RISSC (London) repeat Charity Golf success

Members and friends of the Republic of Ireland Soccer Supporters Club (London) will be aware that we have, over the past number of years, lent our support to St Luke's Hospice, Kenton, in memory of the late Tony Booth, a founding member and former Chairman of the Club who passed away in January 2002.

An annual charity golf competition, in aid of St Luke's Hospice, takes place each year and is generously hosted by Northwood Golf Club. The event this year took place on Monday 7 July 2008 and, in conjunction with Barclays Bank plc, again raised a significant sum of money for the benefit of the Hospice.

We at RISSC (London) are pleased to have been able to lend some element of support to the fundraising activities of the Hospice by contributing to the Golf Day Programme produced by the organising committee and also sponsoring a hole during the golf event. We were also very happy to again participate in the Golf Competition, which our team, led by the indomitable Don Givens, won last year.

The man from Mayo, Eamonn Scanlon, silver medalist last year, together with Sligo's very own Gerry Cryan were both back in harness. With Don currently on the injured list, we dug deep into our reserve library, which led us to Peter Carbery, a former chronicler of the club during his time with the Irish Post. Gerry Keaney was another casualty of timing, as he has just embarked on a fruitless search for the sun, in Cork!. However, North Western equilibrium was retained with the introduction of Raymond Cryan, another son of Sligo.

With Northwood Golf Club member Gerry Cryan at the helm, the team received disciplined direction from the outset. This was indeed, no feckless foursome.The weather travails and trials presented and conquered last year were again visited upon the event. However, these west coast men, raised against the rain and winds of the Atlantic, have an inbuilt resilience that the tumult and turmoil flooding from the skies, was unable to match and the weather was eventually forced to concede and departed, defeated.

A Shotgun Start, with the men of RISSC teeing off at the thirteeth hole, set the event in action. The crusade around the course, elongated because of weather conditions, concluded some five hours later. Our fabulous foursome returned bedraggled but not bewitched, bothered or bewildered by the barriers presented on course. The challenge had been met, the defence remained intact, the team competition was retained. In addition to the group success, Peter Carbery and Gerry Cryan collected awards in the individual competition.

We in RISSC (London) are delighted to extend our grateful thanks and apprerciation to the four stalwarts who gave of their time and contributed a quite magnificent effort, on behalf of the Club, in support of this fundraising event arranged by St Luke's.