Clare GAA discussion thread

finbarrk · 23-09-2017 07:03PM

Clooney Quin 0-16 Clonlara 0-14. Bit of a surprise.

letowski · 23-09-2017 07:04PM

Fair play to CQ today. First time in 75 years playing in a county final.

Claregaafan18 · 23-09-2017 07:14PM

Hard work, putting bodies on the line, giving their last drop and above all else a collective desire to get their team over the line. Clooney-Quin are through to the Clare senior hurling championship final after defeating Clonlara by 16 points to 14. Those characteristics that i highlighted in the beginning was the foundations of this extraordinary performance for the men in green and red. There were some outstanding individual displays. In the backs I thought the two McNamara's Shane and Ruaidhri were outstanding along with the evergreen Conor Harrison and Padraig Ward also deserves huge credit with his licence to go forward at any opportunity. In the forwards another excellent display from 12 point man Peter Duggan while Michael Corry and Ryan Taylor also gave Clonlara plenty of trouble.

As for Clonlara they will probably be called a few names after this latest jekyll and hyde performance. They supposedly have some of the best players in the country let alone county ie Galvin and Conlon. But other than that once they were in a battle for some they just did not want to know. Serious back to the drawing board for a club that expects to win Canon Hamilton every year.

But tonight is all about Clooney-Quin and serious credit must go to Fergie O'Loughlin who has masterminded yet another major scalp. Congrats to one and all. Newmarket-on-Fergus or Sixmilebridge will fight it out in the second semi-final to see who will march behind the band in 3 weeks.

tatoo · 23-09-2017 08:42PM

Great heart and effort from Clooney and a stellar performance from Peter Duggan, Clonlara failed to get the best out of their star players - Tots isolated above at full forward and Conlon hardly noticeable at all, apart from a run after 50 minutes when Clonlara closed the gap to one Clooney never really looked like losing, had Clonlara managed to draw level it might have panned out differently, but Duggan stopped the rot with a free, and apart from a nervous last two minutes for their supporters it was plain sailing again.
Sixmilebridge will be extremely bullish tonight, an expected win tomorrow against neighbours Newmarket-On-Fergus and they'll have one hand on the cup.

Tell me how · 23-09-2017 08:44PM

^^^

Technically, CQ already have one hand on the cup, the final being a two horse race.

Agree though, winner tomorrow will feel confident.

letowski · 23-09-2017 10:50PM

Claregaafan18 wrote:

As for Clonlara they will probably be called a few names after this latest jekyll and hyde performance. They supposedly have some of the best players in the country let alone county ie Galvin and Conlon. But other than that once they were in a battle for some they just did not want to know. Serious back to the drawing board for a club that expects to win Canon Hamilton every year.

Conlon, O'Brien and Galvin are quality intercounty hurlers, but after that, im not sure. They have alot of players like the O'Donovans, Honan, the O'Connells, etc that have been around the county setup but the reality is they have regressed along with serious question marks over theyre commitment/mentality. They can win a title still in the coming years as they are young but they have to seriously look at what theyre set up is about and make some tough decisions. Also picking their players in the right positions who help.

windy shepard henderson · 23-09-2017 11:51PM

Delighted for Clooney/quinn can't believe I missed it. Was full sure they had run there course this year. Peter duggen is some man.

Looking forward to the game tomorrow . Maybe it's not the bridges year after all

The club championship over the last 10 years here has been excellent nearly a different winner every year

windy shepard henderson · 23-09-2017 11:57PM

letowski wrote: »

Conlon, O'Brien and Galvin are quality intercounty hurlers, but after that, im not sure. They have alot of players like the O'Donovans, Honan, the O'Connells, etc that have been around the county setup but the reality is they have regressed along with serious question marks over theyre commitment/mentality. They can win a title still in the coming years as they are young but they have to seriously look at what theyre set up is about and make some tough decisions. Also picking their players in the right positions who help.

Have to feel sorry for clonlara to be fair they have had some tough days since 2009 they have contributed so much to clare hurling over the last number of years they deserve more

opinionated3 · 24-09-2017 10:08AM

Fair play to clooney quin. I was sure clonlara would have a few points to spare over them. Maybe another shock today?!

Claregaafan18 · 24-09-2017 06:05PM

Sixmilebridge 3-17 Newmarket on Fergus 2-18

A great game of hurling with perfect conditions. From a Clare point of view I thought Colin Ryan once again shone scoring 1-12 and surely Donal and Gerry would have taken notice of his contribution this season for the blues and all efforts must be put in to get Ryan back on the Clare panel. Colin Guilfoyle and Stephen Kelly were also very impressive today with their aerial ability.

For the Bridge the likes of Cathal Malone, Jamie Shanahan and Shane Golden all performed well with Brian Corry's 2 goals were crucial for the men in saffron and blue. I must say that the Bridge were opened up several times and also failed to deal with Newmarket's direct style of hurling. Several key refereeing decisions went in the way of the Bridge and personally I felt they got their frees easier to come by although someone might disagree with me on that.

So a novel pairing for the final. The bridge v Clooney/Quin. County final day is one of the great days in the Irish sporting calendar. The Bridge will be hot favourites but having seen them today they are not unbeatable and as long as Peter Duggan and co fire at all cylinders then this Canon Hamilton may be no walk in the park for the O'Garney men as many people would think.

opinionated3 · 24-09-2017 06:59PM

Bridge got their wake up call today. Wouldn't be surprised if they gave clooney quin a bad beating in the final.

windy shepard henderson · 24-09-2017 08:46PM

Claregaafan18 wrote: »

Sixmilebridge 3-17 Newmarket on Fergus 2-18

A great game of hurling with perfect conditions. From a Clare point of view I thought Colin Ryan once again shone scoring 1-12 and surely Donal and Gerry would have taken notice of his contribution this season for the blues and all efforts must be put in to get Ryan back on the Clare panel. Colin Guilfoyle and Stephen Kelly were also very impressive today with their aerial ability.

For the Bridge the likes of Cathal Malone, Jamie Shanahan and Shane Golden all performed well with Brian Corry's 2 goals were crucial for the men in saffron and blue. I must say that the Bridge were opened up several times and also failed to deal with Newmarket's direct style of hurling. Several key refereeing decisions went in the way of the Bridge and personally I felt they got their frees easier to come by although someone might disagree with me on that.

So a novel pairing for the final. The bridge v Clooney/Quin. County final day is one of the great days in the Irish sporting calendar. The Bridge will be hot favourites but having seen them today they are not unbeatable and as long as Peter Duggan and co fire at all cylinders then this Canon Hamilton may be no walk in the park for the O'Garney men as many people would think.

was thinking the same today about colin ryan , we really need him back in the clare fold he was excellent today

sixmilebridge have huge problems in the full back line and were readily exposed against an average enough forward line

i expect clooney to expose them in that area , clooney however are not as well drilled at the back as newmarket are and that might catch them out , bridge also looked light up the middle of there defense but the return of senda morey will change that

in defeat i taught both niall o'connor and colin guilfoyle had excellent games , o'connor played the full game despite picking up a broken hand injury in the last week or two

from the bridge point of view , i think shane golden offers a huge threat in the full forward line and was wasted somewhat out the field today , but great scoring for a team that played poorly by there own standards to score 3-17 and going long 10 minute periods in both half's shows how dangerous they can be , jamie shanahan had another excellent performance too

windy shepard henderson · 24-09-2017 11:22PM

Claregaafan18 wrote: »

Neil Moynihan has stepped down as Clare ladies football manager after 2 years in charge. Moynihan guided Clare to the All-Ireland Intermediate Football Final last year before losing to Kildare by just a point. This year they bowed out to Meath in the quarter-final stage of the same competition. The Galway man lost the services of dual star Niamh O'Dea to the Clare camogie side earlier in the year and by all accounts was known to be a robust operator and that not every player was happy with Moynihan's man-management.

The Clare Ladies Football board are now in the process of taking applications for the vacant manager's post.

yeah not surprising , he done good work but to be fair he lost some of his best players early this season , it wasnt a happy camp from the early stages of the league

while on the topic of ladies football , well done to mick bohan on his success today with the dublin ladies , mick left colm collins set up at the end of last year to take up the role fantastic achievement in his first year of management

letowski · 24-09-2017 11:32PM

Thought it was a good afternoons club action, high scoring. Newmarket had a good chance to win it, but the Bridge's experience saw them through. Newmarket were causing rack inside and they should have had at least one more goal, only for Fahy. They had two tall lads, Kelly inside and Guilfolyle and the 40 who played well but Paidi Fitzpatrick did well when put back into the full back line and helped things. One would think he will be on Duggan in the final given the heights of the guys!

Bridge are fairly well balanced, no stars but have good hurlers along each line. CQ will need to get a grip around midfield and get good ball into Peter Duggan if they are to have any chance as one would feel if the Bridge get a foothold in the game, they will hit a good score. One thing I will say about CQ is that they do have some good leaders in that dressing room like Lynch and Harrison who will die in their boots for a county medal, so I'm expecting them to go to war. Looking forward to the final anyway, as always.

windy shepard henderson · 25-09-2017 03:26AM

letowski wrote: »

Thought it was a good afternoons club action, high scoring. Newmarket had a good chance to win it, but the Bridge's experience saw them through. Newmarket were causing rack inside and they should have had at least one more goal, only for Fahy. They had two tall lads, Kelly inside and Guilfolyle and the 40 who played well but Paidi Fitzpatrick did well when put back into the full back line and helped things. One would think he will be on Duggan in the final given the heights of the guys!

Bridge are fairly well balanced, no stars but have good hurlers along each line. CQ will need to get a grip around midfield and get good ball into Peter Duggan if they are to have any chance as one would feel if the Bridge get a foothold in the game, they will hit a good score. One thing I will say about CQ is that they do have some good leaders in that dressing room like Lynch and Harrison who will die in their boots for a county medal, so I'm expecting them to go to war. Looking forward to the final anyway, as always.

the manager in fergie o'loughlan is also key here , he is the most underated coach in the county , won a county title with the magpies as coach 14 years ago big player in ballyea's underage development which led to last years sucesss and keeping kerry hurling alive behind the sceans

i swear by this guys coaching he is much better coach then his brother the sparrow i would not rule them out by a long shot momentum is everything i have no doubt they will be up for it

i know fergie since his clare 21s days he is a top. top coach lads he gets over looked far too ofton , his last year with his own club he nearly beat cratlloe on there way to the county championship , this year they nearly got relegated ,

as for players , connor harrison is a serious player to be fair , bruser is an excellent ball winner regardless how slow he is , the duggans are excellent hurlers cillian never gets the credit he deserves while ryan taylor would have made several county teams in the past , club player veterans like ,mike daffy and to call upon i am not so sure if the bridge are as stacked as everyone says they are , great final in prospect

windy shepard henderson · 25-09-2017 03:29AM

:)thanks lads for all the updates over the last few weeks was outside the county working ,made life alot easier for me i must admit

buck65 · 25-09-2017 09:53AM

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

Have to feel sorry for clonlara to be fair they have had some tough days since 2009 they have contributed so much to clare hurling over the last number of years they deserve more

Feel sorry for them? they should have a good hard look at themselves. Outfought again by an inferior team on paper that wanted it more. Ian Galvin tried hard and the subs they brought on were better.
Domhnal O Donovan should have got the line for a headbutt, Peter Duggan destroyed him , why he was left on the field was a mystery. Colin Galvin at centre back was completely out of the game. John Conlon was anonymous bar a great point.
Such a frustrating performance, Clooney were fantastic. The Bridge will earn it.

tatoo · 25-09-2017 10:24PM

Was at both semis, first of all well done to Clooney-Quin on reaching their first county final in over fifty years, from the throw in it was clear they wanted it much more than their rivals, Peter Duggan was literally head and shoulders above everyone else in Cusack Park on Saturday Evening, Clonlara stacked up very unusually and were unable to get their best players into the game, it has to be said that the positioning of Cathal O'Connell at full forward was strange.
Clooney dominated from the start and the favourites were always on the back foot , apart from a spell of dominance that brought them within a point with fibpve or six minutes left , had they drawn level it might have been a different story, but Duggan stepped up again , slotted over a free and restored Clooney's two point advantage.

Newmarket looked much the livelier and more direct through the first half against Sixmilebridge, they lead by four entering the first half injury time, which would have been a fair reflection of the half but credit to the Bridge they had a goal and a point bagged to go in level. Newmarket again made the running in the second half and goaled early from Colin Ryan, the momentum of the game then shifted as a result of a poor Reffing decision, what looked like a non-event or possibly a freeout when a SMB forward backed in to the NOF fullback was whistled as a penalty and the momentum shifted markedly to the Bridge, credit to Newmarket they again battled their way back and there was only a point in it entering injury time, a period that was largely wasted by the ref interviewing and booking SMB backs.

The bulk of neutrals will be behind Clooney in the final, but they are heavily reliant on Peter Duggan, and you would expect Paudie Fitzpatrick, who did a fine job when moved on to Newmarket dangerman Steven Kelly to curtail him somewhat, if not Shanaghan or Malone are options for the Bridge, and all things being considered it's hard to look past them.

opinionated3 · 26-09-2017 12:02AM

Anyone hearing rumours about betting irregularities over the weekend? Especially in connection to the first semi final? A few murmurings on Facebook this evening...

Claregaafan18 · 26-09-2017 07:26AM

opinionated3 wrote: »

Anyone hearing rumours about betting irregularities over the weekend? Especially in connection to the first semi final? A few murmurings on Facebook this evening...

I heard that too opinionated3. We have to be so careful about it though what is been said could be complete hearsay. If this stuff is true and remember it is just rumour and speculation at this stage though then it is fair to say the reputation of the Clare senior hurling championship is hugely damaged along with those involved in these alleged betting irregularities.

tatoo · 26-09-2017 10:09AM

I would say that those rumours are complete and utter rubbish.

letowski · 27-09-2017 08:16PM

Peter Duggan has been in serious form these last few months. Even during the intercounty championship there were strong calls for him to start prior to the Tipperary game where he excelled. Would like to see he push on next year for the county, he has some skill to go along with his size. Probably short a step in pace but it shouldnt hold him back from making an excellent county star given his sheer talent. Also a good freetaker too.

Stationmaster · 28-09-2017 11:23AM

Player of the club championship so far by a long way - he's in super form.

tatoo · 29-09-2017 02:04AM

That he is, but Sixmilebridge will still run away with the final.

Claregaafan18 · 30-09-2017 04:53PM

Cratloe 3-13 Ennistymon 1-10

An impressive 1st half from the 2013-14 Jack Daly champions seals a 9 point win for the South-East Clare men. Ennistymon were very poor at times but at least they did show a bit of fight and fought to the very end with Joe Dowling scoring 0-6.

As for Cratloe at times they showed good glimpses of them former selves. For me Cathal McInerney, Billy Connors and Conor McGrath were very good. McGrath looked very impressive in particular (the man seems to have so much time on the ball) and the evergreen John Galvin scored 2 points and put one of his better performances since switching to Cratloe a few years ago.

However at times they were opened up especially in the 2nd half and when the tempo slowed they ran into cul de sacs and conceded a few turnovers. I would like to see Cratloe do more kick passing and release the ball quicker as they have a very potent inside line. However they are into the semi-final and providing Podge is okay after coming off injured midway in the 1st half then no team would like to play the South-East Clare men in the last 4. Clondegad and Doonbeg will play in the last 1/4 final at 5 pm in Kilmihil today.

Meanwhile St Josephs Miltown defeated Kilmurry Ibrickane 2-13 to 0-12 to qualify for the Cusack Cup (Clare senior league) final. Both teams are still in the hunt for the Clare senior football championship. However this is still a very impressive win for Miltown and are probably the team to beat for Jack Daly ahead of Cratloe and Kilmurry Ibrickane. The Quilty men still have a second chance to qualify for the Cusack Cup final as they will take on Doonbeg in the play-off.

Claregaafan18 · 30-09-2017 06:33PM

A Late late goal by Gary Brennan for Clondegad seals a 1-11 to 0-11 win over Doonbeg in the Clare senior football championship quarter final replay. They join Cratloe, Kilmurry Ibrickane and St Josephs Miltown in the hat for the semi-final draw that will take place on Monday.

windy shepard henderson · 30-09-2017 07:28PM

Claregaafan18 wrote: »

A Late late goal by Gary Brennan for Clondegad seals a 1-11 to 0-11 win over Doonbeg in the Clare senior football championship quarter final replay. They join Cratloe, Kilmurry Ibrickane and St Josephs Miltown in the hat for the semi-final draw that will take place on Monday.

bizarre finish to the game to be fair , clondegad won a penalty in the 7th minute of added time after niall deasy was fouled in front of goal , brennan was instructed to kick a point with time up t win the game , the doonbeg keeper spotted this and charged down the penalty ( which is illegal for starters ) ball ricocheted into the net off the keeper

i imagine had he just let Brennan take his point the ref would have allowed one more play

clondegad were the better team though , and with the ballyea contingent taking it seriously they will be hard to stop , tony kelly and joe neylon after his introduction were excellent

cratloe were very good in the first half , compleatly took the foot off the gas for the last 15 minutes , colins didnt appear to be too happy about it either , podge only lasting 20 minutes has to be another huge worry for them too, they should be favorites with what they have but they look a long way of K.I.B and more importantly Miltown who look the best of the remaining 4

windy shepard henderson · 01-10-2017 07:38PM

kilmihil 1-15 kilrush 0-6

kilmihil started with a gale force wind at there back in the first half and made use of it leading by 1-12 to 0-2 at the break david egan with the goal half way through the first half

kilrush tried hard at the start of the second half but seemed to be over relent on garoid o'brien for scores , kilmihil played a possession game in the second half and tagged on a few late points to see out the game

today should be a wake up call for the shams as they are too big a club in my opinion to be where they are ,

while from a personal viewpoint i hope that's the last we see of kilmihil at intermediate level for a long time to come :pac:

https://twitter.com/DLynchSport/status/914552590217760769

windy shepard henderson · 02-10-2017 03:16AM

not to be rubbing it in but its not ofton we win anything ,, Glory kilmihil ,

:):) my flags are pinned to the mast lads sorry!!! , hard luck kilrush

(dont know why derrick lynch likes kilmihil ????)

https://twitter.com/DLynchSport/status/914619018052595712

Boots234 · 02-10-2017 10:32AM

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

kilmihil 1-15 kilrush 0-6

kilmihil started with a gale force wind at there back in the first half and made use of it leading by 1-12 to 0-2 at the break david egan with the goal half way through the first half

kilrush tried hard at the start of the second half but seemed to be over relent on garoid o'brien for scores , kilmihil played a possession game in the second half and tagged on a few late points to see out the game

today should be a wake up call for the shams as they are too big a club in my opinion to be where they are ,

while from a personal viewpoint i hope that's the last we see of kilmihil at intermediate level for a long time to come :pac:

https://twitter.com/DLynchSport/status/914552590217760769

Brilliant scenes. I think Derrick might like Kilmihil as he went to secondary school there.

Kilmihil were fantastic yesterday. Sometimes its hard to know whether to play with the wind or not but Kilmihil made full use of it in the first half and had built up a huge lead at half time. They played very well in the second half too and Kilrush never looked like coming back into it. Some of the points in the first half were brilliant scores especially the one where David Egan flicked it up to Ciaran Downes and he pointed it out by the wing. I wonder will some of the older lads retire now after this?

They have the winners of Tipperary/Limerick in the next round and have a very good chance there as they are a good team. Did they bring the cup into the Fiddlehead or Daly's? Declan's would have been the normal first choice place to go to

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