*Colm O’Brien. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
IT’s only two years since St Breckans contested the county final but their standing as championship contenders is not as strong as recent years.
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St Breckans Fact File
Management: Patrick O’Neill (manager), Aidan Fitzgerald (selector), Cathal Blood (selector), John McDonagh (selector), Killian Malone (coach), Fiona Kennedy (physio)
Captain: Maccon Byrne
Key player: Jamie Stack
One to watch: Ronan Fitzpatrick
Fresh blood: N/A
Departures Gate: Joe McGann (emigrated), Dale Masterson (transferred)
Treatment table: Cian Burke (ankle)
Titles won: 0
Last year’s run: Knocked out in the quarter-finals by rivals Ennistymon
Schedule of games:
Round One vs Wolfe Tones on Saturday July 19th in Cusack Park at 17:00
Round Two vs Kilmurry Ibrickane on Friday August 1st in Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay 19:00
Round Three vs St Joseph’s Miltown on Sunday August 17th in Cusack Park at 14:00
Championship power ranking (1=weak/unlikely winners, 10=strong contenders): 5
Ever since winning promotion from the intermediate grade in 2019, St Breckan’s have qualified for the last five Clare SFC quarter-finals, reaching the last four on three occasions.
However the breakdown of Group 3 poses the risk that they may struggle to get to the knockout stages, the absence of lively forward Joe McGann and midfielder Dale Masterson, both of whom possess inter-county experience hurts their cause while Cian Burke continues his recovery from an ankle injury.
Their most recent outing, the Garry Cup final where they lost 1-20 0-17 to Kilrush Shamrocks has waned confidence of their supporters. “We got caught a bit on the hop by Kilrush, they were fit and strong, they are a good team and we couldn’t match them physically, we’ve done a good bit of work since but they were the better team,” admitted selector Aidan Fitzgerald.
He is part of Patrick O’Neill’s ticket, he succeeded Declan O’Keeffe as manager at the beginning of the year with Kilfenora native Killian Malone on board as the side’s coach. “It’s been good, the lads have rowed in behind what we’re trying to do, we’re very happy with the panel we have,” Aidan said of their reception to date.
Previously, Aidan and Pat worked together to steer the club to win the U13B title, work has also been done underage by fellow selectors Cathal Blood and John McDonagh.
Jack Sheedy who had been abroad for chunks of last season “is back and he more than likely will feature, we’re a small club and we need everyone,” Fitzgerald stated.
Both Jamie Stack and Tristan O’Callaghan have returned from a brief holiday in America following Clare’s elimination in the All-Ireland SFC but Fitzgerald hinted that they may not be featuring from the off. “They are eligible to play but they’re only off the plane so they wouldn’t be up to speed for senior championship”.
McGann’s loss is a blow to their attack and entire team, Aidan noted. “We’re going to take every game as it comes, take Joe McGann out of any team and you will suffer, we’ll give it our best shot”.
Captain of the side when they contested the county final, Cian Burke is set to return later in the campaign, he underwent an operation for an ankle injury which meant he was out of the plans for Peter Keane and Clare this season. “He has had his ankle operation and his recovery is going on schedule, we hope to have him back for the latter end of the group or the knockout stages”.
“There is no easy group when it comes to senior championship, we are hoping to do well and progress but we’ll take every game as it comes. The only game we’re focused on for now is Wolfe Tones, they are going to be a big physical team, they will be a massive test for us, we’ll give it our best and by 6:30pm on Saturday evening we’ll know how we’re set,” he concluded.
