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*St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield defender Ian Williams. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
COROFIN and St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield will line out in the hurling final that nobody wants to be in when they fight for senior survival.
The Clare Echo’s online coverage of the Clare SHC is with thanks to The Temple Gate Hotel.
Dr Daly Park in Tulla hosts the TUS Clare SHC relegation final on Sunday at 13:00 where the prize for the victor is to remain in the top tier for 2026 while the loser will be lining out in the Clare Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship (PIHC) next season.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Corofin manager Liam Donoghue noted, “this is a game no one wants to be in”.
They lost out to Scariff in the relegation semi-final losing on a score of 3-20 0-13. It was a game described by Donoghue as “a no show from us and it’s hugely disappointing, it was our worst performance of the year. We made too many basic mistakes. We probably gave them 3-4 or 3-5 from just turnovers, soft frees. All credit to Scariff, they took their chances but our performance was hugely disappointing”.
Both Marc O’Loughlin and Conor Leen missed the tie through injury with Corofin supporters hopeful they could play a part on Sunday. “We hurled for five minutes at the start of the second half and we went out like a light again. We needed a performance today and we didn’t deliver so that is on us. that’s most disappointing”.
Without a win in their four championship outings thus far, Corofin can have no complaints with where they are, the former Galway goalkeeper said. “This is where we are and we deserve to be where we are with just one point from three games before today. It’s our responsibility to get a performance the next day. We have to draw on the experience of last year. We have to perform now and that’s it”.
Performance wise, St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield are in a better place heading into the relegation final having been unlucky to lose to Newmarket-on-Fergus by a single point a fortnight ago.
Manager Damien Kennedy told The Clare Echo, “we don’t deserve to go down but these games are totally different to what goes on in the group stage. You are fighting for your life to stay up, from a Doora/Barefield perspective we have to stay up from a development point of view, we’re so young but we are improving. We have to stay up, it’s as simple as that”.
Relegation games “take on a life of their own,” the former Doora/Barefield corner forward said. “It is a totally new championship match”.
Reflecting on their loss to Newmarket-on-Fergus, he said, “We thought we hurled really really well for thirty minutes, It’s a mistake and the goal was conceded before half time and they pushed it out to six points. In reality it should have been maximum two or three points. We came out in the second half and the lads fought hard. Things didn’t go for us and that happens and we made mistakes, we conceded long range frees and you can’t do that when you have lads like Guilfoyle capable of putting the ball over from 70 yards into the breeze We thought we would get something from it, its desperately disappointing. We had to park it after the Bridge game and we did and we bounced back. We have to do that again now and we will”.
