Hurlers’ success leads to fixture headaches

IN the event of Clare qualifying for both the All-Ireland senior and U-21 Hurling Championship finals, changes to the domestic fixture schedule for the coming weeks look certain.
A special meeting of Clare GAA has been called for this Thursday night at the West County Hotel, Ennis at 8.30pm to discuss the matter. This weekend’s first round of senior, intermediate and junior A football championships goes ahead as scheduled.

Round 2 in the senior and intermediate football races is scheduled for the weekend of August 10 and 11, one week before Clare’s All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-final clash with Limerick.

In Clare’s win over Galway last week, Conor Ryan, Conor McGrath and Podge Collins played key roles. They are all first-choice players with Cratloe senior footballers, as are Cathal McInerney who made a brief appearance in the win over Galway, and Liam Markham.

Cratloe have made it clear at a number of board meetings this year that they will not play without those who are unavailable due to county commitments and, in fairness, it’s understandable that the senior hurling management will want all players free from fixtures the week before they face Limerick.

Round 2 of the domestic senior and intermediate hurling championships is scheduled for the weekend of August 17 and 18, which now clashes with the All-Ireland semi-final. Finding an alternative date for this round is a problem for Clare GAA.

Alternative dates will also have to be found for Round 3 in the event of the Clare senior and/or U-21 teams getting to the final.

A win for the U-21s next Wednesday will put them into the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway on Sunday, August 25, the week after the senior semi-final. The senior final is set for September 8, with the U-21 final listed for a week later. Involvement in both could lead to the next hurling championship action not being until September 21 and 22.

With so many dual clubs and players domestically, it will be extremely difficult to run off the hurling and football championships on the same weekends.

Most people tend to look at clubs such as Cratloe, St Joseph’s, Wolfe Tones and Éire Óg when the dual player issue is mentioned but it is much more widespread than that.

Doonbeg’s senior football team includes two members of the Newmarket senior hurling side, Shane O’Brien senior and Ronan Goode. Cooraclare’s Thomas Downes is a member of the Éire Óg senior hurling squad, while Miltown, St Joseph’s have the McGuane brothers from Kilmaley in their intermediate panel. They can also call on Cathal Lafferty from Inagh-Kilnamona.

Ennistymon and Corofin are dual clubs, with a lot of players common to the hurling and football squads, all of which makes it extremely difficult to play both hurling and football on the same weekend.

The most immediate problem facing Clare GAA is to make arrangements for Round 2 of the Senior Football Championship, which is scheduled for August 10 and 11.

This Thursday’s meeting is expected to discuss the impending clashes and possible solutions, all of which must be ratified by Munster and Central Council.