Parish cat is out of the sack in Éire Óg rematch

Clare Senior Football Championship Quarter-Final
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield v Éire Óg
Cusack Park Ennis, Sunday 1pm (Martin Downes, Naomh Eoin)

To borrow a phrase from well-known philosopher and former Ireland soccer manager Giovanni Trapattoni ‘Beware the cat. No say the cat is in the sack when you have not the cat in the sack’ would have best summed up last year’s derby reunion between Éire Óg and St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield.
After marauding through a host of potential rivals to soar to back-to-back Jack Daly crowns backed by a 13 match winning run and not a single goal conceded in that time, the prospect of a first senior championship showdown with their neighbours in five years just seemed like another notch on their already pockmarked belt for last year’s quarter-final.
After all, having relegated the Parish with a 22 point pummelling at the same venue five years previously, Donagh Vaughan’s side admirably returned in 2021 but while their development graph was very much on an upward curve, they were yet to take a major scalp.
That narrative almost altered spectacularly as Éire Óg let their guard down just enough for St Joseph’s to capitalise upon and almost pull off what would have been the shock of the championship.
Six clear by the three-quarters mark, the Townies must have felt that it was job done but credit a never-say-die Parish for never relenting before James Curran’s dramatic equalising goal at the death somehow forced extra-time. Now scrambling to regain control, the champions looked increasingly uncomfortable in those additional periods and it had to take a 75th minute winner by Mark McInerney to inch Éire Óg over the line by a point.
They relievedly escaped but that sloppy finish did expose cracks in the Townies armoury that weren’t there in the previous two campaigns. Indeed, whether it was a dip in their normally ruthless appetite or just a war-weariness of being on the road for so long (in both codes for the core of their side), that tie definitely provided extra belief to Cratloe that they could do likewise in the semi-final, this time after extra-time and penalties.
Éire Óg are now back to their clinical best and if anything have strengthened their pack and their bank of experience, especially on the inter-county front. The thing is though that Doora/Barefield have also improved, both in confidence (perhaps as a result of their near miss against their Ennis neighbours) and experience as evidenced by taking down Corofin and St Breckan’s in their opening two ties.
On the flip side, the Parish failed to take a glorious opportunity to top their group with a profligate display against Kildysart last time out as they will need to be at their free-scoring best in order to take down the Townies.
The sight of chief marksman Gavin Cooney hobbling off last Saturday evening isn’t good news for Éire Óg but considering the strength of their squad and the additional motivation that the senior hurling championship exit to Inagh-Kilnamona will unearth, Paul Madden’s side will be armed and ready for any Parish ambush this time around as this time around the cat is well and truly out of the sack.
Verdict: Éire Óg