Eoin Cleary has his jersey tugged by Ciaran Morrissey. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
EOIN CLEARY is expected to see some action as St Joseph’s Miltown bid to book a quarter-final spot in the Clare SFC for the first time since 2021.
Cleary who has confirmed he will not be part of the Clare senior football squad next year has been sidelined for the past thirteen weeks with osteitis pubis.
Miltown manager, Martin Guerin told The Clare Echo that the two-time All Star nominee is firmly part of their plans for Sunday’s showdown with Clondegad. “Hopefully we will have him back for some part of the next game, he’s working away and we’ll hopefully get twenty minutes out of him the next day”.
For the fifteen champions, a win against Clondegad seals their passage to the quarter-finals. A defeat would give second spot to Clondegad if Éire Óg overcome Doonbeg, such an outcome would see Miltown claim third place and put them in the play off with the third placed team in group 3 for the last quarter final spot leaving Doonbeg to contest the relegation play off.
Analysing their eight point loss to Éire Óg, Guerin stated, “we just didn’t show up, we were very poor and we didn’t lay a hand on them, we allowed them to dictate the pace of the game and we gave them six points from turnovers, when that happens it is very hard to catch them”.
He continued, “We didn’t put enough tackles, we didn’t hit them hard enough, if you give them a headstart like that it is very hard to catch them, they are very good at keeping ball. We had a few young lads that got game time and that started, it was a good experience for them but we just have to knuckle down now and it is all down to the last game, if we win that we’re through”.
Clondegad manager, Dermot Gavin is fully aware their destiny lies in their own hands as a victory sees them advance to the quarter-finals. “A team on three points takes away the whole scoring difference side of it, the first day would have hurt us on that, it’s better this way for us but Doonbeg are still alive and kicking, they might not be overly happy that they have the county champions to come but it is all to play for”.
Having started off with an eleven point loss to the county champions, the Ballynacally club bounced back to secure a draw with Doonbeg in the second round, thanks to a late effort from teenager Fiachra Kirby who was also joined on the field by his twin Cian. “The two of them were playing today, they are exciting young lads, they’re only nineteen with big futures in front of them, they are fitting in well, they are exciting to watch, it’s about us trying to get the most out of them and as a team to capitalise on that”.
On beginning their run against Éire Óg, the manager said, “It was very daunting the first day to have to go and face the two time champions, it was a big ask but we didn’t play the way we wanted to play and we have to take it on the chin and move on, the lads did and today we came ready for battle”.
Producing a performance in their second outing was a lift for Dermot and the management.
“It was always going to be a battle, Doonbeg are a typical championship team, they are hard, abrasive and make it difficult for anyone they are playing against, we knew that from the first day that we had to pick ourselves up and in fairness we got a performance, we maybe didn’t show it on the scoreboard but we fought back tough and hard to get a draw which keeps us in it”.
“We worked our gameplan really well in the first half, in this conditions playing against the breeze can be easier than trying to make use of it, it can be really tricky to get the maximum from it, we found that a number of balls which wouldn’t normally go wide from delivery did. We’re happy enough but we have to brush up on a few bits and pieces and be ready for the next day but it is still in our hands which is the big thing,” he added.
Shooting will have been the big focus ahead of their third round tie with Miltown. “I’d rather we had the battling qualities than shot efficiency, getting the draw the way we did was pleasing, we can work on our shooting, we were creating a lot of chances but maybe we didn’t take the right chances a lot of the time, our bench proved to be strong, we got three or four points from the bench”.
