Feakle fully focused on sealing quarter-final spot & Clarecastle try to up game for derby tie with Éire Óg

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Oisin Casey tries to block Evan McMahon. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.

FEAKLE ARE keeping fully focused on the task at hand in order to qualify for the TUS Clare SHC quarter-finals.

With wins over Éire Óg and Clarecastle already under their belt, Feakle need to defeat Broadford this weekend to seal their place in the knockout stages.

Speaking to The Clare Echo following their 1-21 0-17 victory against Clarecastle, Feakle manager Ger Conway stated, “It’s great to have a second win but it doesn’t put us into any play offs yet. We have to face Broadford in two weeks time and we are still not qualified. We got some good scores in the second half but we struggled to get scores in the first half. We had a good share of wides but, yes, we got some good scores in the second half”.

He felt the input of East Clare hurlers on county panels is showing the influence the area is having on the game. “If you look at the underage Clare teams, the minors and the 20s, there was a good few East Clare lads on the teams for a change. For the past five or six years it seemed to be that the players were from the middle or back west in the county, it is changing and it’s probably down to the work that is being done in coaching at club level”.

Conway added, “It’s one game at a time. That’s the way we have started this year and that’s the way we want to continue and hopefully in two weeks time we will be in a quarter final”.

Clarecastle’s fate is still in their hands, if they can cause a massive upset by defeating Éire Óg and Broadford surprise Feakle then they will trump the Ennis side on head to head and avoid entering the relegation play off.

Eric Flynn, Clarecastle’s manager felt there was an improvement in their effort against Feakle. “There was a lot more commitment today. It ended up being seven points at the finish but it could have been tighter. We didn’t have too many wides and we were clinical enough with our efforts. It was a lot more honest out of our lads and maybe if we had brought that the last day it might have given us a different result. There will be a lot to play for the next day We haven’t played Éire Óg in a good few years. It will probably be on in the park, a bit of a derby alright.

“This game will bring our young players on. You would notice the physicality there today. Feakle are very conditioned, they are a lot further down the road than we are. They have a couple of big men and they have a lot of work done over the winter. They have a few years on our lads. Our lads are young, a work in progress,” he emphasised.