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Seniors begin an unfamiliar Division 2 campaign

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CLARE hurlers will begin their campaign to get back to the top division in the National Hurling League when they entertain Down at Cusack Park on Sunday (throw in 1.30pm) in Round 1 Division 2.

It’s not where Banner County followers want to see the county’s senior team but following a poor run in last year’s league, it’s where they must compete in the coming months.
Under new management, it’s certain that there will be a number of debutants at this level in the weeks ahead.  These will include a number of last year’s All-Ireland-winning U-21 side who have been called into the panel, which is currently in training ahead of the league and championship campaigns.
The squad has only been together since the first week in January and during that time, a number of proposed hurling sessions have had to be cancelled due to the inclement weather conditions.
That said, the team has managed to play a number of games including three matches in the Waterford Crystal League and a couple of challenges. They showed mixed form in the Waterford Crystal tournament, impressing against Tipperary in the quarter-final but then disappointed in the semi-final against Waterford when the forward line struggled to make any impression.
The loss of John Conlon was a huge blow to Clare in that tie against Waterford and the Clonlara man is likely to be absent again this week. He suffered an ankle injury when playing for NUI Galway in the Walsh Cup against Kilkenny and while he resumed light training this week, he is unlikely to be ready for a return to full action for another week.
He is one of a number of players unlikely to be considered for action for this week’s opening league tie. His clubmate Cormac O’Donovan has seen little action in recent weeks due to a hamstring injury while Crusheen’s Alan Brigdale is also struggling to shake off a similar complaint.
In a challenge game against Limerick last Saturday, Conor Cooney suffered an ankle injury, which is expected to keep him out of action for a few weeks while Newmarket’s James McInerney suffered a recurrence of a leg injury while playing with Limerick IT in the Fitzgibbon Cup and he is also a doubt for this week’s game. Eamonn Glynn from Inagh-Kilnamona, who also suffered an injury while playing with Limerick IT, is also in doubt. The defender, one of the stars of the All-Ireland U-21 success, suffered a shoulder injury but he has resumed light training.
It is three years since Clare and Down last met. On that occasion, they clashed in the opening round of the league and the match was played in Portaferry. It marked Tony Considine’s first game in charge and it came in a week when there was much disquiet within the Clare camp. Trainer Dave Mahedy stepped down earlier that week, selector Ger Ward, who subsequently left the management team, did not travel to the Northern venue and neither did then goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald.
Clare won that game on a score of 3-25 to 1-15 and included in the Clare line-up were Brian O’Connell (the team captain), Philip Brennan, Gerry Quinn, Alan Markham, Brendan Bugler,  Diarmuid McMahon, Barry Nugent, Fergal Lynch, Pat Vaughan and Jonathon Clancy, all of whom are members of Sunday’s panel. Some, if not all, will see action along with Gerry O’Grady and others from the U-21 All-Ireland winning side such as Cian Dillon, Nicky O’Donnell, Domhnaill O’Donovan, Seán Collins and Darach Honan.
Clare won’t be taking anything for granted this week but, that said, anything other than a comfortable Clare win will be a surprise.

 

Sparrow lays plans to soar
GETTING to the final and regaining Division 1 status is the main objective of all involved with the Clare senior hurling team over the next two months.
“One of our main objectives over the next two months is to get enough points on the board to be in contention for the final and for getting back up to the top division. We hope to be learning as we go along. This is at the top of our list at present. The first four games in this campaign are pretty tough and right now, we are not looking beyond Sunday’s opening match,” Clare hurling manager Ger O’Loughlin said this week, as he and his fellow backroom team members, Danny Chaplin and Liam Doyle along with trainer Fiach O’Loughlin, put the finishing touches to their preparations for Sunday’s Division 2 opening game against Down.
“We have played a couple of games but the amount of hurling we have done is small because of the poor weather we have had to contend with. We would be expecting an improvement with every game. We will need hard work and honesty to drag us through,” said the Clarecastle man.
According to the former All-Ireland winning corner-forward, Clare will try to have the strongest team on duty but he acknowledged that the league campaign is commencing in the middle of the Fitzgibbon Cup (third-level colleges). “We have to contend with college competitions, which are taken very seriously and we must allow each lad the freedom to give of their best. We have a lot of our panel in college.
We said we would give them every chance and that is what we have been doing. We haven’t seen a huge amount of them which is a bit of a drawback in one way but a lot of other counties are in the same boat,” he said.
Clare’s latest outing was a challenge match against Limerick at Newmarket last Saturday, a game won by the Clare side on a 1-22 to 0-20 scoreline. “We got a lot of the college lads involved in that one and we learned from it also. They [college players] are fit and they are keen to do well. They will be in the frame this weekend. We will be juggling things around in coming weeks and, I hope, we will all be learning over the next couple of games. It is important to be involved in the latter stages of this campaign,” according to the manager.
Efforts by Clare to get the game at an earlier starting time weren’t successful. “We tried for an earlier time due to Kilmurry-Ibrickane’s game but, unfortunately, Down weren’t able to facilitate us,” O’Loughlin explained.
The throw-in at Cusack Park will be at 1.30pm and Galway’s Michael Haverty will be in charge.
The Clare line-up in last week’s challenge with Limerick was  Patrick Kelly; Conor Cooney, Cian Dillon Gerry O’Grady; Domhnall O’Donovan, Michael Hawes, Brendan Bugler  Nicky O’Connell Jonathon Clancy; Seán Collins, David Barrett, Colin Ryan; Darach Honan, Mark Flaherty, Ogie Murphy.
Substitutes used included David Ryan, Philip Brennan, Diarmuid McMahon, Fergal Lynch and John Cusack.
Clare won on a scoreline of 1-22 to 0-20 and Darach Honan was Clare’s goal-scorer.

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