Online Club Hurling Championship coverage brought to you by the Temple Gate Hotel—home to Chapter 24 Gastropub and Gate 96 Restaurant.
*Cian Mulqueen. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
HAVING missed out on the quarter-finals by the narrowest of margins in the last two years, Broadford know there will be little room for error as another demanding championship campaign awaits.
For the second time in three seasons, Broadford were drawn in the same group as local rivals Scariff. The East Clare derby takes place this Friday in O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge, a familiar stomping ground for their manager Paddy Meehan.
“It’s a local derby so it takes on a life of its own, we played them a few years ago and we were probably seven or eight points up at half-time and didn’t hold on. We held on until about the sixty-first minute when they got a goal to draw the game. With the two Rodgers’ they’ve a formidable forward line, they’ve a very strong half-forward line with Keelan Hartigan, he’s a major player and playing really well at the moment. They’re strong all over the place, they were beaten in the Clare Cup final and that went to extra-time and could have went either way. There’s no doubt about it they’ll be seen as contenders,” he told The Clare Echo.
Looking at the other sides they’ll come up against in the campaign, Meehan stated that the current county champions Éire Óg will be the standard bearers in their group. “Éire Óg were really worthy county champions last year, they’re playing Crusheen in the first round and if they get a head start in that they’ll be very hard to beat. If you can’t stop them, they’ll definitely be one of the contenders that will come out for a quarter-final so there’s only one place left then for three teams.”
“Over the last two years we’ve had tough years in the group. In my first year we played Scariff and got a draw, then it was Inagh/Kilnamona and we played well for forty minutes but their bigger panel was a major factor. Last year then we played Clooney/Quin and possibly left it behind us, they got a goal late on again, against Corofin we played really well for the second half but didn’t play at all in the first half. Inagh/Kilnamona we played reasonably good, we were up two points at half-time but their panel and county players made all the difference,” he added.
If they had got over the line against Inagh/Kilnamona in the closing round last year, they would have advanced to the knockout stages for the first time since 2020. “As you know, if you’re within a hair’s breadth of getting to a quarter-final you’re also within a hair’s breadth of a relegation battle. If you get a result in that first game it makes life that bit easier, but a loss is putting you under massive pressure. We’ll have everything possible done for the Scariff game and see where it takes us”.
Just a week out from the beginning of the championship, Broadford suffered a major blow with their captain Paurig Taylor picking up a broken hand in training last Wednesday evening. “The teams with the bigger panels seem to be causing the smaller clubs all the problems, and that’s a major factor for Broadford. We’re tight on numbers. Last year the injuries seemed to have fallen away, this year we seem to have injuries again and with Broadford when you can’t pick your strongest team you’re not in the best place. Our captain Paurig Taylor is out now and won’t make any of the championship rounds,” Meehan said.
Following his exploits in attack during last year’s club championship, where he shot the lights out scoring 4-30 across just three games, Niall O’Farrell earned a call-up to the Clare senior panel. The 22-year-old adapted seamlessly to an unfamiliar defensive role, establishing himself as one of Clare’s most consistent performers. “Niall is a forward all his life, he’d never played in the backs until Brian Lohan decided he wanted a half-back or a centre-back. There’s no doubt about it that he played very well and was one of their most consistent players all through the season. The dilemma for us is whether we play him at six or play him at eleven, that’s debatable now. We gave him two weeks off, so we saw him Wednesday night for training and he’ll be fresh hopefully”.
Broadford Factfile:
Management: Paddy Meehan (manager), Ger Hickey (coach), Ian Doyle (coach), PJ Moroney (selector), Martin Conlon (S&C)
Captain: Paurig Taylor
Key Player: Niall O’Farrell
One to Watch: Cormac Gunning
Fresh Blood: Cormac Gunning, Daniel Greene
Departures Gate: Cathal Chaplin (regraded), Craig Chaplin (regraded), Oisin Kavanagh (regraded), Cian O’Brien (regraded)
Treatment Table: Paurig Taylor (hand)
Titles won: None
Last season’s run: Failed to qualify from the group
Schedule of games:
Round 1 vs Scariff on Friday July 24th in O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge at 19:00
Round 2 vs Crusheen on Sunday August 9th in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg at 14:00
Round 3 vs Éire Óg on Sunday August 23rd in Shannon at 13:00
Championship power ranking (1 = unlikely winners, 10 = strong contenders): 5
