*Paddy Meehan (far right). Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
BROADFORD winning their first round in the Clare SHC, an East Clare derby matched any of the victories Paddy Meehan enjoyed with his native Sixmilebridge.
Meehan is in his first season in charge of Broadford and they began their TUS Clare SHC with a 2-17 0-19 victory against O’Callaghans Mills.
In 2002, he was manager when Sixmilebridge were crowned Clare SHC champions and had a long stint as Chairperson of the club, overseeing several of their successes on and off the field, including the commencement of work of their Indoor Arena.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Meehan commented of his involvement with Broadford, “I absolutely love it. I’ve been with Broadford for the U21s for the last couple of years, they are as honest a bunch of people as you will find, there is a fantastic community spirit and you would love being involved with them, that is the bottom line, to win today is as good as winning anytime with The Bridge”.
Reflecting on their clash with the Mills, he said, “We absolutely got a tough East Clare battle, I suppose we got a few breaks and the team that was going to get the breaks would be the team to come out on top, we got the breaks and we got great scores. To take one man in the second half, I think Eoghan Gunning was outstanding, he came out with some unbelievable ball when needed. We saw him in the county minor and it said enough, he is a great lad, great to work and great to train”.
“We did (start well) but the Mills kept coming back, I think there was only a point in it at half time but in the second half we got to four points and I think we started to kick on from there, the Mills kept coming back at us, the penalty was the deciding factor,” he added.
Between them, Niall O’Farrell and Stiofan McMahon contributed 2-7 of their tally. “They are two outstanding players, Niall has done it with the Clare U20s and Stiofan has been a county player over the years, his pace is electrifying and it was well worth bringing him back from Canada, we’re thrilled with them”.
Scariff await in round two for Broadford and they are determined to back up their opening round win. “At the start of the year our goal is to get to the quarter-final and see who we get, we’ve one step made”.
