Crunch time in hunt for Canon Hamilton

ROUND 4 games in the senior hurling championship will be played over the coming week by which time some of the participants will have secured their places in the play-off stage, while others will have bowed out of the race for the Canon Hamilton Trophy in 2010.

There are crunch games for Kilmaley, Scariff, Inagh-Kilnamona, Tubber, O’Callaghan’s Mills, Whitegate, St Joseph’s and Ballyea. Defeat for any of these will mark the end of their chances for this season.
On the other hand, title holders Cratloe will join Newmarket in the last eight if they win on Saturday, while the winners of the Clonlara v Crusheen clash on Tuesday will also be in the last eight.
The games are spread over a week because of the involvement of the county minor hurlers in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin. There are games on Tuesday and Wednesday and then again on Saturday and Sunday and it’s a similar situation with the intermediate championship. In the senior title race, Clooney-Quin, Wolfe Tones, Smith O’Brien’s and Corofin have byes.
Round 3 games in the junior A title race will go ahead on Saturday, while the junior B title race will see action in the losers’ section this weekend.

Group 1
DESPITE the fact that they are unbeaten after three rounds, Kilmaley find themselves in the position that they must beat Broadford on Wednesday evening in Cusack Park if they are to have a chance of getting to the quarter-finals.
Victory will not guarantee them progress and they will then have to await the result of the final-round clash between Clarecastle and Clooney-Quin, provided Clarecastle justify favouritism next week with a victory over Scariff.
Kilmaley have drawn their three outings in the competition. They had chances to win all three and probably should have won the first-round clash with Scariff, who scored a last-minute goal to tie up the game.
Having been in the quarter-final last year, Broadford had high hopes this time around. They did well in the early stages of the league and got to the semi-final but they have disappointed in both their championship outings to date, going down to Clooney-Quin and Clarecastle.
Their recent loss to Clarecastle was particularly disappointing, as they failed to make any impression in the second half. Although beaten by Newmarket in the Clare Champion Cup semi-final last weekend, they gave a much more determined performance and club officials are confident that they will continue in that vein this week.
For the first time this season, Kilmaley had a near full-strength squad available last time out when they drew with Clooney-Quin. Colin Lynch returned for his first hurling action of the year and it is likely that he will be in the team for Wednesday’s game. Together with Conor Clancy, Alan Markham and Diarmuid McMahon, they will give the mid-Clare side vital experience. They will be joined by minors, Dara Keane and Michael O’Neill, together with Kenneth Kennedy, Noel Casey and Colin McGuane and they should come out on top against a Broadford side that will be looking to the Chaplin, Gunning and Corcoran brothers and the O’Brien clan to give them a badly needed victory.
On the same evening, Clarecastle will take on Scariff in Sixmilebridge. Mike McNamara-trained Scariff must win to have any chance of getting to the last eight, while a victory for the Magpies will see them edge closer to the quarter-finals. Despite being short some regulars due to injury last time out, Clarecastle were very impressive and they will go into this tie as favourites to maintain their unbeaten run.
Jonathon Clancy, Tyrone Kearse, Danny Scanlan, Eric Flynn, Aaron Considine, Dara Moloney, Alan O’Loughlin and county minor Stephen O’Halloran are just some of the players they will be looking to on an evening when they will welcome Patrick Kelly back after he was ineligible for the last round, due to a summer transfer to the US.
They should be too strong for a Scariff outfit looking to Barry Murphy, Kenny and Conor McNamara, Dara Kelly, the Nash brothers and Michael Scanlan.

Group 2
CHAMPIONS Cratloe will secure their place in the quarter-finals if they overcome Tubber on Saturday in Cusack Park, a tie that both will play without their inter-county minors, Paudge Collins and Enda Boyce (Cratloe) and Ronan Taaffe.
Cratloe were very impressive when accounting for Wolfe Tones last time out, although they will point to the concession of 2-1 in the closing minutes of that tie as a cause for concern.
On the same day, Tubber caused some problems for Sixmilebridge but couldn’t handle the experience of Niall Gilligan, which ultimately cost them a victory.
Cratloe again find themselves in the position where they are trying to keep their football and hurling interests going with almost the same group of players. Over the coming weeks, they will be switching from one code to the other as they seek to progress their interests in the senior hurling and football championships, the U-21 football championship and the minor hurling and football title races. A number of players will be involved in all five squads, so it is going to take a lot of good will between the different management teams to keep all sides happy.
Barry Duggan, David Ryan, Michael and Seán Hawes, Ogie Murphy, Seán Collins, Cathal McInerney, Liam Markham, Damian Browne and Conor McGrath are all leading lights in the senior hurling side and it’s difficult to see Tubber being able to stop them this week.
The North Clare outfit have been hit with a number of injury problems this season and it remains to be seen what type of squad they will have at their disposal this week. They will be looking to Patrick O’Connor, Mark and Conor Earley, Clive Earley, Barry O’Connor, Justin McMahon and veteran Eamonn Taaffe to trouble Cratloe.
In recent seasons, they have certainly made life difficult for the South-East Clare side and they have been unlucky on an occasion or two not to have won. Under the management of Pat O’Connor, they are sure to put it up to the champions again but it will be a surprise if Cratloe fail to come out on top.
The other game in this group sees Sixmilebridge and Inagh-Kilnamona clash and the expectation is that whoever wins this one will join Cratloe in qualifying from the group for the play-offs.
But for his commitments to the Waterford senior hurlers, Sixmilebridge man Davy Fitzgerald would find himself preparing to take on his own club this week, as he was the first choice coach-trainer with Inagh-Kilnamona this season.
Clarecastle’s Fergie O’Loughlin recently took up the job and this will be his first competitive outing with the combination. They haven’t had a competitive game for a few weeks, whereas Sixmilebridge have been most impressive in their recent games and, because of this, will start as favourites. The game will take place on Sunday week at Cusack Park.

Group 3
ONE qualifying position remains to be filled from Group 3 and the popular view is that the winners of next Tuesday’s meeting of Whitegate and O’Callaghan’s Mills will take that position.
With maximum points, Newmarket are already in the last eight, the only team to have secured qualification after three rounds. The Mills and Whitegate both went down to the blues but they each have a win to their credit.
O’Callaghan’s Mills were particularly unlucky to lose their first outing in the competition to the Blues but they bounced back to record a hard-earned win over neighbours, Tulla. They had a reasonably good run in the league and qualification for the quarter-finals is very much their target right now.
They go into this tie without the experienced Pat Donnellan, who was sent off on a straight red card in the closing minutes of their tie with Tulla. The loss of the inter-county defender is sure to be a huge blow to their hopes of progress.
Having regained senior status with their victory in the intermediate championship last year, Whitegate have done quite well in their first year back in the top division. They just lost out on a place in the semi-final of the Clare Champion Cup and they made a fancied Newmarket side fight all the way in an earlier round of this championship but they bounced back with a win over Smith O’Brien’s in Round 2.
There is speculation that Tommy Holland will be back in their panel for this one, having spent a spell in Australia. His presence would certainly add experience to their line-up, which will include Brendan and John Bugler, Patrick Minogue, Andrew and Ian Fahy and George Waterstone.
The Mills will be looking to the Cooney brothers, Conor, Gerry and John, Bryan Donnellan, Adrian Flaherty, Alan Duggan and Diarmuid Hehir.
On paper, at least, they look to have a slight edge on experience and this may swing the tie in their direction but a close contest is likely with little separating the sides at the final whistle.
After two defeats, Tulla’s chances of getting back into contention are slim. They must win their remaining two games against Newmarket and Whitegate to have any chance and this is certainly a tall order.
That said, Tulla have a good record against Newmarket and they knocked them out of the title race on a few occasions in recent years, including 2007 on their way to being crowned champions.
That said, it’s difficult to see Newmarket losing this one, despite the fact that they have a number of injury concerns. Shane O’Brien is definitely out due to a broken hand but club officials are hopeful that James McInerney may get to make an appearance. He has been out of action for the past few months due to a stomach muscle injury.
This tie will be played on Sunday week and it will be a surprise if Newmarket fail to complete their group schedule with maximum points.

Group 4
THE meeting of Clonlara and Crusheen at Cusack Park on Tuesday evening could well turn out to be one of the games of the championship. This is Clonlara’s final group game and to be sure of remaining in the race, a draw or a win is needed. They have two wins and a draw to their credit from their three games to date but defeat on Tuesday could prove costly.
Crusheen are also unbeaten to date but they have yet to play Clonlara and St Joseph’s and the two quarter-final spots are between this trio.
After a slow start, Clonlara have been improving and will hope to be near full strength for this one. John Moloney and Nicky O’Connell missed the win over Corofin last time out and the presence of both will certainly be a huge boost, as the South-East Clare men hope to move a step closer to a third successive championship final appearance.
Crusheen were anything but impressive when beating Ballyea last time out. Indeed, they struggled for much of that game and it was only in the closing stages that they got ahead.
The absence of Pat Vaughan was a huge blow to their hopes and it is not yet clear if the Clare defender will play any part in their fourth-round tie.
The Dillon brothers, Ciarán O’Doherty, the Meaneys, Donal Tuohy and Gerry O’Grady continue to fill vital roles for Crusheen, who have been knocking on the door in search of a first title at this level for a number of years.
The O’Donovan brothers, John Conlon, Darach Honan, Ger O’Connell and Donal Madden are vital cogs in the Clonlara line-up. They have struggled to find their best form this year when they were relegated in the league but the experience they have gained in the past couple of years will see them put up one hell of a battle to make it through to the last eight.
It promises to be an great contest and it may well be that the ability of Honan and Madden up front will swing this one in Clonlara’s direction.
In the other game in this group, St Joseph’s will start as favourites to keep their strong challenge up when they take on Ballyea at Shannon.
All who have attended games in the opening rounds will agree that Ballyea deserve to have some points on the board. They were unfortunate to lose by a point to Clonlara and, again, were unlucky to go down to Crusheen last week.
That result was a big blow to their hopes and it will be interesting to see how they will respond for this one.
They will be looking to Tony Griffin, Shane O’Neill, Paddy O’Connell, Paul Flanagan, Niall Keane and Cathal Doohan to inspire them.
Being without a competitive game for a number of weeks may prove a problem for the Doora-Barefield outfit who, like Cratloe, are still in the hunt to reach the last eight in both senior hurling and football.
They have a good mix of youth and experience and will be looking to Kenneth Kennedy, Kevin Dilleen, Shane O’Connor, Cathal O’Sullivan and Mike McNamara to lead the way.
They will getting nothing easy but should be strong enough to emerge with a narrow win and keep their hopes of a last-eight place alive.

Intermediate
WITH one round still to play in Group 3 of the intermediate hurling championship, Clarecastle and Killanena have already secured their passage to the quarter-finals, leaving Meelick and Ogonnelloe to battle it out to determine who will go into the relegation play-offs.
There will be action in the other two groups this coming week. Ruan play their final group game on Saturday when they take on Ennistymon and defeat for either will put a severe dent in their hopes of making progress. Four of the five teams in the group remain in the hunt with Wolfe Tones, having lost three times, out of the reckoning at this stage.
Ruan will be fancied to win this week and thus progress to the last eight, leaving Ennistymon needing something from their final-round game against Bodyke, who will probably be in a similar position at that time.
The East Clare side play Sixmilebridge in this round and the unbeaten ’Bridge will be fancied to win and progress to the last eight.
In Group 2, Feakle must beat favourites Éire Óg if they are to get back into contention. Parteen have already qualified and they will be joined by the town side if they win on Tuesday evening.
The other game in the group will see Clooney-Quin wear the favourites’ tag against Corofin and should they win, they are likely to secure the third qualifying spot from this group.