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Daire Keane and Jathan McMahon compete for possession. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
QUARTER-FINAL pairings have been made for the TUS Clare senior hurling championship along with the relegation semi-final draw.
Following the conclusion of the group stages, the last eight standing are known with table-toppers Inagh/Kilnamona, Éire Óg, Clooney/Quin and Kilmaley all seeded to face teams that finished second in their respective groups.
Champions Éire Óg will face fellow town side Wolfe Tones. The sides met in the group stages last year when Éire Óg ran out 1-26 1-12 winners.
Kilmaley who have three wins from three have been handed a tricky tie against 2023 winners Clonlara. Their last encounter in the Clare SHC was in 2021 when it finished 0-21 1-18, the draw not enough to keep Clonlara in the championship but a result which saw Kilmaley advance to the quarter-finals.
Inagh/Kilnamona who claimed the top spot in Group 1 are to face off with Cratloe who had Cathal Lohan to thank for scoring a last-minute equaliser on Saturday to send them through to the knockout stages. Both sides reached the last four in 2024, they were due to face off in the Senior B semi-final of 2023 but Cratloe gave a walkover. They last met in the Clare SHC in the quarter-finals in 2021 when Inagh/Kilnamona prevailed 1-22 0-21. Ironically that was Eugene Cullinan’s first season as Inamona manager when they also emerged from a ‘Group of Death’ before reaching the county final.
Beaten finalists last season Clooney/Quin have gone unbeaten in the group stages and are to play Scariff who sealed their progression via scoring difference when putting on a big display in Dr Daly Park on Sunday. This will be a repeat of the 2023 quarter-final when it took extra time for Scariff to finish as 3-19 1-22 victors, a similarly tight battle is on the cards.
Big relegation battles also await. Clare PIHC holders O’Callaghans Mills are to play Crusheen while it is a repeat of last year’s relegation semi-final with St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield and Newmarket-on-Fergus locking horns once again.
Clare SHC quarter-finals:
Éire Óg vs Wolfe Tones
Clooney/Quin vs Scariff
Inagh/Kilnamona vs Cratloe
Kilmaley vs Clonlara
Clare SHC relegation semi-finals:
O’Callaghans Mills vs Crusheen
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield vs Newmarket-on-Fergus
