Clare have been drawn away in the semi-final of the Oscar Traynor inte-league competition. They will play the winners of the quarter final involving the Kerry and District League and the United Churches League, a game that is scheduled for Sunday, February 23.
In the other semi-final Inisowen from Donegal, last year’s beaten finalists, await the winners of the game between Kilkenny and holders AUL.
No date has been set for the semi-finals but it’s expected that Clare will be in action in early March.
According to Clare manager Liam Murphy, “Any of the teams that are left in the race will be difficult to beat. We wanted to avoid a trip to Inisowen and that materialised”.
While he agreed, “On paper the other side of the draw looks particularly tough but we are going to be facing either a strong Dublin side (United Churches) or a well organised and strong Kerry side. We will have an opportunity to watch both play ahead of the semi-final”.
Continuing, the Clare boss said, “We are facing up to six weeks of a wait and from our point of view it’s important to keep fresh and mix our preparations with friendly games and training”.
Murphy hopes to play friendly games against League of Ireland opposition. “We are working on a few friendlies at present and hopefully our plans will come to fruition,” he concluded.