*Jack Sheedy under pressure from Oisin Looney. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
ST JOSEPH’S Miltown and St Breckans clash in “a huge game” this Sunday where the winner secures a quarter-final place in the TUS Clare SFC.
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Both sides have defeated Wolfe Tones but have also lost to Kilmurry Ibrickane which means The Bricks claim top spot in Group 3 and the Shannon side have a relegation battle looming.
Sunday’s winner advances straight to the quarter-finals with the loser in the preliminary quarter-final. The game throws-in at 14:00 in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg.
It will be their fourth meeting in five years with the recent history favourable to the men from Doolin, Kilshanny and Lisdoonvarna who have prevailed in their last three encounters. Miltown are hoping to overcome the Spa in championship for the first time since 2017.
Goals have had a big bearing on these recent results with St Breckans scoring three each in their 2021 quarter-final and 2022 round three wins over St Joseph’s while it took extra time to separate them in the 2023 semi-final.
Martin Guerin is hoping to guide Miltown back to the quarter-finals for the second year in a row.
He told The Clare Echo they will need to work harder for what is a very big game. “It’s a huge game, it’s in the Park, we watched them in round two, they’re pretty good, against Kilmurry they pushed them all the way and they never gave up, they never stopped, they have good scorers, we’re just going to have to work a little bit harder maybe on tagging their runners and cutting down their main shooters, but look it, it’s going to be a battle, it’s who wants it most, they say kickouts are huge, but there is so much breaking ball now that is probably deciding games really now at this stage”.
St Breckans manager, Patrick O’Neill maintained they had to perform for the full hour to defeat their West Clare opponents. “It is winner take all really, Miltown have some serious forwards so they’ll take some handling but we need to put in a sixty minute game, you can’t win the big games with a thirty or forty minute performance, that’s what killed us in round two”.
Cian Burke who lined out with Clare’s footballers in 2024 and captained the club to reach the 2023 county final will not be back from injury for the game, O’Neill confirmed. “It is very unlikely that Cian will be ready, if we were lucky enough to get into the latter stages I think that’s our only hope, Cian is very unlikely to be back”.
