Champions to progress

Titleholders Crusheen have shown mixed form this season but they have reached this stage of the championship without suffering a defeat. They emerged as the top team in what many considered to be the group of death.
They delivered the results when required and this was particularly evident in round three, when they came up against Newmarket. A strong finish from the champions left Newmarket needing other results to go their way if they were to qualify, but this didn’t happen.
Broadford are surprise quarter-finalists and the key result for them was their fourth-round victory over St Joseph’s. They have shown mixed form over the past couple of seasons and after disappointing in 2010, they have bounced back this season.
They had a bye in the opening round and were unlucky to lose their first outing against Clonlara in round two. Since then, they have been on a winning run and have improved with each outing. They will need to show further improvement this week if they are to trouble the title holders.
The champions have all of last year’s squad available and their team for Sunday’s quarter-final is expected to be similar to the history-making line-up of last season’s final.
Clare captain Pat Vaughan has been struggling with injury but he has still managed to play a vital part in their progress to this stage of the competition. It’s expected that he will be in the starting line-up this week along with the Dillon brothers, the Brigdale brothers, team captain Gerry O’Grady and Clare All-Ireland medalist from 1997, David Forde, who is having a tremendous campaign with his adopted club.
Craig Chaplin remains a major doubt for Broadford. The midfielder missed their last outing against Killanena due to a back injury and is struggling to be fit for this one.
The Gunnings, the O’Briens, Cathal Chaplin and star forward Pádraig Hickey will lead the Broadford charge and, on form, they have the ability to trouble all opponents. That said, it’s difficult to see how they will cope against a Crusheen outfit that has, for the most part, been in the concluding stages of the title race for the past four years.
The launchpad for most of Crusheen’s victories in that time has been their half-back line of Ciaran O’Doherty, Cian and Cathal Dillon and if Broadford are to have any chance of winning this one they will have to devise a way of breaking past this Crusheen trio.
Michael Browne, the champions’ manager-coach, is sure to have studied Broadford’s displays in recent times and he will know that key to curbing the East Clare men is to ensure that Pádraig Hickey’s scoring opportunities are limited. Clare’s All-Ireland-winning intermediate hero will have to be in top form if he is to break down a Crusheen back line that has been very consistent over the past few years. 
While the East Clare squad can be relied upon to make life difficult for the title holders, it will be a surprise if the champions don’t take a step closer to retaining the title.