*Crusheen defender, Diarmuid Mullins. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill CRUSHEEN’s remarkable run to a first county senior decider in nine years last October is almost worthy of a book in itself.
*Clonlara’s Micheál O’Loughlin. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill HAVING taken fifteen years to finally nail down a merited Canon Hamilton sequel, Clonlara can be forgiven for not wanting to let it go without an almighty fight.
*David Conroy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill. AS St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield enter their crucial sophomore season at senior level, new manager Oisin O’Brien doesn’t have to look too far for inspiration.
*Caimin Morey. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill HAVING unquestionably proved themselves to be the team of the last decade with five senior hurling titles in just eight years maximising what has been Sixmilebridge’s most fruitful generation.
*Cormac Murphy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill BLOOD may be thicker than water but the villages of O’Callaghan’s Mills and Broadford are thankful that the lakes of Lough Gar and Doon Lough separate them as their East Clare derby rivalry is elevated to unprecedented heights in Clonlara this Friday evening (7.30pm).
*Kildysart’s Kieran O’Brien. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill HAVING been constantly told that they were a senior team in everything but actuality during their arduous intermediate hoodoo of four heartbreaking final defeats in six years, it must have seemed as if a weight was lifted off Kildysart’s shoulders last year when soaring in their top flight return …
Kildysart seeking to back up 2023 in order to move forward Read More »
*Colm O’Brien. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill WITH only one victory under their belts in 2024 and that an ultimately fruitless last-ditch attempt to stave off relegation from the Cusack Cup, St Breckan’s will inevitably have a greater emphasis on this Friday’s opening senior championship tie more than most.
*James Curran. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill IF St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield were floated on the stock market, they would arguably be on every stockbrokers’ radar right now.
*Paul Flanagan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill ONE irritating stigma that has consistently been thrown at Clare nationally over the past decade is that this team peaked in 2013 and were almost lucky to claim that crown as they failed to back it up ever since.
*Shane O’Donnell. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill THE WHEEL turns full circle for Shane O’Donnell this Sunday when eleven years after his indelible All-Ireland Final debut as a carefree teenager, he faces the same opponents at the same stage in an almost eerie decider rematch against the Rebels once more.
