Cratloe can keep double hopes alive

Having qualified for the senior football semi-final for the first time in their history, Cratloe go into this Saturday’s hurling quarter-final against Tulla determined to keep their challenge for the double alive.
They didn’t have the best of starts to the campaign when they lost to Tubber in round one but they have fought their way back into contention and will wear the favourite’s tag this week.
Tulla, on the other hand, had a much better start to the championship, winning their first two games but they have struggled since. They were comprehensively beaten by Sixmilebridge in round three and, last time out, went under to Wolfe Tones.
It can be argued that there was nothing at stake when they played the Shannon outfit but had a near full-strength team and they were up against a side that had lost all their previous games in the group.
Tulla did have some injury problems that evening and it remains to be seen if Andrew Quinn will play any part in this week’s game. He has missed most of the season due to a knee complaint.
The East Clare outfit will include a lot of the players who steered them to success in 2007 including Philip, John and Ciaran Brennan, Sean Torpey, Eugene Cooney, Cian McInerney, the Lynch clan, Mark and Brian Quinn.
Two of Clare’s ­All-Ireland minor-winning squad from 2010 will be in the attack, David McInerney and Darragh Corry, and they have been causing some problems for opposing teams in this campaign.
After missing most of a year due to a groin injury, Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy made a very impressive return for Cratloe’s crucial game against Inagh-Kilnamona in round four and he played an important part in the South East Clare side’s victory.
They won this title for the first time in 2009 and the majority of the players who featured in that win are still in the line-up.
Sean Hayes has taken over the goalkeeping duties from Sean Hawes, who transferred to Antrim, where he resides.
Conor McGrath, Cathal McInerney, Liam Markham and Sean Collins have been part of the Clare senior squad all season. David Ryan was with them at inter-county level for a while and Michael Hawes played at centre-back in the All-Ireland intermediate-winning side.
Conor Ryan and Paudge Collins joined their clubmates McGrath, McInerney and Markham on the Clare U-21 team, while Barry Duggan is an experienced full-back.
They look to be a better-balanced than their quarter-final opponents, who may be physically stronger in a number of areas and this could prove important given the deteriorating weather conditions.
Cratloe look to have an edge in attack, where McGrath, McInerney and the Collins brothers will be expected to pose a lot of problems for their opponents. The ability of McGrath, in particular, to pick off scores, should help the 2009 champions progress to the next round.