*Scariff captain Mark Rodgers tries to shake off the challenge of Eoin Donnellan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
DRAWING with Broadford in an East Clare derby saw Scariff go “through every single emotion”.
Those were the words of Scariff manager Mark McKenna following their second round draw with Broadford in the TUS Clare senior hurling championship after Patrick Crotty stuck late to rescue a draw.
A win over O’Callaghans Mils this weekend would secure their place in the quarter-finals of the Clare SHC for the second year running.
Speaking to The Clare Echo following their 1-18 2-15 draw with Broadford, McKenna commented, “We went through every single emotion out there. When we did manage to get the draw, the good emotions of pride in the fightback shone through but when you think back to the off-nature of the first half performance, it was so unlike this group of players. We made a lot of mistakes that Broadford, in fairness to them, capitalised upon and they really took the game to us and at the time it was just so disappointing that our lads just weren’t able to respond. But again that’s down to the performance and application of Broadford”.
Trailing by eleven points with twenty six minutes played, Scariff showed tremendous character to bring themselves back into the tie. “When we went eleven behind, no matter how much trust you put in your team and how good you think they are, you had to think that it’s slipping away or our chance is gone. But without a shadow of a doubt, the three scores we got before half-time really changed our mindset and it was easier to go in at half-time as there was a small bit of a bounce and we saw that again on the restart.
“We missed a lot too, I think we created five goal chances but the final ball was just a bit off or the decision-making wasn’t up to their usual standard so these are all aspects for us to work on now when we go back training next week. We need to build on the positives of that second half performance for the Mills match which is an-other big test”.
