*Darren O’Brien. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
HAVING witnessed Clonlara finally break their fifteen year championship-winning hoodoo last October, Éire Óg are undoubtedly next up when it comes to claiming overdue dividends in the race for the Canon Hamilton.
After all, the Ennis side have consistently reached the business end of the county senior championship for last eight successive seasons, a record that no other team in the county can match.
Indeed, amidst three semi-final appearances in a row, they were only a whisker away from bridging a seemingly interminable 22 year gap in the 2022 decider against Ballyea.
However, while the Townies have consistently knocked at the door, a team doesn’t always get what they deserve according to vastly experienced manager Gerry O’Connor. “I’m around long enough now to know that sport has no conscience and every year is a new year so this year is all about this set-up and this group of players. In fairness to Matt [Shannon], he did a fantastic job for the last four or five years and we’re just trying to carry on the work that he did”.
The season has certainly commenced on a winning note when powering to the Division 2 League honours in commanding fashion. “I think we played nine games in the round-robin stages and qualified for a Division 2 Final but to be honest that was the first time that we had a settled team and were missing only a few inter-county players whereas in the past, we could be without six or seven county players for the duration.
“For the younger players that came in from minor in the last year or two, it probably showed that there was a reward for hard work but ultimately for us it was a series of challenge matches, that’s really the way we looked at the league as it was purely about experimenting and blooding new players”.
The experimentation is certainly over now anyway as embroiled in a cut-throat super group involving the last two county champions Clonlara and Ballyea along with 2017 finalists Clooney-Quin, there is little or no room for error as only two teams will prevail. “It’s a huge group but I suppose all four teams are in the same boat in that they all have a sprinkling of inter-county players. Outside of that, you may have been a bit complacent starting the championship in other years when you might have expected to easily come out of a group but this is so competitive that every minute of every game will count.
“I mean you often hear people talking about the closeness of the Clare championship saying that anyone in the group could win the championship and equally anyone could be in the relegation battle but definitely there won’t be any complacency when you see the teams that are in our group. From that point of view, we’ve been very focused since the draw has been made that we absolutely have to be at our maximum performance levels on Saturday evening,” O’Connor told The Clare Echo.
First opponent Clooney/Quin’s resurgence is centred around a conveyor belt of young talent that have soared to prominence alongside experienced county seniors Peter Duggan and Ryan Taylor to make them genuine contenders once more. “We played Clooney-Quin two years ago at the group stage and they were a formidable opposition then when Tommy Corbett was involved and their young players were starting to come through. You look at the huge influx of underage inter-county talent that they’ve brought through with the likes of Jack O’Neill, Evan Maxted and John Cahill gaining serious inter-county experience in the past few years.
“In particular, we’ve all been watching Jack O’Neill for the last few years and he’s certainly going to take watching as are obviously Peter Duggan and Ryan Taylor so we’re going to have to perform to the maximum of our ability on Saturday evening and hope that it’s enough to get us across the line,” he concluded.
Management: Gerry O’Connor (Manager); Ronan Keane, Liam Cronin, John Russell, (Coaches/Selectors); Owen Tarrant (S&C)
Captain: David Reidy
Key Player: Shane O’Donnell
One to Watch: Luca Cleary
Fresh Blood: Marco Cleary, Robert Loftus, Luke Malice, David McNamara, Eoin O’Regan, James O’Dwyer, Conor Perrill, Sam Power, Darragh Stack
Departures Gate: Mikey Moloney, Cian O’Dea, Dara Walsh (abroad)
Treatment Table: None
Titles Won: 15 (Ennis Dalcassians 1890, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1924, 1928, 1929, 1934, 1941; Éire Óg 1956, 1957, 1966, 1980, 1982, 1990)
Last season’s run: Narrowly edged out by eventual champions Clonlara at last eight stage following back-to-back group wins over Broadford and Clarecastle.
Schedule
Round 1 – v Clooney-Quin at Cusack Park, Saturday 5pm
Round 2 – v Clonlara (Weekend of August 23rd-25th)
Round 3 – v Ballyea (Weekend of September 6-8th)
