IN 2017, it took 36 weeks to complete the seven-round Cusack Cup campaign. It started on March 11 and concluded on November 29, when Kilmurry-Ibrickane won the competition for the seventh successive season. While a semi-final date has not been fixed for this season’s Division 1 football league, the aim seems to be to finish the league before the first round of the Senior Football Championship. The last round is on May 27 or June 9 and, with only one semi-final to be played, Clare GAA might pull it off. The team that finishes top of the table automatically qualifies for the final, while second and third meet in a semi-final. One of the issues raised last year was the absence of county players for a round played mid-summer. This weekend, with Clare playing Roscommon in their refixed NFL game, club teams will line out without their county players. Clubs are not enamoured about this but it seems likely that …
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