*Clarecastle goalkeeper, Cian Broderick. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
CLARECASTLE are closing in on a decade since they reached the knockout stages of the Clare SHC and with growing experience in their ranks they are quietly confident of causing an upset to get back to the quarter-finals.
Having flirted with relegation in the past two seasons, Clarecastle don’t want to be in that situation again and they know that a winning start to this campaign will take away a bit of pressure.
According to team manager Eric Flynn relegation is a word they don’t mention. “The focus is on our first game. We have a young squad which contains a lot of teenagers. Other teams are further down the line with the development of their squads”, he said last week when looking ahead to their opening game this week against Broadford.
Clare’s All-Ireland winning midfielder from 1997 Colin Lynch, twice an All star, is the team coach with Colin Higgins and Kieran McDermott as selectors while the experienced Trevor Slattery is the team’s S&C coach.
Of course they want to get out of the group and get into the knock out stage of the competition but the total focus is on Saturday’s clash with Broadford. “Clarecastle is a very proud club and we aree proud of our history. We are conscious we are going through a drought, we haven’t won a championship since 2005, that’s seventeen years without a championship,” Flynn who was part of the 2005 side stated.
He added, “this is a different generation which included a lot of not traditional village names. A lot of new families are coming to live in the area and we are trying to develop these lads and hopefully they will win a championship for us. The game has changed a lot”.
Clarecastle remain competitive at underage level, he flagged. “There is a lot being done at underage level, we won the Féile this year and we have a reasonable minor squad, we are competitive. We want all our teams to be competing”.
Experience gained by players at adult level for the club is likely to benefit them in the coming seasons.
That said, the Magpies go into the race for the Canon Hamilton without former county man Bobby Duggan who has emigrated and is now based in Canada. Corner back Marc McAuliffe has also left the country and is now living in London.
They will be without a couple of players for the earlier rounds as they are in the U.S. for the summer and these include Killian McDermott who was one of their key performers in the Clare Cup.
Patrick Kelly and Stephen O’Halloran, both of whom spent time with the Clare senior team in recent years, are two of the team’s more experienced players and followers will be looking to this duo to provide leadership.
Gearoid Ryan, Cian Galvin, Cian Broderick and Darragh Healy are others that the Magpies will be looking to for leadership this week as they seek a winning start for the 2023 campaign.
Oisin Whelan, Oisin Casey and the Brack brothers are others who are expected to be in the line up while James Doherty, a talented teenager, is expected to play a part.
Despite a bright start to the Clare Cup, the Magpies ended up finishing in mid table in Division 1B. Their supporters are confident that the experience gained in the league will help them make a winning start to their championship campaign this week.
Clarecastle
Management: Eric Flynn (Manager); Colin Lynch (coach). Colin Higgins, Kieran McDermott (selectors), Trevor Slattery (S and C) Bernie Regan (Physio) Ken Hickey (stats) James McMahon (kitman)
Captain: Colin Brigdale
Vice captain: David Tuohy
Key Player: Stephen O’Halloran
One to Watch: Oisin Whelan
Fresh Blood: Conor Griffin, Fionn Morgan, Oisin Whelan, Lee and Josh Brack, Sam Browne, Cian Donnelly, Filip Wiechcinski
Departure Gate: Bobby Duggan (Canada), Marc McAuliffe (London) Kevin Hartigan (transferred)
Titles won: 12
Last season’s run: Finished bottom of their group, defeated Whitegate in relegation play-off.
Schedule:
Round 1 v Broadford
Round 2 v Feakle
Round 3 v Éire Óg
