*Crusheen defender, Diarmuid Mullins. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
CRUSHEEN’s remarkable run to a first county senior decider in nine years last October is almost worthy of a book in itself.
Having lost two of their three group ties, a new national rule on group scoring difference provided an unprecedented loophole for Michael Browne’s men that they exploited to its optimum, with devastating knock-out victories over Newmarket-on-Fergus and Scariff teeing up a decider rematch with Clonlara.
While they did slash the nine point group margin to five, it would be Clon’s day in the final but still a hugely worthwhile journey especially in terms of confidence and providing a glimpse to younger players of the bounty and riches that can be obtained through hard work and persistence.
The county final is the furthest thought from manager Michael Browne’s head though as following a below-par Clare Cup in which they found it difficult to field anywhere near a full team, addressing the elephant in the room of Crusheen not winning a first round tie this decade so far looms inexorably larger ahead of Saturday’s throw-in against Newmarket-on-Fergus in Ruan on Saturday (2pm)
“It’s been really difficult to be honest. Like, we’ve had an awful lot of injuries and some of them were very, very slow to clear up. In fact in one of the Clare Cup matches, we didn’t have anybody from number 1-8 that started the county final so that will give you an idea of the pressure that we’ve been under.
“Donal Tuohy for example didn’t return for us until the middle of June due to a thumb injury that he had and Luke Hayes has been in trouble all year and hasn’t really played a match for us.
“So that and the usual tweaks and pulls and knocks and so on, we’ve had a lot of players out and to be honest we’re still struggling with injuries even at this late stage. We have a good few of them back but we still have a couple that won’t be available to us for the first match as Conor O’Donnell, Gerard O’Grady and Diarmuid Mullins are also on the current injury list. And let’s be honest we didn’t have a good league either. As far as I remember we only won two games and realisatically a full team hasn’t lined out for Crusheen since the county final,” he told The Clare Echo.
Not the greatest preparation for what will undoubtedly be an extremely difficult opener against the Blues who will be gunning for revenge following last year’s quarter-final upset. “It puts you under a lot of pressure if you don’t win that first game, it’s as simple as that,” admitted former Clare senior selector Browne who led Crusheen to the 2010 and ’11 titles. “It means that your second game is absolutely crucial as you have to win it and there’s no ifs or buts about it.
“Look, Newmarket have won the Clare Cup and the majority of their league games throughout the spring so they’re obviously in flying form and doing really well. They’ve had their full squad all the way through with no-one missing other than a few small injuries here and there so they have had a very, very good preparation for this and therefore we’re under no illusions whatsoever as to what’s awaiting us. They are going to be determined to start well and put savage pressure on us so it’s about how we can react to that.
“But all the matches look tough. When you look down through the group, I’d say there won’t be any more than a point of two you’d imagine between any of the teams in any of the games so I’d say this group will go right down to the wire. On the face of it perhaps you might say that it isn’t the most difficult group in the championship when comparing it to Group 1 (Clonlara, Ballyea, Éire Óg and Clooney/Quin). But I think our group is so evenly-matched that it might well come down to a bit of luck or a mistake as when you have really tight games, sometimes little tiny things can decide the outcome and result.”
Just like their unforgettable journey twelve month ago.
Management: Michael Browne (Manager); Aidan Harte (Coach); Paddy Vaughan, Gearoid O’Donnell, Alan Tuohy, Cronin Dillon (Selectors); Alan Griffin (S&C); Tom Culligan (Kitman); Orla O’Donnell, Helen McMahon, Tina Meaney, Conor Stack (Medical Team); Niall Griffin, Kieran O’Donnell, Keith Brigdale (Statistics)
Captain: Cian Dillon
Key Player: Oisin O’Donnell
One to Watch: Eoghan McMahon
Fresh Blood: Roan Ketelaar, Stephen O’Brien, James O’Sullivan
Departure Gate: None
Treatment Table: Luke Hayes (leg), Diarmuid Mullins (leg), Conor O’Donnell (hamstring), Gerry O’Grady (broken jaw)
Titles Won: 2 (2010, 2011)
Last season’s run: Only won one group games but managed to squeeze through to business end on score difference and never looked back thereafter with wins over Newmarket-on-Fergus and Scariff to reach a first final since 2014.
Schedule:
Round 1 – v Newmarket-on-Fergus at Ruan, Saturday 2pm
Round 2 – v Sixmllebridge (Weekend of August 23rd-25th)
Round 3 – v St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield (Weekend of September 6-8th)
