*Sean Doyle. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
Sean Doyle has confirmed to The Clare Echo that he will not be seeking another term as manager of the Clare U20 hurlers.
The Bodyke man has completed three years in the role prior to which he was the minor manager for two years.
During his time as minor manager, Doyle guided Clare to the Munster final and All-Ireland quarter-final in 2017 losing out by seventeen and nine points respectively to Cork and Galway having recorded wins over Waterford and Limerick.
A final round defeat to Limerick ended his last season in charge of the minors with the Treaty County firing four of the last five points to claim a 1-21 2-17 win and take a provincial final appearance and see Clare finish bottom of the five Munster counties.
At U20 level, Clare were defeated in the 2019 semi-final versus Cork 0-24 0-15 while last year a positive first half came undone with Tipperary recording a 1-19 0-12 quarter-final win in Thurles.
This year, Clare’s U20 hurlers recorded their first championship win since 2015 when they accounted for Kerry on a score of 2-20 0-15. In the semi-finals, Limerick proved too strong with thirteen points between them and the Banner County at the final whistle. Mark Rodgers was unavailable for this year’s championship as he lined out with the senior panel, a new ruling prohibited from featuring for both panels while fellow attacker Shane Meehan missed out through injury.
Doyle has recently informed the County Board of his decision not to seek another term and he has also informed the members of his outgoing backroom team which included Jim McInerney (Tulla), Evan Kilroy (Gort), Val Murnane (Caherline), Ger Rodgers (Scariff), Niall Gilligan (Sixmilebridge) and Jamie Fitzgibbon (Crusheen).
Meanwhile, while no announcement has been made yet, The Clare Echo understands that the outgoing senior (Colm Collins),U20 (Michael Neylon) and minor (Dermot Coughlan) football managers have indicated to the board that they are willing to continue in these roles for 2022.
