasion seemed somewhat dampened in spirit. The match and the meeting!

This match is best forgotten, still a chance to have a good evening beckons with the christmas party on Saturday!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 16th November 2009

QUIZ NIGHT.

A poor turn out, however those who did bother to come had a great night with lots of laughs! Quizmaster Fran announced that the questions this evening would be alot easier than the previous Quiz... This was not the case, as the teams huffed and puffed through the early rounds. Table 3 with the extra man (Jim, GerryM & Dave) took an early lead which they managed to hold onto until the end. Congrats to them, however it was pointed out that this was only to be expected with the extra man advantage! Competition for the dubious acolade of being known as the Simpsons was much closer, with Eddie and partner eventually taking the title! However, but for a good round on the music questions, myself and GerryN could well have been taking the stick instead!

My apologies for not remembering the name of Eddies quiz partner, upon requesting the missing name from team captain Eddie, he replied..."I will not divulge that information... I am not a RAT". However it seems that other club members were more than happy to 'name and shame'... sorry Tommy!

Worst showing from all tables was the West Ham United Round... the highest score for that round was 3/10... sad or what!

Biggest laugh... name the celeb round... a picture of Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp was titled as Ross Kemp... Fran set the scene with... "Welcome to Gangs of the World"... then broke into full Spandau Ballet singing mode...it took a good few minutes before order was restored!

Well done to Fran for the questions and everyone else who took part!... Card Count: 2 yellows, 1 red.

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 25th October 2009

WEST HAM 2 vs ARSENAL 2.

No report from this meeting!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 28th September 2009

MANCHESTER CITY 3 vs WEST HAM 1.

No report from this meeting!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 19th September 2009

WEST HAM 2 vs LIVERPOOL 3.

A busy meeting this one, an entertaining game with lots of goals! Everyone seemed in good form as we settled down for this early evening kick-off. After our trip to the same fixture last year (to watch a 3-0 whooping), members were hoping for a better show from the Hammers. New signing Diamanti started, as did younster Hines.
In the spirit of MOD, here are 3 good and 3 bad from the game...

THE GOOD...
1. Diamanti and Hines both added to our limited attacking options, especially Hines who hit the post, won our penalty and was generally a thorn in the side of the Liverpool defence, especially in the first half!
2. Carlton Cole headed goal to make it 2-2 just before half time.
3. Sandwiches, Chips, Chicken Goujons and... Onions rings!

THE BAD...
1. Sitting back and letting them come repeatedly at us... sitting and watching, we knew it would only be a matter of time before Torres scored... again! He must love us.
2. Giving the ball away time after time, lost count of the amount of times we did this... apart from his corner that Cole converted, Mark Noble had a stinker!
3. Injuries to Upson and Behrami resulting in both players having to be substituted in the first half.

So whats coming up? A mouthwatering Carling Cup fixture away to Bolton (zzzzzzzzz) followed by ManCity away... bring it on!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 7th September 2009

QUIZ NIGHT.

The first table quiz of the new season saw the Dublin Hammers stalwarts take their seats. A number of the usual suspects were missing on the night due to work commitments etc – most notably Gary Purdy. This meant that the Simpsons team was not pre-determined! Anyway, Quizmaster supreme, Presidente Fran Ryan opened proceedings by use of a flipchart whereby he asked all in attendance for a word to describe Manager Zola. All was going well with the usual answers – happy, intelligent, Italian etc. until Liam piped up with “Chelsea” and some other word – not sure what it was!

Following a brief discussion on Liam’s anger issues we settled down to the task at hand – answering the questions.
The scores were very even until the music round where Patrick Murtagh showed a knowledge of music beyond his years. Some doubts were expressed about Josh Holland’s image as a hard rocker when he instantly recognised a Celine Dion song (Are those tattoos the wash off variety???).

In a bizarre twist of fate the scores going into the last round showed the table consisting of Gerry O’Keefe, Patrick Murtagh and Mark Napier (who left before the last round) in the lead and looking like a sure bet to win. But Fran’s coupe de resistance of a final question left the room stunned in silence as brains were racked thinking of names of players that had played for two of the “Top 4” clubs – going back as long as you wanted.

The leaders were stunned and caught well off guard as they only recorded 1 name and found themselves not 1st but LAST!
Cue the Simpsons music and much laughter. By the way the winning team consisted of Liam McDonagh (with only 1 yellow card this time), Brian Reid and Gerry Murtagh who each received a programme from the Eddie Cox Archives!
General consensus on the evening? A cracking night out with plenty of laughs and well done Fran on some great questions.

Many thanks to Gerry Murtagh for taking the time to write this report.

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 23rd August 2009

WEST HAM 1 vs TOTTENHAM 2.

A well attended meeting (The newsletter must have worked) saw the Hammers lose to totts... again... it’s getting to be a habit! Although I thought we were unlucky, as we made enough chances to at least draw the game. The second half came to life within 5 minutes as Cole took the ball down, turned and unleased an un-stoppable shot into the tottenham net... members engaged in a the first sing-song of the season as Cole’s first half misses were forgotten. Unfortunately the joy was short lived as moments later Cole then supplied the perfect back pass to (the slimey) Defoe, who put away the equaliser with ease. Either side could have scored as the play ebbed and flowed, however Spector’s slip on the edge of the area allowed (the equally slimey) Lennon to score the winner. Collison could/should have equalised in the closing stages, but it wasn’t to be! Sickener! Good meeting lots of old faces, plus some new ones!

Dublin Hammers Meeting - 17th August 2009

THE SEASON OPENER!

A small turn out for the annual ‘emptying of the wallet’ meeting. Money was collected for club memberships and the free trip draw. Good to see the faces, especially Robbie and John O’Leary. Charlie where are you? Deposits for the Fulham trip will be collected at the Spurs meeting on Sunday.


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