*Mark McInerney. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
PLENTY OF spice surrounds Clare’s derby with Limerick in the fifth round of the Allianz National Football League.
A third successive win for Clare’s footballers would push them towards the top half of the table and reignite hopes of promotion. On the other end of the scale, a victory would starve off any relegation worries.
For Limerick, their third round win over a then unbeaten Wexford was followed by a three point loss to Sligo last weekend which also leaves them in must-win territory.
Hamstring injuries are likely to leave Clare without midfielder Darragh Bohannon and captain Cillian Rouine for the second week running. Defender Fionn Kelleher is closer to a return to action, he was also sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Similar to Kelleher, midfielder Seán McAllister is edging back into contention, the Clondegad clubman has been unavailable for selection for the most of the year but partook in the warm-up prior to Sunday’s win against Laois. The amount of hamstring injuries within the panel is a concern, more than five footballers have been sidelined with such knocks in the past month.
Mark McInerney is a doubt but is expected to feature in Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale on Saturday evening. “We had to take Mark McInerney off, he took a knock early, he tried to run it off but he couldn’t,” Clare manager Paul Madden said of his clubmate’s potential involvement.
Madden confirmed a decision on Bohannon, Rouine and Kelleher would not be made until later this week. “It’s in the hands of the medical team. Hamstring injuries generally don’t recover too well, Connor Meaney in his first full game did very well and carried ball, he is a good player, he played last year too so it is not like we’re bringing a novice in but any novices we do bring in tends to do well”.
A tough test is on the cards this weekend regardless of who takes to the field, the Ennis man outlined. “We’ll be going to Limerick as a local derby and we know exactly what we’re going to get, they are playing well, they are three years there as a management team so they’ve been working hard, it is going to be a tough game and it is always is when you go to Ratkheale whether it is a club or inter-county match, it is a tough place to go but I’m much happier going there with four points than no points”.
Within the Limerick camp are men with plenty of intel on Clare football. Quilty’s Evan Talty is in his second season as skill acquisition coach with Limerick, the nine-time Clare SFC winner was coach of the Anthony Cunningham managed St Brigid’s who lost out in an entertaining All-Ireland club final last month.
Labasheeda’s Dylan Kenny is also part of the Limerick set-up. The Shannon Gaels footballer is their strength and conditioning coach and has previously worked with the Clare senior footballers. So too has Limerick’s head coach, Micheál Cahill, the Mungret man was Clare’s S&C coach in 2012, 2013 and 2023.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Talty’s Kilmurry Ibrickane clubmate Dermot Coughlan who is Clare’s vice captain admitted the involvement added an extra element of spice to proceedings. “We’re the best of friends when we’re at club level but we’re down there to do a job and he will be the same with Limerick, they won’t fear us and we certainly can’t fear them either, we’ll both be going to try get two points on the board”.
Elsewhere in Division 3 this week, table-toppers Down face a winless Fermanagh in Newry on Saturday evening, Laois will be looking to bounce back from their disappointment in losing to Clare when they face second place Westmeath in Portlaoise while the only Sunday fixture sees Wexford host Sligo, the two sides that Clare have yet to play.
