Clare GAA discussion thread

Ennistymon were better off not having Cratloe in the final they lost 2008 minor final to them

As well as losing to Cratloe in the 2009 and the 2011 u21 A finals

Maybe if they won one off them finals they'd have all the momentum going for senior honours bad enuf losing 1 u21A without losing 2 in a row but that was a serious cratloe side

TG4 in the park Sunday for Cratloe v Ballyea!

funnyname wrote: »

Excellent, Live or delayed?

Donegal football final live
Deferred coverage of cratloe ballyea

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

That was some bottle job by Cratloe. Fair play to ballyea but cratloe will be kicking themselves.

Had played a perfect 35 mins and then the wheels came off.

Playing with the wind in 2nd half a few points up look like they were going to win by a canter hit wide after wide 2nd half gave away easy frees bad puck out by the keeper buried in the net fair dues to ballyea never gave up....

Managements for respective Clare inter-county hurling and football teams have been announced for 2019

Senior hurlers: Donal Moloney and Gerry O'Connor for another year
Minor hurlers: Fergal Lynch. A surprise considering he has very little management experience. Does anyone know how he got the job?
U20 hurlers: I believe that John Carmody was expected to be ratified for the job tonight, but as of yet no confirmation was forthcoming as of yet.

Senior footballers: Colm Collins for his sixth year in the helm
U20 footballers: Seamus Clancy for his second year at the helm
Minor footballers: Dermot Coughlan. He guided both Kilmihil and Kilrush to back to back Clare intermediate football titles in 2017-18. Very shrewd appointment I feel.

Stationmaster wrote: »

Fergal Lynch actually has a good bit of coaching experience. Obviously he did a year or two under Davy after he finished hurling. He has been involved with the county U14's and has a few years done with one or two senior clubs in Galway. There are those who would see him as being close to the Fitz's though.

The last sentence you mentioned is deeply worrying though. That Pat Fitz has parachuted one of Davy's coaching ticket while he was in charge of Clare senior hurlers, is of major concern. It throws the whole process of appointing Clare inter-county hurling managers into disarray though. Why can't Pat Fitz stop interfering in the process for appointing Clare underage hurling management teams? Why didn't the Clare U15 manager, Brian Coffey get the gig after winning the Arrabawn Cup this year? PF did this with appointing Davy in 2012, for 5 years and with the minor management back between 2012-16, who were hopelessly out of their depth.

I wish Fergal Lynch all the best though. But already there is unwanted pressure, because as you said it stationmaster, he is close to Davy and Pat Fitz, who are not universally popular by any stretch of the imagination here in the Banner county and that's being kind to them. Fergal is one the toughest men when he played hurling for both club and county, which is why he was nicknamed "bruiser". He will need to show that toughness as a manager especially will all the naysayers out there feeling that this was some kind of stroke pulled off by Pat Fitz. I will give Fergal my full backing and hopefully he will be a success.

With the Clare county football final set to take place on Sunday, with the novel pairing between St Josephs Miltown and Ennistymon in Cusack Park on Sunday, I thought that I give a run down on how both teams match up, their styles of play and my verdict on how things will play out this Sunday.

The midfield battle between Oisin Looney and Conor Cleary, for Miltown and David Fitzgerald and Cathal Malone, for the Ennistymon men will be key to decide who will take home Jack Daly come 4:30 on Sunday evening. In the 1st half of the KIB v Ennistymon semi-final, most of the contested kick-outs were won by the Quilty men especially with their own. While Looney and Cleary completely bossed the midfield of Cratloe in the other semi and used a good mix of kick passing and running hard at the South-East Clare men and getting on the frontfoot. For Miltown, they could they put Darragh McDonagh in midfield (he is a natural midfielder) and put Cleary meandering around the edge of the square. But to me why change a winning formula and I suspect it will be the status quo for them.

For the North Clare magpies, I believe that a greater improvement will be needed in the scoring stakes. 2-6 they scored the last day and only scored 1-1 in the entire second half and did not score in the last 20 mins of the game. That will no where near be enough to win Jack Daly. While they play a very much a possession orientated game and with a lot of fist passing which has some benefits, if that breaks down it will be interesting how they get back in numbers to defend. I was most impressed by their work ethic and their defense was the main reason why they not KIB will march behind the band come 2:55 on Sunday afternoon. Lawrence Healy and Enda Ralph showed their years of experience, with outstanding performances on the defensive side. While in attack Joe Dowling was inspirational this season, but will need more support from his other attackers. Cian Shannon and Ross O'Doherty (if he's fit) and Sean McConigley, are all good players, but will need quicker delivery to use their pace and skill as the Miltown men will no doubt do their bit to defend in numbers, that is the strength of both teams.

For Miltown, as I said before they have a brilliant midfield. Their defense is exceptionally strong. They are very hard to break down. With Gordon Kelly marshaling his troops and showing great leadership, that is always a strong sign of a very solid spine of the team. He is ably supported by the likes of Enda O'Gorman and Aidan McGuane. In general they defend really well as a unit. From number 1 to 15 they do a very efficient job. In attack though, this is an area that has greatly improved, lead by the magician that is Eoin Cleary. In my opinion, he is the X factor and is Clare's best footballer at the moment. He has also improved his workrate off the ball too and can score from distance, something that very few Clare footballers can achieve. Kieran Malone, Eoin Curtin, the evergreen Kevin Keaney (who runs and runs and is a bundle of energy) and Cormac Murray really are match winners for the Miltown men. Of course Darragh McDonagh, playing in and around the edge of the D, has also given Miltown an attacking threat that they didn't have in recent times. Well managed and coached by Michael Neylon and his backroom team, they looked most impressive throughout the championship so far and are deserving favorites.

My verdict. Well I firmly believe the team that has the better scoring efficiency, will come out on top, come sunset on Sunday evening. With that in mind, I feel that Miltown are best placed to deliver a more complete 60 minute performance on Sunday. For Ennistymon they need to improve their scoring options, if they are to make a game of it. They cannot drop balls short to the goalkeeper or kicking bad wides from poor angles. To be fair to them they didn't get many scoring opportunities last time v KIB, which was why there wide count was quite low. As for Miltown just keep what they are doing. They are a very good outfit and I believe while the North Clare magpies will give their last drop for their club and their town, I feel that Miltown hold all the aces and I think that they will regain Jack Daly, that they last won in 2015. Best of luck to both teams and here's hoping to a very good game of football.