Eyes On The Prize As 2019 Clare SHC Race Heats Up

The 2019 race for the Canon Hamilton trophy gets underway this weekend.

It is a date that players and supporters alike have been eyeing up since the inter-county action ground to a halt and from here until October, it will be going full pelt. 16 teams will set out with the goal of being crowned champions, and Ballyea are sitting on top of the pile with the Canon by their sides.

Since the new structure was introduced to the Clare senior hurling championship, it has consistently thrown up brilliant ties, and this year’s first round is no exception. Ballyea start out against Clooney/Quin in a game that could well prove to be a shoot-out between county team-mates Tony Kelly and Peter Duggan. Newly crowned Clare Cup champions Kilmaley renew rivalries with an Eire Óg team who will be reeling from defeat at the quarter-final stage to the same opposition last year. Clonlara have to take on an O’Callaghan’s Mills outfit who were brilliant in reaching the last four, and another recent rivalry will write its latest chapter when Whitegate will be bidding to upset a Cratloe side who hit the crossbar last year. It all adds up to a brilliant weekend’s action in store and I for one cannot wait for it to get going.

The weight of history suggests that Ballyea face a real battle to put titles back to back. The Clare senior hurling championship has proven almost impossible to defend, with only Crusheen managing to do it since the turn of the millennium. That being said, the 2016 Munster champions have won two of the last three titles and there is no reason to suspect that they will not be right in the shake up to make more history. Last year’s victory was all the more impressive in that so many younger stars stamped their authority on the championship. Cillian Brennan, Barry Coote, Brandon O’Connell and Ryan Griffin emerged as leaders to complement the more established players and that strength in depth proved crucial. They have a tough opener against a well drilled Clooney-Quin side with an obvious star in Peter Duggan, so the road to retention will not be without its blockades. The other side of that coin is should Ballyea get off on the right foot, momentum can often be the greatest motivator of all and the champions will not be handing back the Canon without a serious fight.

So who are the main contenders to dethrone the champions?

You have to begin by looking at arguably the form team of the year so far in the shape of Clare Cup champions Kilmaley. John Carmody’s side were unlucky not be marching alongside Ballyea last year after a narrow loss to Cratloe and they will be eager to go at least one step further this year. Kilmaley bridged a gap of 18 years without Clare Cup success this year and it also marked the first senior silverware since the championship was last annexed in 2004. Ironically, that was also the last time Kilmaley were in the county showpiece, and all the signs so far indicate that the 15 year gap could well be bridged in 2019. It is always a challenge to transfer underage success to senior, but the amount of firepower available to Kilmaley has made that progression look seamless at times. Tommy Barry, Cathal Darcy, Sean O’Loughlin, Sean Kennedy and Tom O’Rourke have all been serious additions to the senior set-up and with the experienced Conor Cleary, Daire Keane, Mikey O’Malley and Mikey O’Neill assuming the seniority mantle it makes for a potent cocktail.

Cratloe deserve huge respect for continuing to contest for silverware at the top level of both codes. Ironically, it could well have been that defeat to Ballyea in round two of the hurling championship last year proved to be the result that would help Kevin Sheehan’s side in mounting that second-half fight-back when they met again in the decider. The earlier loss meant that Cratloe’s ‘free’ weekend was gone and perhaps the toll of having to go week on week eventually had an impact at that crucial stage. The development of the young guns will be vital for Alan Neville’s charges as Diarmuid Ryan, Billy Connors and Riain Considine look to take that next step in their role as leaders. A lot will depend on their progression in the football championship where the Group of Death is their fate alongside Clondegad and Eire Óg. There is no club more experienced at handling the dual demands than Cratloe but with 2014 moving another year away, there will be a real hunger to capitalise on a brilliant generation by claiming more silverware. On their day, they are a joy to behold and on a roll, they can be almost impossible to stop.

Clonlara continue to delight and frustrate in equal measures. On paper, the south-east Clare men are up there with the best in country, not just the county. The problem is that it simply has not transferred to anything like the amount of silverware you would expect from a group as talented this. County final losses to Sixmilebridge and Ballyea are as close as they have come to adding to that title won back in 2008 and the fear is that another barren year could make bridging that gap even more difficult the longer it goes on. Colm and Ian Galvin, Cathal O’Connell and John Conlon are all well established and with young guns like Padraic O’Loughlin and Dylan McMahon to back them up, there is no reason why they cannot be in the shake-up. A tough test against the Mills awaits in the opening round and maybe that is what is needed to get the focus back.

Sixmilebridge have been the most successful team of the decade, with their four county final appearances resulting in three titles being won. That form alone is enough to put them on the shortlist as being live championship contenders. They have proven that they know how to handle getting to the business end of the year and with the likes of Seadna Morey, Alex Morey, Cathal Malone, Shane Golden and Brian Corry leading the charge they should be in the shake up once more. A strong back-room team with Tim Crowe and Davy Fitzgerald will also be a major boost for the Bridge and if they can safely navigate the early rounds, they will be a dangerous prospect in the knock-out stages.

In terms of calling the winners, it can often prove a fool’s errand. A lot will depend on how the second round draw goes when the eight winners of the opening round are pitted together, and what a round that could be. On the face of it, Kilmaley look to be the most impressive team of 2019 and with that development curve likely to continue on an upward trajectory, the Canon Hamilton could well be sitting beside the Clare Cup come the end of October. There is an awful lot of hurling to unfold between now and then though.

2019 Clare Senior Hurling champions verdict: Kilmaley