*Éire Óg’s Darren O’Brien. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
ÉIRE Óg are lucky to still be in the Clare senior hurling championship but both they and Broadford are eagerly awaiting the all-important final round in two weeks.
They managed to secure a one point win against Broadford in the second round of Group 4 of the TUS Clare SHC on Sunday evening in Dr Daly Park, Tulla with Gavin Cooney landing the decisive score in their 1-17 2-13 victory.
It was the second of the East Clare clashes for the Ennis side who lost out to Feakle in the opening round. Their results to date mean that the final round will decide who advances to the quarter-finals in Group 4, they face Clarecastle with Feakle taking on Broadford.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Éire Óg selector Ronan Cooney lamented the missed chances they failed to take but admitted they are very fortunate to not have been eliminated from the championship.
Cooney said, “We had loads of chances in the third quarter to put the game away. We went five up at one stage and it felt like Broadford were hanging in there and hanging in there. Next thing they got the goal and they got a couple of breaks and really if the truth be told it was a lucky result in the end to nip out with a one point win”.
He continued, “We are delighted with the result. The focus is on football now for next week against Miltown and then we will turn out attention to our game with Clarecastle which is a local derby”.
Broadford boss Jimmy Browne felt their lack of big-game experience was a factor. “We certainly came here today with absolute focus on getting a victory. We knew we had the hurlers, we knew we had the work ethic, we had the work done. Maybe a little bit of inexperience today cost us when we had a few chances in the second half”.
For Sunday’s tie, the TUS Vice President was on the opposite side to Gerry O’Connor, Browne had been selector and O’Connor joint manager on the Clare U21 sides that tasted unprecedented All-Ireland and Munster glory from 2012 to 2014.
Clonlara native Jimmy and the Broadford panel are now switching attention to their final round outing against Feakle. “The focus now switches to our game with Feakle and we will prepare for that as we have done for the games to date. This is an interesting group and there is a lot to play for yet”.
