*Jamie Fitzgibbon and Caimin Morey compete for the ball. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
CRUSHEEN HAVE qualified for the quarter-finals of the Clare senior hurling championship and Sixmilebridge have been eliminated from the race for the Canon Hamilton.
Chairman of Clare GAA, Kieran Keating has confirmed to The Clare Echo that their competition regulations were updated this year to fall in line with Croke Park guidelines. He said if the update was not agreed then the rulings in Clare would have contradicted the official rulebook.
This has meant that in the scenario where more than two teams are level on points at the conclusion of the group stages and scoring difference is to be used, it is the scoring difference from the games involving the teams that are level on points and not all games from the entire group.
Based on scoring difference of all games in Group 2 of the TUS Clare SHC, Sixmilebridge finished in second (-3), Crusheen were in third (-4) and O’Callaghans Mills (-8) were in fourth spot.
However, the picture changes when each club’s outings against Clonlara are removed from the equation with Crusheen moving to second (+5), Sixmilebridge (+2) into third and the Mills staying in fourth (-7).
Keating confirmed to The Clare Echo that there is no avenue for Sixmilebridge to make an appeal.
Crusheen’s second round 3-16 0-16 win over O’Callaghans Mills largely proved to be their saving despite losing the first and final round of Group 2. For the Bridge, their final round loss to neighbours O’Callaghans Mills has been detrimental to their aspirations and sees them now enter the Senior B competition.
