*Broadford’s Cathal Chaplin. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
A RESOUNDING defeat may have ended Broadford’s senior hurling campaign for 2024 but on reflecting the overall year they are upbeat.
Heading into the final round of the group stages, a draw would have resulted in Broadford advancing to the quarter-finals but instead they suffered a fourteen point loss at the hands of Inagh/Kilnamona to end their run.
Looking back on the game, Broadford coach Ger Hickey said, “At the start of the game, Inagh-Kilnamona got a run on us really and went five up but I felt for the last twenty minutes of the first half we played the better hurling and only went in down a point. So at half-time we felt that we were in a really good position, the mood was good and we had a bit of a wind to come at our backs but they [Inagh-Kilnamona] just shot out of the blocks in the second half.
“We had put a huge amount of work just to get back into the game and we didn’t probably want half-time to come we were hurling so well. So that goal just after the break really sucked the life out of us as suddenly we were down four which then became five. What we needed at that stage was a big score to give us a chance and we just didn’t get that. We had chances of points and two opportunities at getting a goal but it just didn’t come,” he added.
Hickey told The Clare Echo, “Look, with ten minutes to go, we were still only five points behind before they ran in a couple of late goals so the score definitely didn’t reflect the game and do our effort justice but at the same time, at this level they punished us when they got the opportunities and that’s something that we have to learn from”.
Missed chances were costly, he acknowledged. “Overall, I think we missed in the region of 2-10 and dropped four more short and obviously the introduction of Aidan McCarthy was a huge boost for Inagh-Kilnamona and with us being without our talisman Stiofan McMahon, it was a big momentum swing”.
Overall, he was adamant strides were made by Broadford in 2024. “Look, while this is a tough pill to swallow, the bottom line is that we have only been beaten once in the championship and once in the Clare Cup. In twelve competitive matches we’ve only lost two all year so aside from this result and scoreline, we would be really happy with the progress of a lot of our lads so it’s definitely glass half full and not empty for Broadford in 2024”.
