Clare senior champions, Cratloe travel to Waterford to face their counterparts, Ballygunner, in the opening round of the Munster Club Hurling Championship this Sunday “with a 50/50 chance”, according to manager Joe McGrath.
His charges recorded another victory at the weekend, this time in the Clare Champion Cup semi-final against Feakle.
“We had a couple of good days after the football county final, which we didn’t have after the hurling and the boys deserved a few days off. They certainly took that. I don’t know if we were looking forward to a match as tough as that against Feakle; they came out with all guns blazing and they really put a serious challenge to us in the physical stakes.
“We were at our wits end with 10 to 15 minutes to go, to try and win the game. We got a couple of points to get five or six ahead and we were lucky enough to be five or six ahead when Gary Guilfoyle scored a goal. It was nip and tuck for most of the game, it was an energy-sapping match and I don’t know what it will do for us for this week,” McGrath added.
“It will be tough in Waterford. We will go down and look forward to the challenge. We won’t win on this [Feakle] performance that’s for sure. The pitch was heavy and it’s a tight enough field. Feakle put up a physical challenge to us and we struggled to get over the line. We hope to be a bit smarter and a little bit brighter next weekend.”
That said, McGrath noted, “If it prepares us for a physical challenge, we certainly got that. Hats off to Feakle, they are intermediate champions and they came out with all guns blazing. They held their reputation and I hope they do well in Munster as a result. I hope they get something out of it as, hopefully, we do.
“We are looking forward to the challenge. The calendar is getting a bit blocked up on us alright and maybe some of these matches do take a bit of a toll but, in fairness to the boys, in the last 20 minutes they knuckled down to the Feakle challenge and they came out well in the end.
“We had a couple of injuries going into the game, a couple couldn’t play. We keep picking up knocks and bruises but I suppose that’s what your bench is for. We keep emphasising that we have a group of 25 to 30 and if we have to use them we will,” McGrath said.
Meanwhile, Ballygunner manager Fergal Hartley told The Clare Champion that his charges are also carrying “a few niggly injuries” but he expects to have a full squad available come throw-in.
“We know we are up against a big challenge. They have three All-Stars in their ranks, they have just won the Clare senior double and it took great character to do that. It says a huge amount about their mental strength,” said the former Waterford star.
“We are going to give it a go. Our main aim at the start of the year was to win the championship in Waterford. The standard in Munster this year is huge. Cratloe will fancy themselves and rightly so, with the quality of player they have.
“They will have aspirations to win Munster and they should be aiming for that. They will take fair stopping in Munster. We will throw everything at it and see if it is good enough,” Hartley concluded.
By Seamus Hayes, sports editor
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.