*Cratloe’s Diarmuid Ryan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
CRATLOE’s hurlers know Sunday’s second round is an “all or nothing” game.
Two of the counties senior dual clubs face off in Cusack Park at 1pm with both Cratloe and Corofin looking to record their first wins of the senior championship.
Clare SHC winning wing back John O’Gorman is in his second year as Cratloe manager. He said their opening round loss to Feakle has them on the backfoot. “Everyone is out to get off to a good start in the group so this defeat means that we are now on the backfoot straight away. I thought as the second half progressed that we had got ourselves back in contention as we got their lead back to a point entering the last ten minutes but unfortunately we just didn’t push on”.
On the Feakle challenge, he continued, “They’re a tough team to play against. They have some big, physical men that are well able to win primary possession and then lay it off to Shane McGrath or players like that coming through the middle. They picked off some nice points that just kept them ticking away ahead of us”.
Losing both Eoin Carey and Podge Collins to hamstring injuries was a big blow to their cause, he felt. “Injuries hit us too. It was an awful pity for Eoin [Carey]. I mean his senior debut was only minutes old when he had to go off and we also lost Podge [Collins] later in the half too so it was disruptive as you want to be able to make the changes when you want, not having to constantly react to injuries.
“It’s all or nothing now against Corofin the next day as if you don’t win that, you’re facing towards a potential relegation battle. They are in the same boat so we just have to knuckle down now over the next two weeks, see what we can learn from this game and just throw everything at Corofin,” O’Gorman told The Clare Echo.
