*Michael Nash of St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
FOR AN emerging St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield side looking to climb the rungs of the senior hurling championship ladder in what is only their third season back in the top flight, they don’t have to look very far for championship winning experience.
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St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield Factfile
Management: Damien Kennedy (Manager); Damien Ryan (Coach); Sean Duggan, Sean Flynn, Tommy Lee (Selectors); Eimhin Hennessy (S&C): Cathal O’Sullivan (Physio); Sean Conroy (Kit Man)
Joint-Captains: David Conroy, Jarlath Colleran
Key Player: David Conroy
One to Watch: Darragh Ball
Fresh Blood: Darragh Ball, Joe Mannion, Shane Mescall, Micheál Ó Coileáin, Thomas O’Connor
Departure Gate: Cian Barron (abroad), Tom Hannan (abroad); Jack Hannan (Transferred), Alan O’Neill.
Treatment Table: Eoin Lahiffe (Shoulder);
Titles Won: 5 (1954, 1958, 1998, 1999, 2001)
Last season’s run: Finished bottom of their group but defeated Corofin in relegation semi-final
Schedule of games:
Round 1 v Crusheen on Saturday July 26th in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chiosóg Ennis at 16:00
Round 2 v Clonlara on Saturday August 9th in O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge at 17:00
Round 3 v Sixmilebridge on Saturday August 23rd in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chiosóg Ennis at 17:00
Championship power ranking: (1=weak/unlikely winners, 10=strong contenders): 4
After all, not only have all three group opponents Clonlara, Crusheen and Sixmilebridge lifted the Canon Hamilton trophy in the last 14 years but have even contested a final since 2023 to boot. It doesn’t come much tougher than that outlines new manager Damien Kennedy.
“We’re under no illusions with the difficulty of the group we’re in. I mean Clonlara won it two years ago and Crusheen and Sixmilebridge have played in the last two finals so there are no hiding places in this group. But we’re no different from any other club in that the focus is solely on the first game against Crusheen and we’re not looking past that because we can’t afford to”.
They will have their hands full with a Crusheen side that still have a third of their 2010 and ’11 title winning sides leading the way while they also had ten points to spare over the Parish in last year’s group decider. “We’re up against a Crusheen team that to be fair are seasoned and a real championship team. A lot of their main players have been on the go for a long time so therefore we need to take every opportunity we get against them. We know that as this tie will come down to small margins but if we can hurl to the levels that the lads have trained at since the start of February, we’ll be there or thereabouts, we’d be fairly confident of that.
“Look this is a total new team that people are going to see in Barefield this year. We’ve lost a few lads to emigration, we’ve one or two injuries and we’ve had retirements so it is a rebuild but we’re happy with the talent that’s coming through in the club too.
Last year’s captain Cian Barron is currently in the US; Tom Hannan is in Canada; Jack Hannan has transferred to St Brigid’s in Dublin while there’s no Alan O’Neill either. Add in a shoulder injury to key forward Eoin Lahiffe this year and there are big shoes to fill in Doora/Barefield’s side but manager Kennedy has been heartened by the emergence of new leaders this year so far.
“Ultimately we blooded an awful lot of young lads in the Clare Cup, those that have only come out of minor in the last year or two so it’s no secret to anyone that the squad is extremely young. Being honest, we’re probably in a period of rebuild at the moment in Barefield but overall we would be fairly happy with how the league went as we got to a quarter-final. We got to play Clonlara, the county champions of two years ago below in the lion’s den on their own home patch and only lost by a point in a game that could have gone either way. They went on to win the Clare Cup of course but for us, we would be very happy with the league as we got basically what we wanted out of it.
“Look there’s no denying that the few experienced players that were without this year are a loss but at the same time we are quite confident of the talent that’s coming through. Look, they have to step up, it’s as simple as that really but we’ve confident that they have the ability to do it”.
