Tag Archives: Cooraclare

WHEN is an apparent walkover not a walkover? Possibly when the team benefiting from said walkover won’t come out of the dressing room and say they don’t want it anyway. Although the majority of people parking their cars in the Kilmihil GAA Club car park must have been aware that their visit would be a short one, they were keen to witness what turned out to be a rather intriguing non-event. Anybody who arrived in Kilmihil unaware that Cooraclare were not showing up would have realised that something was up when their entrance to the car park was free and, more significantly, when they detected the absence of county board gate checkers. Doonbeg warmed up for their quarter-final against Cooraclare as if they were certain their neighbours were doing likewise at the far end of the field, on what was a wintry late October day. Knots of curious supporters from several clubs, including Doonbeg and Cooraclare, indulged in whispered conversations …

By Peter O’Connell BEFORE they head for Sunday’s senior football second round game against Cratloe in Gurteen at 1pm, Cooraclare might have to indulge in some football recognition trials. Will they recognise a size five football when they see one? Cooraclare have played just one championship match this year, defeating Kilrush in Labasheeda on August 3. Since then, they have played no competitive football at all. Cratloe haven’t played any senior football either since beating Kilmurry Ibrickane in their opening championship fixture. Of course, they have hardly been able to lay down their hurleys for more than a day or two, with six Cratloe players part of Clare’s All-Ireland senior winning panel, with Podge Collins and Enda Boyce also in the All-Ireland U-21 winning squad. Throw in two rounds of senior club hurling over the last two weekends and an U-21 Football Championship fixture on Monday of this week and it’s fairly clear that Cratloe haven’t been idle. Whether they …

By Peter O’Connell Éire Óg 0-15 Cooraclare 1-10 WHAT a difference 86 phone calls can make. After giving a walkover to Moy in their Division 6 League fixture on May 12, Éire Óg called an emergency meeting attended by Mattie Murphy, Pat Fitzpatrick, Robbie Malone and junior football captain, John Griffin. They weren’t overreacting, as Éire Óg had already given earlier walkovers to Killimer, Kilmurry Ibrickane and Wolfe Tones. Speaking after Éire Óg had won the Junior A Championship, selector Mattie Murphy recalled that fateful meeting. “We were after giving three walkovers because we couldn’t field a team. I think we had 11 for the Wolfe Tones game. I brought every team list from last year and we went through every name available. John Griffin took the phone number of every one of those 86 players and contacted them. We played two league games after that. We beat O’Curry’s by a point and we beat Kilkee,” Mattie recalled. Fast-forward five …