*St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield’s Fionn Kelleher & Diarmuid O’Donnell of Kildysart in action. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
KILDYSART, St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield and Cratloe enter the third round of the TUS Clare SFC vying to claim the last two quarter-final spots on offer in Group 1.
The Clare Echo’s online coverage of the TUS Clare SFC is with thanks to The Shannon Springs Hotel.
Three teams emerge from Group 1 to the quarter-finals, Éire Óg with successive wins have sealed their spot in the knockout stages. They play Kildysart in Páirc Finne, Corofin at 6pm on Saturday with Clarecastle hosting the clash of Cratloe and St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield at the same time.
Cratloe with one win under their belts will qualify if they lose and Éire Óg win, a win or a draw will be enough for the 2023 champions to progress regardless. Should they lose and Kildysart upset Éire Óg then Colm Collins’ men will find themselves in the relegation battle.
Both Kildysart and St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield must win to advance, they are on a point each following their first round draw. If they both lose in round three then scoring difference will determine which of them makes the quarter-finals. Should they both draw, scoring difference will also be needed, a draw will suffice for Doora/Barefield if Kildysart lose and vice versa.
As it stands on scoring difference, Kildysart are -4 while Doora/Barefield are -10.
Donagh Vaughan, Doora/Barefield manager noted there is nothing between the three teams still battling to progress. “As I said from day one, Kildysart, Cratloe and Doora/Barefield there isn’t a kick of a ball between us, we are very close, so we go again for Cratloe, we’ve to get our heads right, get back training, try improve on some of our defensive stuff, there was some good passages in that game so we’ll just go again”.
Reflecting on their 4-12 0-14 loss to Éire Óg, he said, “We’re very disappointed, I thought we played well in some patches of the game but ultimately goals win games and we conceded four, the goal in the first half Manus’ goal was a super goal but I think the other three we will be looking back on the video and saying how did we concede them, we wouldn’t be happy with them”.
Vaughan continued, “We were the architects of our downfall at times, we brought the ball into contact when we shouldn’t have, we got stripped quite a lot , Éire Óg were very strong in the tackle, any them they stripped us whether it was a bad handpass or if we lost the ball in possession they seemed to get a score out of it and a lot of them were green flags which is where the game was won and lost really”.
He was confident the defeat would not hinder them in lifting spirits and felt Paddy Bugler kicking three two pointers was a big plus for them, “Paddy is having a great year, he’s been very accurate with his frees, we’ve to get more shooters and get a few more lads to put the ball over the bar for us”.
Cratloe manager, Colm Collins has confirmed they will not be able to call on Cathal McInerney for the game. “Cathal won’t be playing the next day, we’d be hoping if we can get to the quarter-final that that would be the target for him to be back”.
Maurice Walsh is in charge of Kildysart but is a proud Éire Óg clubman. “I’ve done it before, I came up against them with Doora/Barefield two years ago, we scared the life out of them, they’re great lads, they have a multitude of talent be it on the field or the bench, they are able to change things and the only team to be Éire Óg will be Éire Óg,” he said.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Maurice noted it was all to play for. “Éire Óg are a class act with class players, we’ll do our best, we’ll compete and see where we are when it ends up. Doora/Barefield have to play Cratloe in the final round and three come out of the group so it is still up for grabs but we’ll see where we are”.
Jamie Moylan’s major was the defining score in their 1-13 0-12 defeat to Cratloe in round two. “We just came out the wrong side of it, I reckoned whoever was going to get a goal was going to win the game, we had four or five chances of goals between the first and second half, Cratloe had one and took it, that was the difference between the teams, we won an awful lot of possession we just didn’t get enough scores on the board, that is what happens”.
“We were unlucky, we played to a system and the system was working for us, we took our scores when we had them, we were unlucky not to get a goal at a crucial time with about ten minutes to go we had a great chance of a goal but it was saved on the line, Cratloe did what they do best, they played to the final whistle and they did that, they got the goal in the last minute. You can’t ask more from the dressing room, a lot of teams would look at our players and wish they were playing for them. They are doing this week in week out in training and when it comes to the match, just unfortunately we didn’t get enough scores on the board and we didn’t get a goal when we should have, it’s our own fault,” he added.
Éire Óg manager, Shane Daniels stressed the importance of the champions qualifying for the knockout stages at the earliest opportunity. “When you’re a dual club it is very important to qualify for your quarter-finals as quickly as you can, those lads have to tune in every week between hurling and football which is tough so the fact we’ve qualified with a game to goal helps”.
Scoring goals has been a big factor in the Townies killing off teams so far in the Clare SFC. “Our game plan was to keep our shape, try mind the ball and if we got a chance to break to try and break, we did it sometimes but other times we were poor, we’ve loads to work on”.
Colm Walsh O’Loghlen has been a key player for them in their title defence with 2-9 in two games. “Colm has worked really hard, he was with the county all year, he didn’t manage to make the matchday squad and I think he has a real point to prove, his focus is to show everyone that he should at least be making the twenty six next year”.
Giving his views on Colm’s surprise omission from Peter Keane’s Clare matchday squad all season despite being on the panel, Shane commented, “I’m going to be biased towards every Éire Óg player and say every Éire Óg player should be getting a run, Colm is a phenomenal player, he was one of the players of the championship this year and at the moment he is one of the players of the championship so far, I’ll leave it up to the Clare management they probably know more than me”.
