*Adam Hogan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
FEAKLE’S ADAM HOGAN is set to make his championship debut for the Clare senior hurlers this weekend.
Brian Lohan’s side begin their championship campaign when they welcome age-old rivals Tipperary to Cusack Park this Sunday (April 23rd). Even though it is only the first round, it is viewed as a game that is likely to define the season for each county.
Lohan will not be able to call upon All Star David Fitzgerald who misses the tie through suspension. Attempts to lift his one-match ban by Clare GAA were unsuccessful when they brought the case to both the Central Appeals Committee and Central Hearings Committee. He received a straight red card in Clare’s final game of the Allianz National Hurling League against Cork.
2021 Harty Cup winner with St Joseph’s Tulla, Adam Hogan is on course to be included in the Clare full-back line. The Mary Immaculate College student who has represented his county at minor and U20 level was added to the panel at the beginning of this campaign and was one of the few new additions to secure regular game-time during the League.
Hogan who was appointed captain of the Clare U20 side by Terence Fahy was forced to miss their clash with Cork on Wednesday as the seven day rule would have prevented him from getting a place on Lohan’s matchday panel if he featured in that tie.
Two-time All Star nominee Rory Hayes broke a bone in his wrist last month and is battling to be fit and available for selection. Conor Cleary is to wear number three with Paul Flanagan to complete the full-back line.
Eibhear Quilligan will start his fourth championship between the posts with Inagh/Kilnamona’s Eamonn Foudy who was strongly challenging for the goalkeeper’s spot during the NHL, continuing his recovery from a knee injury.
John Conlon at centre back is expected to be flanked by Diarmuid Ryan and David McInerney. The front eight is not as defined but will definitely include Tony Kelly, Aidan McCarthy, David Reidy, Ryan Taylor and Cathal Malone. Reidy at corner forward was Clare’s most impressive player in their five League games.
Peter Duggan, Ian Galvin and Mark Rodgers are among those pushing to fill the remaining spots in the Clare attack.
Tipperary boss, Liam Cahill is well aware that Cusack Park will be a tough environment to walk into this weekend. “We have a number of our older and more experienced cohort that played there in 2019. While I didn’t play championship in Ennis myself, I did play two rounds of the League in my time and they were packed houses and is a really brilliant environment from a player and spectator point of view. It is very intense and Clare pride themselves on performing and winning in Ennis. The supporters row in behind that too and make it a tough environment for the opposition. We’ll discuss that and will be aware of that”.
In 2018 and 2019, he guided the Premier County to All-Ireland glory in the U21 and then U20 championships. “I have always said that we in Tipperary are in the business of winning matches, and then winning Munster Championships and All-Irelands, that’s what we grew up on and is what we try to aspire to every day we go out. I am not for one second saying that we are not going out to try and win whatever silverware is on offer”.
He started his tenure as Tipp senior boss with a strong League campaign, reaching the semi-final where they scored fourteen goals in six games.
Cahill said he hasn’t changed his approach to inter-county management following last season which brought an end to his three-year stint at Waterford manager. He felt there was a lot of “lazy analysis” when viewing the end of his time with the Déise who won last year’s League but failed to progress out of Munster.
“Myself and Mikey Bevans have continued to do what we believe in. We will continue to stick to what we believe will work. Not trying to give a soft answer but the end of the Munster Championship will prove whether we got it badly wrong last year or not. That was a really good league final last year in Thurles in front of a big crowd. I suppose you have to hold your form through the Munster Championship, that’s the reality of it. Championship is where you are judged and people’s memories are short too. That Waterford team were ultra-competitive for the last three years and a lot of it was lazy analysis. People didn’t really scale back and look at what these guys had achieved but the whole thing came unstuck in two or three weeks, that is all. Some of the analysis was unfair on what the players had achieved and where they had come from over the previous three years,” the 2001 All-Ireland winner commented.
