Clare slim favourites for decider

From the moment the groupings for this season’s National Hurling League were announced, Clare and Wexford were the odds-on favourites to qualify for the Division 2 decider.

There were a number of times throughout the campaign when it looked as if this would not materialise, particularly when Carlow beat Wexford, but eventually, experience paid off and the favourites have got through.
In the case of both teams, it has to be said that neither impressed en route and neither set of supporters are overly confident ahead of Sunday’s decider.
It is expected that there will be a small crowd for this tie, which throws in at 5pm. This is due to a combination of factors; not least the poor form of both teams in this campaign but also because Munster’s Heineken Cup semi-final will be live on TV at 3pm.
Clare aren’t expected to finalise their team until later in the week but defender Gerry O’Grady is definitely out of contention. He has suffered a reoccurrence of an ankle injury that has caused him a lot of problems over the past few years. He didn’t play against Kildare and took no part in his club’s Clare Champion Cup tie last week.
James McInerney is rated as doubtful. The Newmarket man is troubled by a stomach muscle injury and hasn’t lined out for club or county in the past three weeks. “His chances of playing are no more than 50-50 at this stage,” manager Ger O’Loughlin said this week.
On the plus side, Darach Honan, Gerry Quinn and team captain Brian O’Connell are all back in training and in the running for inclusion in the side for Sunday’s game.
“We set out at the start of the year with the target of getting back to Division 1. It is important to be in the top flight and we are treating this as a very important fixture. Wexford are in the same boat so it’s going to be a real dogfight. It has huge importance for both counties,” O’Loughlin added.
His Wexford counterpart, Colm Bonnar, expressed similar views at a pre-final launch in Dublin on Monday when he warned that it’s vital for Wexford to win promotion as a third season in Division 2 would do nothing to promote the game down Slaneyside way.
“Nobody wants to stay in Division 2 and there will be huge problems for whoever fails in motivating players to play in this division next season. A victory on Sunday would be a huge lift ahead of the championship. It’s an awful important game for us and a win would mean that we are heading in the right direction. Some of the games in the run-up to Sunday’s final have been very poor but I am hoping that things will improve and that Thurles will suit our youthful side,” he said.
For Clare, Philip Brennan played the opening rounds of the campaign between the posts while Donal Tuohy has filled the position in the last three games and it remains to be seen who will get the nod for Sunday’s final.
Cian Dillon is expected to continue at full-back, with his Crusheen clubmate, Pat Vaughan, filling one corner position. It is also up for grabs in the other corner. Domhnaill O’Donovan has played a number of games at left-corner back but it can be argued that he is best suited to a wing-back role.
There are a lot of contenders for places in the half-back line and these include Nicky O’Connell, Pat Donnellan, Gerry Quinn, Brendan Bugler and O’Donovan.
It’s expected that team captain Brian O’Connell will be named at midfield, where he could be partnered by Jonathon Clancy or Cormac O’Donovan, both of whom will be challenging for places in attack.
John Conlon, Colin Ryan and Darach Honan are front-runners for the positions up front and also in contention are Seán Collins and Diarmuid McMahon.
Eoin Quigley re-joined the Wexford squad recently and he is expected to play a part in Sunday’s final, along with Keith Rossiter and Malachy Travers, while the Clare defence will to be at their best to deal with the threat from Diarmuid Lyng and Rory Jacob, who have excelled for the Slanesiders in this campaign.
Experience seems to favour Wexford and they will start as slight favourites. However, going on league form, there appears to be little between the teams and it won’t come as a surprise if extra time is needed to determine who will be taking home the trophy. While their displays throughout the campaign have been disappointing, it is a hesitant vote to Clare to win the day and return to Division 1.
The Clare management team are to review the panel following this weekend’s league final. “We will be reviewing the panel after the final and ahead of the championship. I note that a recent decision means that panels will be limited to 26 for the championship, which will be difficult in terms of training. Should there be injuries at any time it will further reduce numbers, which will rule out having full practice games at training,” manager O’Loughlin noted.
Alan Brigdale withdrew from the panel last week to concentrate on the club scene. He follows Michael Hawes (Cratloe) and Aonghus O’Brien (Broadford), who made similar decisions earlier in the campaign.