*Éire Óg manager, Matt Shannon. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
Éire Óg’s do or die football clash with Doonbeg on Saturday (tomorrow) will also be an anxious hour for the club’s senior hurling team.
Manager of the Ennis club’s hurling outfit, Matt Shannon admitted that keeping their dual-players free from injuries is proving to be a struggle. “There is a big football game next week and it’s a must win situation. There are a lot of dual players and it’s key to keep them fit which is very hard. We are doing the best we can. We have had a bad run of injuries up to now but hopefully we might get a good run over the next few weeks”.
Following their first round loss to Newmarket-on-Fergus, Shannon felt the side regrouped and this was demonstrated in their seven point win against Clooney/Quin. This plus the return of action for both David Reidy and Aaron Fitzgerald was a major lift for Éire Óg.
“There are aspects we did improve on but conceding three goals means there is plenty of work to do before the next round. There were some anxious moments. Just before half time we were in the ascendancy but we gave away a soft goal but we regrouped and we got on top again in the third quarter. The positive was that every time we gave away a goal we responded. There were times in the past when we mightn’t have done that,” the Corofin native outlined.
