Clare GAA Discussion part 2
Dolan done well at short notice last year with the mills to save their season,
Lots of stories coming out of Wolfe tones lately, I wouldn't read too much into it
This type of stuff happens a lot of teams when they find themselves in relegation trouble with a few weeks to prepare for a play off ,
But there's no doubt up to now Wolfe tones have been way below par
Surely Corofin will get a rematch, Ennistymon player took two bounces in the play leading up to the goal.
The referee calls it on the day. If there wasn't a call made, the goal will stand.
Interesting draw in the hurling. The big one does seem to be Clonlara v Eire Og and there is a hint of the 'if not now,when' for both clubs. Clonlara seem to be on abit of a mission this year like Eire Og were last year. Both clubs won't like to hear this but both are terrible when there's a degree of expectation around them . Makes for a fascinating game. Eire Og child sneak it but then they ll probably lose to an underdog next day out. The dark horse is Feakle , a good draw. Kilmaley are no great shakes . Outside of them 3 I don't see a winner..Newmarket probably don't have the squad but they still play the most stylish hurling in the county...they remain the Tipperary of Clare but without the top top players.
Newmarket play the most stylish hurling?? You obviously don't watch club hurling in Clare.
Well iv only seen 3 games this year and some of it was turgid stuff. Clonlara play good hurling... The likes of Ballyea are dire to watch.
6 games on Clare Gaa TV this weekend, so with the Clonlara vs Eire Óg game on TG4 that's 7 games which is great
Saturday
Wolfe tones vs Doora Barefield - Relagation
Feakle vs Kilmaley
Scariff vs Clooney
Sunday
Clarecastle vs the mills - Relegation
Newmarket vs Crusheen
Tulla vs Whitegat - Intermediate
Clonlara vs Eire Óg - TG4
Who'd be expecting to be relegated?
Is it as cut-and-dry as Doora Barefield and Clarecastle surely going down?
I've a feeling Barefield will beat Wolfe Tones. Hard to see anything other than a Mills win in the other one.
proper excitement building up to the 1/4 finals this week , the championship so far has been a little like the rugby world cup group stage where you cant wait for it to end and the real stuff to begin
Feakle v Kilmaley
really close game this both teams have great weapons in the scoring stakes , gearoid o'grady and daire keane for kilmaley can be brilliant on their day but given the nature of the defensive system they are about to face you cant imagine that they will struggle against the likes of adam hogan or oisin clune or con smyth , if they are to get over the line big games are required for the two mikey's , o malley and o'neill ,
in truth this game will come down to discipline and free taking , shane mcgrath will probably miss nothing so the kilmaley backs cant afford to give too much away , i done a 4 team Acca at the weekend this game didnt enter the bet as its too close to call , the head seas feakle the heart says my neighbours
Scariff v clooney/quin
some tie this could be , the future of clare hurling embedded in both teams , mark rodgers , the two crottys patrick ryan , keelan hartigan and diarmuid nash have all been top class for the east clare men , willie kavanagh outside of eamon foudy has been the best club keeper of the championship so its hard to separate them with a team that possesses the likes of peter duggan , john coneeley , jack o'neill , jimmy corry john cahill or evan maxted
clooney will probably stack up the county panel with a number of these players in the next few years but the nod goes to scariff , in fact they have a huge chance over all in wining it out , ignore the kilmaley defeat they were through already ,clooney's only defeat was hampered by some terrible referring by john bugler but they wont become propper contenders until ryan taylor returns , scariff for me
Clonlara v Eire Og
clon have been the best team in the championship this year , and the emergence of the younger lads like the mcmahon brothers or the two o loughlins have made a huge difference this year , the performances of john conlon in particular back in the half forward line has being a driving force this year too
eire og have all th eingredients of a munster challenge let alone a clare challenge with the likes of shane o'donnell , oisin cahill , david reidy and arron fitz in the ranks but question marks still hang over the set up and the group they struggled to come out of was th eweakest of the 4
clonlara got a scare against the mills in day one but have looked the business since , i expect them to win
Newmarket v Crusheen
the forecast for the weekend is proper crusheen weather , but all signs point to a newmarket win and a serious challenge for a first county championship in 11 years
enna crimmins ,mikey mcinerney and peter power have been outstanding this year for the blues ,throw in the experience of colin ryan , enda barrett and the two guilfoyles its hard to see crusheen stay with them
crusheen were excellent in their win over the mills who beat sixmilebridge and lost narrowly to clonlara , only a repeat performance will be good enough here
relegation
St Josephs D/B v Wolfe tones
its hard to look past the parrish here with all the stuff going on in shannon at the moment , the loss of conor dolan is huge in its self , from electric picnics to giving athenry a walk over in a preparation challenge match to lads favoring football its a total mess , on paper shannon should be in the last 8, barefield looked the more competitive in the group stage with out either side picking up a win , barefield for me
O'C Mills v Clarecastle
the clare cup champions should never be in this mess , had rocky cooneys shot being an inch lower v clonlara in week 1 , the mills would probably be in the last 8 now ,they are a solid staddy side with bags of experience , a fine win over sixmilebridge tha last day out and a good year over all bar the crusheen game it looks like only one outcome here
if clarecastle do go down the penny might finally drop for one of the best clubs in the county and what lies ahead for the next ten years , if they use it the right way they can return to where they once were ,but a long patient transition is needed in the club, mills for me here
Barefield
Scariff
O'C Mills
Clonlara
is the 12/1 acca this weekend i am going for
Interesting. 3 underdog bets out of 4 matches. Might follow you on that for the fun of it.
Feckin scariff won in extra time, I hope you didn't 🙈😂
Actually forgot about it come midday!
Good picking so far (albeit a draw for Scariff)
great day of hurling in fairness, to be fair to scariff they are a fine side but clooney have a fine team on the way up and looked the better team for most of it today , a bit like the rugby tonight it was a messy game but loads of excitement rodgers carried them over the line with 3-12 out of 3-19 joe canning stuff
we were building the guy up at u15 level on here , he's a fantastic hurler and a humble lad as well,
clooney put john coneeley on him today , when rodgers drifted out to the 40 he got no joy off him but don serious damage inside , coneeley is my replacement for john conlon when he retires the 6
feakle are scariffs biggest threat in my opinion because of adam hogan, today he put in some show against kilmaley ,feakle dont lake guts , defenders or big men , but they lack a few scoring options up front but have enough to stop a team especially if that team is your next door neighbour , id fancy scariff against clonlara/eire og or newmarket/crusheen any day of the week
conor dolan was on the line for shannon today , we get a lot of mixed messages about them up here in kilmihil , there is a bit of a duel in the intermediate championship in football at the moment and we heard all these stories,
the one takeaway from newmarket today is they were not fit , even the inter county players were not , they didnt start playing until the last 10 or 15 minutes and even that seemed half hearted , somthing is not right in shannon at the moment and today showed , davey conry was class for barefield
Shannon and Clarecastle down to intermediate. 2 of the largest clubs in the county with some of the best facilities in the middle of their parish.
How does the referee decide whether the pitch is playable or not ? Looks like there are actually puddles on the Cusack Park pitch.
I know it's the same for both teams so all fair from that perspective, but hardly a great spectacle.....
Puddles splashing with each step in parts. Very soupy looking.
Good win for Crusheen, beating NOF 3-7 to 1-7. They join Feakle and Scariff in the semi finals.
Clonlara leading Eire Og at half time, 1-6 to 0-7.
It's all wide open really.
Clonlara getting a well deserved win in the end, 1-14 to 0-14. John Conlon was excellent, scored 5 points.
what a colossus Conlan is, the amount of work he got through was just incredible, 3 points scored under vey trying conditions and under huge pressure from defenders
impossible to call an outright winner now but I would say Scariff and Clonlara are the better hurling teams but that wont necessarily win you anything
conlon is some warrior in fairness , you would love to see clonlara win it out now just for him alone , going to be a very intresting draw tomorrow evening
does Conlon have a county medal ?
(in other words was he playing back in 2008 for Clonlara seniors?)
yeah he played in 2008 , but deserves another one i think
Was Mattie Shannon on the sideline today for Eire Og? Who was wearing the banisteoir bib for the townies today? Clonlara's workrate this year has been one of the talking points this year's county championship. Fighting for every ball and playing for the jersey has been a huge part of their wins to date this campaign. Fair play to the Clonlara manager Donal Madden who has got the best out of the South East Clare men so far.
In what could be his swansong year for the banner county next year, isn't it great to see John Conlon in such inspired form for Clonlara. One of Clare's greats and an gentleman to boot. As for the townies I feel the lack of quality ball to Shane O'Donnell was a huge source of frustration for the Eire Og supporters and team. Oran Cahill did not look 100% right and him and Shane O Donnell were reportedly struggling with injury in the lead up to today's game at a rain drenched Park.
Breffni Horner should be on Brian Lohan's radar after a quality performance both on and off the ball for Crusheen in their deserved 6 point win over Newmarket on Fergus. Ross Hayes a towering figure and the evergreen Cian Dillon along with Gerry O'Grady and Fergal Kennedy proving that age is no barrier for the Crusheen warriors.
In the intermediate championship today Corofin ran out 5 point winners over Smith O Briens. The Ruan v Parteen game was called off due to the poor weather. But to me the real winners to come out of this weekend's club championships were Tulla. A brilliant total of 4-20 in monsoon conditions v Whitegate, an 18 point win for the men of the windswept hills. They have leapfrogged Corofin as favorites to return to senior club hurling for 2024 imo.
O Callaghans Mills were 3 point winners over Clarecastle in the relegation play-off. But not for the first time, referee Joe Mullins made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Some very dubious calls made by the Clonlara official throughout the game which particularly incensed the magpies. Very surprised that Mullins continues to get big championship games, he is a poor ref.
Thoughts now turn to next weekend's football. Can St Breckans continue their progression and seal a place in the county football final against a resurgent Miltown St Joseph's team who will have Eoin Cleary back after his cameo from off the bench against Kildysart. Or will the scars of today leave the defending Jack Daly champions Eire Og in a bit bother against a battle hardened Cratloe team lead by the brilliant Cathal McInerney.
not sure who was on the line , shannon was there though, clonlara have a fine balance of experience and youth , they deserve it on their performances this year , but nothing set in stone yet
horner was always a promising player , i always expected him to at least make a provisional squad for the munster league at least , but they are a tough side crusheen on their day they can be as good as anyone , probably age and lack of consistency is against them
a great win for tulla for sure very impressive that win makes them favorites now , bodyke were looking good up to yesterday , an argument knocking around all year that a lot of that bridge side should be playing senior
as regards the ref in the clarecastle game , for as long as you leave the game up to the referees interpretation the worse it is for the gaa , i didn't see the game today but are their two referees the same in the county , some referees let everything go others are whistle happy , there is no consistency at the moment and its from dublin the directive needs to be shown , instead of passing the buck down
Interloper from Wexford here again.
A question I meant to ask a few weeks back when looking at your Senior Hurling tables in connection with the Sixmilebridge thing - why were there 17 teams in your championship this year?
Is it still some sort of 'hangover' from Covid? (In Wexford, we normally have 12 teams in senior, but there was no relegation in one of the Covid years, so we ended up with 13 teams in the championship the following year). Or is there some other reason?
Ronan Cooney was on the line, he's a selector, I would have thought if Matt Shannon wasn't available that Gerry O'Connor would have been there considering his expierence. Shannon is involved with Corofin as well so might have been double jobbing.
Bringing on Cian O'Dea wasn't a great look by Eire Og.
There was no one relegated last year due to an objection lodged, so two were relegated this year.
Probably 12 teams would be enough for senior, but there wouldn't be much apatite to vote for it so will probably stay at 16 for the foreseeable future.
Brendan Bugler and Tommy Corbett are joining the Clare management ticket for 2024
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