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*Crusheen goalkeeper, Donal Tuohy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
A FIRST relegation fight since 2021 awaits Crusheen who expect “a different struggle”.
Back then the fight was in the boardroom when a successful appeal was made to the Munster Council by Crusheen GAA after they and Clarecastle were relegated but their case got them over the line as Clare GAA made a blunder over the use of scoring difference for final standings in the round robin relegation series.
Now it’s O’Callaghans Mills who were ironically part of that relegation battle five years ago that Crusheen must overcome to seal their senior status. The sides face off in Dr Daly Park, Tulla at 13:00 on Saturday.
“We are facing a battle now in relegation and there will be stiff opposition. It’s the same whether it be a quarter final or semi-final, we will be going out to win, win your own ball and do the best you can for the team. It will be a different struggle,” manager Gerry O’Grady told The Clare Echo.
Losing by thirteen points to Scariff in round three where they conceded 1-9 without reply in the final quarter has left Crusheen in the relegation semi-finals.
“The championship is unpredictable. We had it down to two but we didn’t score in that last quarter. Fair play to Scariff, they drove on and they took the opportunity”.
O’Grady continued, “their defence scrambled back a few times and managed to keep Breffni (Horner) out. They defended against Breffni well which is what you have to do to keep him out. The difference was the flurry of scores in the middle of the second half after we had it back to two”.
While agreeing that “the loss of Ross Hayes was huge he said “they were missing Patrick Ryan, a very good player. We managed to keep Breffni (Horner) around for this one but he is booked on a flight back to Australia so we won’t have him next day out. We have a few lads in the dressing room and we will have to assess their injuries”.
