Tag Archives: davy fitzgerald

Clare senior hurlers have laid down the gauntlet for their Waterford rivals, nominating the team to take on the crossbar challenge and beat their score of 12. The Clare side is the first county to take on the Charity Crossbar Challenge, which aims to raise money for the Irish Heart Foundation and a local charity of the rivals’ choice for every cross bar hit. A video of the Clare team was recorded during a training session at Cusack Park, on Tuesday evening, including crossbar attempts from manager, Davy Fitzgerald, as well as selectors and other backroom members. It was an evening of fun, as some of the team’s top shooters were off the mark, while a number of players who normally operate behind midfield showed pinpoint accuracy. Davy Fitzgerald, who himself is fitted with two stents, nominated the Waterford senior hurlers to take on the Challenge next and deadline is Monday. See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFBKSVDvTuk

CLARE goalkeeper Pa Kelly experienced a mixed 2014. Having played such a key role in Clare’s 2013 All-Ireland success, the Inagh-Kilnamona man, who works as an accountant with Curtin O’Friel & Co in Ennis, lost his place. He insists, though, that he had no issue with the manner of his dropping, although he did subsequently regain his place. “Davy was fair. He made the call. He was pretty honest. Maybe my standards dropped and, in fairness to him, he gave me my chance to get back in. I don’t know whether I took it or not but I have proven since that I probably have. It just goes to show that you can’t let your guard down. If you win an All-Ireland you can’t get complacent. They are the standards he is demanding. He demands that you do the extra stuff and look after yourself. Maybe he thought that I wasn’t doing it but I thought he dealt with it …

Davy Fitzgerald spoke candidly to Peter O’Connell when they met on Wednesday morning in Ennis. They talked about their shared past and where Clare hurling goes from here WHEN Davy Fitzgerald entered the Temple Gate Hotel on Wednesday morning, nobody noticed. It wasn’t that people were deliberately ignoring the Clare hurling manager. It was just that his attire would have led them astray. Replacing the Clare top was a sharp-looking jacket, far removed from the dress code Davy dons when patrolling the sideline, lobbing the odd enraged query at referees and sometimes even following them for a quick post-match word. Wednesday’s Davy cut a much more relaxed figure and one that didn’t blink or avoid questions when the conversation flowed. First up, why? Before talk turned to referees, Clare McNamara, Colm Galvin, Clare’s 2015 on-field record and the influence of Davy’s father Pat Fitzgerald, the air had to be cleared somewhat. Given that there has been the odd moment of …

THE recently concluded national hurling league didn’t go too well for Clare but, that said, they could have qualified for the knock-out stage of the competition. That’s all in the past now and all involved are just looking forward to what is ahead. A key member of team, John Conlon acknowledges there are “big expectations in Limerick” but added, “we have big expectations ourselves”. “We let ourselves down last year, which is a worry. We can’t dwell on the past. Yes we had a great win over Dublin. We lost narrowly to Kilkenny, a game we could have won and we don’t like moral victories. All we need now is to ensure we get over the line on Sunday,” the Clonlara man told The Clare Champion “We can’t afford to look past Limerick and that’s the way we have approached things this year, taking it a game at a time. Right now, we are looking at Limerick and looking at …

SOMETHING odd is happening in Clare. There is splintering opinion as to whether the Clare hurling glass is full, half full or half empty. Sunday’s display in Nowlan Park clearly suggests that the glass is, if not teeming over, definitely not half empty. The panel of players deserve immense credit for producing that standard of hugely committed hurling in Nowlan Park. While some individuals, notably Tony Kelly and Shane O’Donnell, excelled, as a team Clare resembled themselves again. Based on Sunday, it’s not over the top to suggest that they will be formidable Munster championship opponents for Limerick come May 24. Based on Saturday, Limerick will be doing well to turn up at all. They were obliterated by Dublin and looked remarkably off the pace of league, let alone championship, hurling. Clare showed what they can do if they produce the level they are capable of. That’s looking at it from a glass-half-full standpoint. However, there is no avoiding the …

Clare’s outstanding All-Star midfielder, Colm Galvin, is to spend the summer in the US and will not be available for the county’s Munster championship campaign, which begins on Sunday, May 24 when the Banner men take on Limerick at Semple Stadium in Thurles. Clare fans will be glad to hear, however, that the Clonlara man has not ruled out playing some part in the championship. Rumours of Galvin’s desire to travel to the US have been circulating for the past few seasons but have been quite strong since last autumn, after he played a key role in helping Clare to a third successive All-Ireland U-21 title. The 22-year-old will leave Ireland on April 28 and will play his hurling this summer with Tipperary in the popular North American venue of Boston, where he has work lined up. His absence is a huge blow to Clare hopes of championship success and also a massive loss to his club, Clonlara, who were …

RESULTS in the National Hurling League’s Division 1 games last weekend mean that Clare travel to Nowlan Park for their final group game on Sunday in the knowledge that victory there, allied to a win for Galway over Dublin, will see the Banner side into a league quarter-final. A Clare victory will confine Kilkenny to bottom position on the league table and send them into the relegation play-off. Should Clare and Dublin finish on four points each (following a Clare win and a loss for Dublin), Clare will climb above the Dubs on the head-to-head result and leave Dublin to face Kilkenny. Irrespective of the result, league champions Kilkenny will be in the relegation play-off. They have already lost to Galway and Dublin and as a win over Clare would see them draw level with the losers of the Galway v Dublin game on points, they would still lose out on the head-to-head result with whichever of the sides loses …

ANYBODY who has been involved in a team sport, be it at elite or grassroots level, understands and accepts that if an agreed disciplinary code is breached, those who breached it must be dealt with. Otherwise, why have a code of conduct at all? Punishments applied can vary wildly, depending on the level the particular group play at. Most clubs will not get rid of a player who is their main man, for example, simply because a manager knows that he needs him on the field. Therefore, clever club managers won’t back themselves into a corner by announcing, often early in the season, what measures they will apply if somebody is caught illicitly socialising later in the year. If the manager tells players what action he will take, prior to any infringement, then he has to follow through. Otherwise he will be undermined in front of the rest of the players. The problem for the manager arises when a player, …