Category: Sport

A BLOWTORCH to the cobwebs, a dash of new faces and more importantly a result to match as Clare eventually edged out their stubborn Cork opponents to get the season off to a positive start.

Twelve months earlier, in near identical circumstances, the same opponents had humbled the home side in what was Micheál McDermott’s first competitive outing as manager but this time, it was his new look Clare side that held the aces when it mattered most in the final quarter.

Granted, this was not a patch on the UCC side that went on to contest both the McGrath and Sigerson Cup finals last year, with only four survivors from last year’s clash in Cooraclare as well as being without their Cork senior inter-county trio on Sunday.

However, that won’t concern Clare who crave as many competitive games as possible before they embark on another tilt at the Division 4 title as can be seen by their determined, hungry finish.

It wasn’t all plain sailing though as this evenly matched contest was in the balance throughout, with only a kick of the ball separating the sides at any stage of the contest. Indeed, Clare were slow to start, appearing to be suffering from an imbalance of strength and conditioning in the gym and a lack of actual football due to the collective ban on inter-county sides in November and December.

That early immobility gave UCC a window of opportunity to strike a decisive early blow as Clare seemed ragged and indisciplined. But while freetaker Daithi Casey converted three unanswered frees in the opening eight minutes, UCC were also guilty of spurning three glorious first half goal chances, two of which came in the first six minutes. Had they taken either, Clare’s McGrath Cup campaign might have been over before it had even started but a combination of goalkeeper Joe Hayes and relieving goal-line stops by Niall Whyte and Martin McMahon from Kevin O’Driscoll and Paul Honohan respectively kept Clare’s head above water.

Clare first strike at the posts came after eight minutes when Cathal O’Connor’s shot drifted wide but from the kick-out, a well worked move involving Conor Ryan, Martin McMahon and Alan Clohessy ended up with debutant David O’Brien who pointed from an acute angle.

A minute later Clare had doubled their tally when Gary Brennan found Rory Donnelly who broke a tackle and dissected the posts and suddenly it was Clare who appeared the more threatening side. Daithi Casey hit back with another free but Clare were beginning to dominate the midfield clashes and again it was Brennan who fed full-forward Timmy Ryan to reduce the deficit to only the minimum at 0-4 to 0-3 by the end of the first quarter.

For all UCC’s early threat, it was

AN identical start to the season for Clare in all but two key aspects, the performance and of course the result. Almost a year ago to the day, Micheál McDermott’s competitive debut as Clare senior football manager was against UCC in Cooraclare but they found it tough against the college side who would go on to contest the final of the McGrath Cup against Kerry.

On Sunday, McDermott had the perfect opportunity to right the wrong of last year and despite a lack of football due to the collective ban on inter-county teams, it was Clare’s hunger that eventually won the day for the home side.

“I’m relieved more than happy today.” Admitted McDermott immediately afterwards. “It’s the first game of the season for ourselves and it was very evident that we were very rusty in the first half and gave away a lot of possession and gave away a lot of possession even in the second half.

“We looked leg weary as well at times because of the gym programme for two months that probably took it’s toll but I was glad we finished very, very strongly. In the last 15 minutes we showed good character to want to win the game and there was some very good football played at times, very good scores kicked and listen, today is about something to work on and hopefully we will be better the next day. We were missing a lot of players there today that even cried off at the last minute. But it’s a strong panel and this competition is going to be an opportunity to have a look at everybody on the panel.”

Players like Alan Clohessy, who was the outstanding forward on show, did themselves no harm and McDermott also saved special mention for his newer recruits.

“Alan Clohessy was in good form today. He was showing well for the ball and he was winning the dirty ball as well and it must be said, there was some quality ball put into him as well. It’s something that we are going to be working on over the next numbers of weeks because we had done very little football on the field so it’s good to get a win and another competitive match next weekend.

“It’s also a big step up for the likes of David O’Brien making his debut and Conor Ryan but listen, these are young players as well and it’s going to take them time to blend in but I was happy with their contribution there today. They tried hard and all we ask for from a player going out onto the field is to give us one hundred per cent honesty and we got that from every player today.”

The reward for Sunday’s victory is a home quarter-final meeting with another Cork college and for McDer mott and Co. it’s a further opportunity to test his squad.

“Cork IT will be a tough side. I think UCC beat them last year in the second round but Cork IT are littered with inter-county stars as well and with the Sigerson getting ever so close, it’s going to be a real tough battle but these are the games that are going to help us pick our best 15 for the first round of the National League. It’s going to be a competitive game and we are going to have it at home as well and it’s good to have another game to look forward to next Sunday.”

A SIXMILEBRIDGE proposal to put in place an individual or body with the responsibility of monitoring the welfare of players participating on county panels was the only motion to be passed unscathed at Thursday’s Bord na nÓg Iomaint Convention.

In order to counteract potential player burnout and nourish young talent, Sixmilebridge delegate Adrian Hogan outlined to delegates the need to set up such a committee and deal with players on a more personal basis.

“What we are looking to do is put more focus on the individual players and their individual welfare, and mind that player essentially on the county panel because everybody is trying to draw from the same player. Take the minors that went to Croke Park last year, you are going to have colleges, secondary schools and even the clubs themselves can be accused themselves at times of being selfish in wanting to play their own players. It should be looked at that there should be an officer or at least a role or responsibility somewhere there that the players themselves can liase with that person.

“It’s not necessarily something that needs to be elected tonight but at least that it would be considered in the future. Even if it was considered as part of the panel of selectors in the management team but there needs to be a liason officer between county, club, college and wherever the draw is on these players. Some of the players are dual playing and even play other sports outside of our code so it’s really to try and get an understanding and take care of that individual play- er so he’s not overworked.”

A Ruan motion to establish a ‘Games administration committee that will run all hurling competitions organised by Bord na nÓg Iomaint’ or essentially back-up for the county secretary in organising fixtures was deferred to the first meeting of the year where delegates can nominate people to help out.

A similar motion from Ruan to establish a Hurling Development committee was eventually withdrawn as it was felt that the development Squad Committee already catered for that role. However, outgoing chairman Sean O’Halloran, who set up that committee under his watch, welcomed the addition of more people who are interested in getting involved with the numerous development squads at Under 12,13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 levels.

“The people that have been involved over the past 14 or 15 months have given a commitment to stay for another 12 months and oversee the development and they are happy to do that but having said that, there is always room for additional people who have the same type of vision that they have for underage hurling. I have no doubt that if there are a people interested in coming on board, that would be more than acceptable once they have the same vision and a clear knowledge of where we are going and where we want to be in four or five years time in relation to underage hurling.”

Meanwhile, Kilmaley’s proposal for the Under 15 championship to be completes by the end of August was deferred to the structures committee meeting as it was felt that pasing the motion would tie the hands of the

board somewhat and limit flexabil

ity.