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*Éire Óg’s Liam Corry is watched by teammate Shane O’Donnell. Photograph: Ruthie Griffin.
DESPITE securing their place in the semi-finals of the Clare SHC with a seventeen point win, Éire Óg still have “an awful lot to work on”.
Canon Hamilton holders Éire Óg continued their title defence with a fourth win in succession, the latest seeing them dismantle Wolfe Tones 3-25 1-14 in the quarter-finals.
Level at half-time, the Townies produced an extremely clinical second-half display, outscoring their opponents 3-14 to 0-6 to set up an enthralling final-four encounter with Inagh/Kilnamona.
Manager Gerry O’Connor told The Clare Echo, “We’d be happy with the second half. We certainly weren’t happy with a lot of that first half, to be fair to Wolfe Tones they made a real battle of that first half. It wasn’t as if we were missing chances or anything like that, they just brought a savage physicality and ferocity to the game”.
Liam Corry’s input in the half-back line was hailed by O’Connor. “We were really struggling with both the Lohans to be fair, particularly Daithí in the half-forward line. He was really good as an outlet. Liam Corry had a massive influence on the game in the second half, he batted down a huge amount of ball, the ball that he was batting down, we were getting in on the break and winning possession off that. Several of our goals came from Corry batting down ball into the middle-third”.
Nineteen-year-old Marco Cleary was instrumental in Éire Óg’s second-half surge, completing his hat-trick with two goals coming inside the opening ten minutes of the half. “Marco had been threatening to do something like he did today for quite a while. He had a superb second half and he took his goals well. Having said that, he probably got equally as much ball in the first half but probably didn’t convert as much as we’d liked him to have done”.
Despite the seventeen-point win, the former Clare joint senior hurling manager felt his side still have plenty to work on ahead of their semi-final clash with fellow unbeaten outfit Inagh/Kilnamona. “Overall, we’d be very happy with the level of our performance in the second half. We’ve an awful lot to work on in regards to how we played in the first half. I’d also be disappointed by the fact that we hit an awful lot of balls wide on the right post, when it was very evident that the wind was going across to the other side of the field, so we’ve lots to work on”.
O’Connor also offered credit to Wolfe Tones for their spirited showing despite a number of setbacks in terms of player availability. “Wolfe Tones were also really struck between suspensions and injuries. They were really struggling, and any club will struggle with suspensions or injuries,” he said.
The further Éire Óg progress, the more talk of a potential back-to-back title success will intensify. However, O’Connor insists they feel no added pressure if they’re deemed to be carrying the favourites tag. “We are well used of it at this stage, that’s hurling at the end of the day really. As far as we’re concerned, we’re in a semi-final now, it’s game five for us and we charge on”.
