Footballers start 2012 preparations

The Clare senior footballers got their preparations underway last Sunday morning when a selection played a Clare U-21 outfit in a trial game in Clarecastle.
That game was followed by a meeting with management at which plans for the next couple of months were outlined.
“We brought in a lot of players who wouldn’t have been on the panel last year. I was very encouraged by number one, their attitude and by the level of fitness and level of football they showed,” Clare manager Micheál McDermott said of the trial game.
“We invited a number of them along then, with last year’s panel, to meet the management team for 2012.
“Most of November and December is going to be based around (trainer) Micheál Cahill’s programme. Micheál outlined what we’ll be doing in that time. We’re having fitness testing this Thursday night and this weekend. All players will be handed individual programmes to work on their own for the next couple of months,” McDermott added.
He said that he has yet to approach Kilmurry-Ibrickane players regarding their availability for the coming year as the club is currently preoccupied with preparing for their Munster club semi-final against Kerry or Waterford opposition.
“We haven’t gone near their players yet because they’re fully focused on the Munster championship. But I would be hopeful that a number of players, that we would like to come in from the club, will come in for 2012,” McDermott said.
Clare will open their league campaign on February 5 with a home fixture against Waterford, followed by a trip to Fermanagh on February 12. Clare will play Limerick at home in their third league game on March 4.
“The early games against Waterford and Limerick are probably a plus to us because we could potentially meet either one of them in the Munster semi-final.
“It’s good to be playing them early in the league rather than close to the championship, like it was two years ago. If you win the first couple of games it gives you great momentum for the rest of the league,” McDermott said, adding that he expects London to improve radically on their recent league displays.
“London have committed to playing in the Connacht League. They hope to build on last year and we have them away in Ruislip. That’s going to be a very difficult game,” the Clare manager predicted.
Clare list of Division 4
league fixtures 2012
February 5: Clare v Waterford; February 12: Fermanagh v Clare; March 4: Clare v Limerick; March 11: Carlow v Clare; March 18: Clare v Leitrim; March 24: London v Clare; April 8: Clare v Kilkenny; April 15: Wicklow v Clare.
(These dates and venues have to be officially approved by the GAA’s Central Council.)