Draws for Munster play-offs to be made this Saturday

WITH schools due to reopen this week after the Christmas holiday break, Gaelic Games officials and players will be paying close attention to the outcome of a Munster Colleges Council meeting this Saturday when the draws for the play-off stages of the Munster competitions will be made.

The meeting will take place in Mallow and the draws for the concluding stages of the Dr Harty Cup (senior A hurling) and Corn Uí Mhuirí (senior A football) will be made.
St Flannan’s College has teams in both competitions and both have made it through to the knock-out stages. The Ennis college will be the only Clare representatives in the concluding stages of the football competition.
In the race for the Dr Harty Cup, St Flannan’s are joined by last year’s beaten finalists St Caimin’s while Limerick side, Ard Scoil Rís, who have a number of Clare players in their line-up, will also have their name in the hat. Indeed Ard Scoil Rís are favourites for this year’s title.
Both Ard Scoil Rís and St Caimin’s won their groups which means they cannot meet at this stage of the competition. It is, however, possible that either of them could be drawn to face St Flannan’s who finished as runners-up in their group.
The quarter-finals of the Harty Cup are scheduled for Wednesday, January 20 with the Corn Uí Mhuirí quarter-finals a week later, January 27.
There are no Clare schools remaining in the race for the senior B hurling (Corn Phádraig) or football (Corn an Uachtaráin).
Meanwhile, in the race for the senior C football title Rice College, Ennis and Ennistymon CBS are still in the hunt for honours. Indeed, their quarter-final clash has yet to take place and the prize for the winners will be a semi-final date with NewcastleWest.
St Joseph’s Tulla are safely through to the semi-final of the Senior C Hurling Championship where they will take on Carrigaline from Cork on February 3.
Given the fact that most of the school teams have been unable to train or play challenge games in recent weeks due to the inclement weather conditions, it remains to be seen if there will be any attempt to defer the games to a later date.