Online Club Hurling Championship coverage brought to you by the Temple Gate Hotel—home to Chapter 24 Gastropub and Gate 96 Restaurant.
*Patrick Ryan forms part of a very strong Scariff attack. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
HAVING reached the Clare Cup final earlier this year, Scariff enter the championship with renewed confidence after surviving a difficult campaign last season.
Scariff have enjoyed a positive season to date, advancing all the way to the Clare Cup final before being edged out by O’Callaghan’s Mills after extra-time on a scoreline of 3-26 to 1-23.
Manager Donal Moloney has been pleased with their steady progress, despite the disappointment of missing out on silverware. “We’d to use a lot of players in the Clare Cup because of long-term injuries at that time and it gave a lot of guys a lot of exposure. They fought their way through very well and we were disappointed to lose the final in extra-time, but overall we’re very happy with how the lads have played this year. It’s been really positive”.
Heading into the championship, the East Clare outfit have been boosted by the return of defender Daniel Treacy, who was unavailable for last year’s campaign while in Australia. They begin with a local derby clash against Broadford this coming Friday. “Scariff against Broadford has always got a rich history, we met two years ago, and it was a tremendous battle. We fought back to get a draw, there’s never much between us and I don’t expect any different come Friday evening,” he told The Clare Echo.
“We’ll be well tested after Broadford, we’re looking forward to the games against both Éire Óg and Crusheen as well. The thing in Clare hurling is while Éire Óg are the champions, they know there’s very little between a lot of the teams. That makes the championship so competitive, and I’d say it’s largely unique in a lot of the hurling counties at the moment that of the sixteen teams, you’d probably have twelve or fourteen of them with genuine aspirations of winning the Canon Hamilton,” Moloney said.
Following runs to the semi-finals and quarter-finals in successive seasons, Scariff found themselves in a relegation battle last year after failing to win a game until their relegation playoff victory over Corofin, which ensured they maintained their senior status for a sixth consecutive season. “The championship’s so competitive, you can lose on any given day, if you come out the wrong side of maybe a one or two-point scoreline, then you’re in trouble and struggling to get out of the group. That was very much the case for us last year and we ended up in the relegation playoff. That’s the nature of hurling, that’s the nature of the Clare championship, that’s how competitive it is. There are no guarantees for anyone, if you progress you’ve to earn it. Every game is crucial, that’s the reality of it”.
When looking at the Scariff team, two names that immediately jump off the page are Mark Rodgers and, in his maiden season at senior level, Paul Rodgers, who is set to line out alongside his older brother in club colours for the first time. “Mark’s a great clubman, and so is Paul and we’re glad to have them in Scariff but there’s lads that have put their hands up outside of the Rodgers. They’re just very much a part of the team, they add a lot to it but they’re very much part of it. They’re humble guys and they play for the team and work for the team, that’s a great sign of them. We’re delighted that Mark made the recovery that he did after the incident in Thurles, and we’re very proud of the fact that Paul played so well with the county U20s. We’ve lots of other guys that will be taking the weight off them”.
Scariff Factfile:
Management: Donal Moloney (Manager), Conor McNamara (coach), Michael Long (selector), Ross Horan (coach/selector), Ger Rodgers (coaches/selectors), Padraig Brody (selector), Mikey Kiely (S&C), Ciara Magill (physio), Adrian Whelan (physio), Kieran Jones (Analysis), Shane Moroney (Logistics)
Captain: Mark Rodgers
Key Player: Mark Rodgers
One to Watch: Paul Rodgers
Fresh Blood: Paul Rodgers, Michael Vaughan, Luke Madden, Daniel Treacy
Departures Gate: Sean Hartigan (regraded), Jack Ryan (regraded), Sean Minogue (regraded), Rory Ryan (regraded), Seamus McCaul (regraded)
Treatment Table: None
Titles won: 5 (1907, 1917, 1946, 1952, 1953)
Last season’s run: Failed to qualify from the group, defeated Corofin in relegation semi-final.
Schedule of games:
Round 1 vs Broadford on Friday July 24th in O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge at 19:00
Round 2 vs Éire Óg on Saturday August 8th in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg at 16:00
Round 3 vs Crusheen on Sunday August 23rd in Dr Daly Park, Tulla at 13:00
Championship power ranking (1 = unlikely winners, 10 = strong contenders): 7
