*Cathal O’Connor. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
SEMI-FINAL action in the TUS Clare senior and intermediate football championships dominates the action in the local GAA scene this weekend.
Cusack Park is the venue for the senior semi-finals with champions Cratloe facing off with Kilmurry Ibrickane on Saturday at 3:30pm while it’s a repeat of the 2022 final when Éire Óg and Ennistymon lock horns on Sunday at 3pm.
West Clare venues will be the setting for the intermediate semi-finals. Clondegad’s bid to bounce back to the senior ranks at the first attempt sees them meet Naomh Eoin in Cooraclare at 1:30pm on Saturday while St Michael’s Park hosts a repeat of last year’s semi-final on Sunday at 1pm where Kilrush Shamrocks and Wolfe Tones do battle.
Coolmeen’s Cathal O’Connor has played with and against many of the players who will be in action in this weekend’s senior and intermediate football championship semi-finals. He is eagerly looking forward to a weekend of top class football and very tight contests before the finalists in both grades are known.
“The meeting of Kilmurry Ibrickane and Cratloe is very hard to call. They are two experienced teams and meetings between them in recent years in particular have been very tight. Much will depend on who may or may not play because of injury”, the former Clare midfielder said.
A current member of the Ballyea senior hurling team, he is well positioned to understand the demands on Cratloe due to their progress in both codes. “Sean and Podge Collins didn’t start for their hurlers last week while Kilmurry Ibrickane’s captain Dermot Coughlan is a major doubt having picked up a foot injury in their win over Miltown the last day out. The availability or otherwise of these players could determine the outcome. It’s a particularly hard one to call but I think that Kilmurry might edge it by a point or two”.
Turning to the meeting of Ennistymon and Éire Óg Cathal says, “Éire Óg are on a different level to everyone else. They were surprised last year. They may have bigger things on their minds but they can’t take their eyes off the Clare competition. They may feel that they should have won a Munster club already. Ennistymon have been knocking on the door for a while but everything points to an Éire Óg win”.
Intermediate semi-finals are going to be tight Cathal believes, “we are likely to have two really close games. It’s a very difficult championship to win and I have a slight fancy for Wolfe Tones in their meeting with Kilrush. I picked them at the start of the campaign and they are playing well but Kilrush are getting goals which is huge, especially at this time of year given the weather conditions. Wolfe Tones are in the hurling final also and they don’t have a huge overlap of players which is a help. They will be driven on by last year when they lost out to the same opposition at the same stage”.
Looking at the other semi-final in which Naomh Eoin face Clondegad he says, “Naomh Eoin have surprised many and are seen to be punching above their weight for a club with limited numbers like ourselves. They are getting the maximum out of their players and you have to admire them for what they have achieved in the last few years. They have already beaten Clondegad and I have a slight suspicion that they will do it again. It’s very hard to play against them. they know what they are good at and they execute it very well. It’s not easy to come back up after being relegated and Gary (Brennan) has stepped away. This is a very hard championship to win”.
