*Ronan Monahan weaves through the Smith O’Briens defence of Evan Connolly, Cian Nolan and Mark Stritch. Photograph: Ruth Griffin
TWO MORE teams will be relegated from the senior ranks this season so the opportunity to jump from the intermediate grade to the top tier is all the greater for the fifteen teams in action.
Round one sees byes for Bodyke, Ruan and Parteen/Meelick with all other sides eager to start on a high as the bid to go after St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield in claiming the Paddy Browne Cup kicks off in earnest.
We profile all fifteen teams in the Clare IHC.
Group 1:
Tulla
Management: Jim McInerney (manager), Mike Cummins (coach), Declan Hogan (selector), Paul Kelleher (kit), Ned McSweeney (kit), Val Tuohy (kit), Noel Mulconroy (stats)
Captain: Paul Lynch
Key player: David McInerney
One to watch: Éanna Culloo
Fresh blood: None
Departures Gate: Sean Torpey (regraded)
Last year’s run: Beaten in the county final by St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield
“It is a tough group, Tubber have been in three or four finals in the last few years, Smith O’Briens have just been relegated from senior, Bodyke are a serious outfit, they are a young team and if they don’t make a breakthrough this year they certainly will in the next few years and Killanena are Killanena, they are always a tough team to play”.
“That said, we’d be hoping to get out of the group seeing as three teams qualify but there is no easy game and if things go wrong they can go horribly wrong”.
“We’ve had a great turnout for training since we started, lads are very focused all year, we could have no argument with any player in the set up, they’ve given serious commitment and we are all hoping to go one step further than we did last year”. – Jim McInerney (manager)
Smith O’Briens
Management: Alex Simpson (manager), Finbar McCarthy (coach), Derek Conway, Stephen Howard
Captain: David Gough
Key player: Cian Nolan
One to watch: Sean McMahon
Fresh blood: Eoin Heffernan, Sean McMahon, Shane Geraghty,
Departures Gate: Tommy Reddan (emigrated), Mikey O’Shea (emigrated), David O’Shea (emigrated), Mark Stritch.
Last year’s run: Relegated from the senior ranks.
“Any team’s wish is to bounce straight back to senior once they’ve been relegated but we know how hard it is to win the intermediate hurling championship, it is a lot easier said than done, we have to take it one game at a time”.
“The league was really disappointing not only results wise but from a player’s point of view we were missing so many through injury and lads away which accumulated in a poor league but thankfully now we have a lot of lads coming back at the right time for the championship”.
“The extra game in the group is going to stand to us, we found that out when we won the intermediate championship two years, the extra game stood to us then and hopefully it will again”. – Alex Simpson (manager)
Bodyke
Management: Sean Doyle (manager), Patsy O’Donnell (selector), Liam O’Donnell (selector), Ger McNamara (selector)
Captain: Sean Wiley
Key player: Cian Minogue
One to watch: Cathal McKenna
Fresh blood: Daryl O’Donnell, Michael O’Brien, Tadhg Kilkenny
Departures Gate: Fionn Slattery (emigrated), Paddy McNamara (emigrated)
“We’ve still eleven U21s playing this year so we’re very young, the oldest player on our team is 27 so if all these guys can stick around they will be building for the future. We have three players coming back from long-term injuries so we’re hoping to have both Kevin Drost and Cian Minogue available for the weekend”.
“We’re in a fierce tough group and you’d have to say Tulla, Smith O’Briens and Tubber would be the three teams expected to qualify but both ourselves and Killanena will certainly be willing to put up a fight”.
“After getting promoted from the League with Corofin, the next target for us is to push on in the championship and to try get out of the group”.
“We’re coming into the championship after playing good quality teams in the League, it is great progression for us to go up to Division 1B where we will be playing teams like Cratloe and Clarecastle, playing the bigger opposition is going to stand to us”.
“When you’re going to be starting to ten to eleven players under the age of 21 it is important to try keep the lads around, when they are in college it is that bit easier but when they finish up there it becomes that bit more difficult because there is not too much around our locality to keep them here so hopefully a bit of success along the way might help with that”. – Sean Doyle (manager)
Killanena
Management: Martin Smyth (manager), Jason O’Brien (coach), Alan McNamara (selector), Mikey Noone (selector), Enda Collins (selector), David Noone (selector)
Captain: Cathal Noonan
Key player: Ian Macnamara
One to watch: Seamie O’Donnell
Fresh blood: Seamie O’Donnell
Departures: Mark Flaherty
Last year’s run: Retained their status beating Inagh/Kilnamona in the relegation semi-final
“After the disappointment of not qualifying for the quarter-finals last year and getting a few beatings along the way the big focus for us is to win the first round and see where it takes us”.
“We’re in the group of death, we’ve Tulla, Tubber and Smith O’Briens, the three of them have been involved in the last three finals and we’ll be facing Bodyke who are an up and coming team”.
“We’ve a lot of young lads in our team, the bulk of the panel is under the age of twenty five so we’d be hoping to just get a bit of luck and a run to try change things and see where it takes us”. – Martin Smyth (manager)
Tubber
Management: Mike Finn (manager), Michael Coen (selector), Justin McMahon (selector), Darragh O’Connor (selector), Declan Ryan (selector).
Captain: Pat O’Connor
Key Player: Ronan Monahan
One to watch: Pappy Taaffe
Fresh blood: Tom Taffee, Alan Lee, Lorcan Doolin
Departures Gate: N/A
Last year’s run: Exited at the quarter-finals with defeat to Corofin
“They are a very ambitious bunch of players, they know themselves that they are capable of winning. The intermediate championship is very competitive, there are six or seven sides that on any given day are capable of winning it out, you just need to have a bit of luck, you need to get to the knockout stages and arrive there without carrying any injuries. It’s just about qualifying, you can top a group and get a very tough quarter-final because it’s a very good standard”.
“We’re taking it one game at a time but we’re looking at the group stages and aiming to qualify. We are fortunate to end up in a group of five with three places up for grabs whereas in the groups of four there are only two quarter-final places on offer which makes them very competitive so we just want to make sure we’re one of the three to qualify”.
“It’s a good tough group and whatever three teams qualify will have great preparation for the knockout stages”. – Mike Finn (manager)
Group 2:
Corofin
Management: Joe Cahill (manager), Matt Shannon (selector), Pat Curtis (selector), John Fitzgerald (selector), Joe Killeen (logistics), Tony Killeen (kit), John Williams (kit), Kevin Kelleher (kit), Donal O’Loughlin (kit), Thomas Whelan (stats), Darren Malone (stats), Eoin Leen (stats), Geraldine Cahill (first aid)
Captain: Damien O’Loughlin
Key Player: Diarmuid Cahill
One to Watch: Marc O’Loughlin
Fresh Blood: James Organ
Departures Gate: Kevin Heagney, Donnacha Kelleher
Last year’s run: Beaten in the semi-final by eventual winners St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield after extra time.
“We’d be hoping to be involved in the business end of the championship. We had a successful league campaign, we were missing a lot of key players but it gave us a chance to develop our panel. As a dual club, we will lose players to injury so we need to be ready and have a panel for that. Winning the league was grand but more importantly we found out a lot about our players.
“The good thing with our lads that have won at minor and U21 is that they have become leaders and not followers in this team, they are really beginning to lead for us”.
“The league win was our first adult hurling success as a club since 2002 and winning the intermediate championship. We played eleven games, won nine, drew one and lost one, that was impressive considering when we went playing Bodyke in the third round we had nine changes from the day we played them in the final”. – Joe Cahill (manager)
Whitegate
Management: Terence Fahy (manager), Eric Minogue (coach/selector), Jarlath Garvey (selector).
Backroom Team: Dermot Hayes, Adrian Hynes, Padraig Hynes, Barry Fahy, Fiona Sampson, Cathy Colbohm
Captain: Conor McDermott
Key player: Conor Whelan
One to watch: Cian McDermott
Fresh blood: Cian McDermott, Mark Bugler, Peadar Hynes.
Departures Gate: Eoin Quirke, Tomas Quirke, Reuben Noyes, Paul Burke, Donal Burke, Oisin O’Rourke, Eoin Quinn, Conor Hogan, Tommy Hogan.
Last year’s run: Relegated from senior, lost play-off to Clarecastle.
“We’re hoping to have a very strong championship, we’ve had a good year with a very strong Clare Cup campaign. We’ve a new team in many ways, we’ve lost a lot of power but at the same time we still have a mix of young players and very seasoned experienced players, it’s a fresh kind of team”.
“We know all about the intermediate championship, it is a bear pit, we know there will be nothing easy and we’re all very focused on the first round and that’s all we’re looking at and getting ready for with our preparation” – Terence Fahy (manager)
Ruan
Management: Leon Quirke (manager), Pakie Roughan, Mike Daffy and Martin Minehan (Coaches), Pat Meaney and Gearoid Roughan (Selectors), Stephen Dolan (Physio), Alan Quirke (Video Analysis).
Captain: Killian Ryan
Key Player: Robin Mounsey
One To Watch: Piaras Ó Sé
Fresh Blood: Frankie Lyons and Piaras Ó Sé
Departures Gate: None
Last year’s run: Failed to make it out of the group.
“We’re concentrating on our first game but we want to get out of the group, for us it’s the first round that is key”.
“Every group in the intermediate hurling championship is tough, a lot of the teams at intermediate level are fairly even and so every group is very tough”.
“We’ve a new management and there’s plenty of motivation within the panel. A lot of our players have tasted success at underage level and they are looking to push on with the intermediates and get to the business end of the championship. We’re really looking forward to the championship and can’t wait to get going”. – Leon Quirke (manager)
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield
Management: Shane O’Grady (manager), Fintan Lahiffe (coach), Denis Maher (selector), Sean Williams (selector), Dave Morrissey (selector), Sean Duggan (selector), Darragh O’Driscoll (selector)
Captain: Darragh Murphy
Key Player: Luke Carmody
One to Watch: Conor Kearns
Fresh Blood: Ian Williams, Aaron Landy,
Departures Gate: Emmet Whelan (injury), Gearoid Neylon (injury) back in a month.
Last year’s run: Won the Junior A championship to secure promotion
“If you think about last year we did the Junior A the hard way, we lost the first round and every game after that was knockout, we battled hard and ultimately battled harder than anyone else.
“Getting up to intermediate was an achivement, we’re playing a Whitegate team that were unlucky to be relegated and probably wouldn’t have been if they took their chances last year. We’ve Corofin in the group too so it’s a baptism of fire for us in the intermediate championship, they have shown great spirit and will need all of that to be competitive this year”.
“They’ve shown great character in what they did last year, we’ll need to see all that again to make sure we compete and give a performance to represent what the lads are capable, if you’re still in after that you never know what could happen”. – Fintan Lahiffe (coach)
O’Callaghans Mills
Management: TJ McNamara (manager), PJ O’Connell (selector), Killian Nugent (coach), Dermot Moroney (selector), Joe O’Gorman (selector)
Captain: TBC
Key player: Jamie Keane
One to watch: Liam Boyce
Fresh blood: Cathal McNamara, Liam Boyce, Alan O’Dea, Henry McGrath, Dan Burke, Mark Crehan, Billy Scanlon, Stephen Marsh.
Departures Gate: Darragh Moroney, Stephen Donnellan, Keith Donnellan, Mikey McMahon
Last year’s run: Eliminated by Newmarket-on-Fergus
“All teams in the whole of the intermediate championship, there’s fifteen teams and ten of them are the first-team for their club so their ambitions are very different to us which is to maintain our status. It is more like a development platform for us rather than to have aspirations of winning the championship. The first teams are at a different level, Corofin are a fine team, they are well coached and their aspirations are to be a senior club. Our good friends from East Clare, Whitegate have proven to be a handful for our senior team”.
“Our league form doesn’t lie, we had some hammerings in that but we were playing at a level but that stood to us, we have all suffered from second team syndrome”.
“First and foremost for us it is to maintain status and keep the development treadmill going so we could have another four to five lads stepping up to senior next year. It is a treadmill, develop them, move them on and hope there’s more lads coming behind them. We’re probably punching above our weight in terms of development”. – TJ McNamara (manager)
Group 3:
Sixmilebridge
Management: Pat Keane (manager), Eamon Healy (selector), Tom Howard (selector)
Captain: Cathaoir Agnew
Key player: Aidan Quilligan
One to watch: Fionn Hayes
Fresh blood: Fiachra O Braoin, Darragh Fitzgerald, Fionn Hayes, Daniel Chaplin, Alan Mulready, Christy Carey, Paul Corry,
Departures Gate: Jordan Downes (senior), Leon Kelly (senior), Lorcan Fitzpatrick (senior), David Kennedy (senior), Tiernan Agnew (emigration), Ciaran Hassett (emigration), Kevin Fennessy (work commitments).
Last year’s run: Reached the semi-final and lost to Tulla.
“We’ll try get out of the group first and take it from there. We’re in it to win it but we have to get out of the group first and foremost”.
“We were very happy with the league, we wanted to get into the playoffs and wanted to get a tough quality match which we knew we would get from Corofin and we did. We were often stretched at times in the league with players lining out for the seniors too but we were happy overall with how things went”.
“I would say Parteen/Meelick will be the favourites in our group, they were playing a grade above us in the league and they pushed Tulla a lot closer in the quarter-final than we did. We also lost to Inagh/Kilnamona in the league so it won’t be easy”. – Pat Keane (manager)
Inagh/Kilnamona
Management: Paul McInerney (manager), Flan Barry (selector), Pat Barry (selector)
Captain: Paul O’Looney
Key player: Brian Foudy
One to watch: Keith Barry
Fresh blood: Gerry Coote (regraded),
Departures Gate: Likely to lose players to senior.
Last year’s run: Defeated Clonlara in the relegation final to consolidate their intermediate status.
“It is going to be a big challenge for any second team in this championship with Sixmilebridge being the exception, they manage their resources very well, Ogonnelloe are very strong and so are Parteen/Meelick so we’ll be up against it to qualify”.
“We want to survive, we will rely on our grit and determination to put us in a position to do just that”.
“It is very challenging every year being the club’s second team, it is my fourth year in the position so I’m well used to the last minute decisions and calls in picking the team and losing players to the senior side but you have to accept your role that you are the second team and will always be playing second fiddle, that is only right too, we have to accept it”. – Paul McInerney (manager)
Parteen/Meelick
Management: Denis Barry (manager), Noel Ryan (trainer), Paul Harman (S&C), Michelle Caulfield (psychology), Roddy McDermott (selector), Benny McEvoy (selector)
Captain: TBC
Key player: Jack Kirwan
One to watch: Donal Kenny
Fresh blood: Adam Sherlock, Greg Daly, Joe Sherlock, Danny Williamson, Rory McDermott, Darragh Nolan, Donal Kenny, James Glynn.
Departures Gate: Evan Fitzgerald (transferred), Kevin McGlennan (emigrated), David small (emigrated).
Last year’s run: Topped the group but lost out to Tulla in the quarter-finals
“We’ve got to know the players a bit better so far this year. Last year we had a very good run in the group stage, time will tell if we’ve learned our lessons from last year, we were beaten by a better Tulla team on the day when it came to the quarter-finals.
“We’d be hoping we get that right in terms of peaking at the right, whether we didn’t peak last year or Tulla were better it’s hard to know, we’re hoping that we can peak a little later this time round but if we don’t peak at all in the group we’ll be gone”.
“We’ve never been favourites, we wouldn’t have been favourites or even expected to come out of the group last year but this is a different kind of expectation, my approach to everything is you have to be good enough to come out and if you don’t play well enough you won’t get out. We have to show everyone the respect they deserve and we cannot afford to take any team for granted”. – Denis Barry (manager)
Ogonnelloe
Management: Michael Sheedy (manager), Martin Conlon (coach), Johnny McMahon (selector), Billy Cunnane (selector), Aidan Lynch (selector).
Captain: Henry Vaughan and Barry Kiely
Key player: Gearoid Sheedy
One to watch: Matthew Cunnane
Fresh blood: Matthew Cunnane, Michael Dinan, Micí Sheedy, Steven Grady
Departures Gate: John O’Brien (retired), Dan Cunnane (injury), Sean Kikkers (emigrated), Peter English (transferred), Colin Harte (travelling).
Last year’s run: Reached the quarter-finals where they lost to St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield.
“We were very happy last year but we were disappointed with our quarter-final performance, I know we came up against eventual winners but we were disappointed with our performance but we were pleased with the year. It was our first year back up at intermediate and we took the scalp of Tulla before they regrouped very well. The challenge for us this year is to get back to the same place and do ourselves justice, it might be a stretch with all the players we are missing”.
“When sitting down to review the year in December our motivation was to get back to the quarter-finals and give a better account of ourselves, that was the key motivation”. – Michael Sheedy (manager)
Newmarket-on-Fergus
Management: Neil Ryan, Donagh Keogh, David Barrett, Pat Freeman, Bob Enright
Captain: James Liddy
Key player: Ronan Good
One to watch: Cathal Cullinan
Fresh blood: Darragh Jones, Eoin McInerney, Liam Harkin, Cathal Cullinan, Cathal Crimmins, Ronan O’Rourke, Alex Byrne, John Lynch, Cathal Noonan, Jack Jennings, Aaron Moroney, Brian Molloy
Departures Gate: Darren Duggan (regraded), Shane O’Brien, Alan O’Flanagan (emigrated), James Warren (emigrated)
Last year’s run: Reached the quarter-finals but lost out to Sixmilebridge
“From my perspective as a second team we’re looking to consolidate our status, our primary focus is to remain an intermediate team, that is always our focus at the start of the year. We’re one of three second teams in the group so then you think maybe we will come out but it will take an awful lot of luck. Sixmilebridge are a good bit more further down the road as a well consolidated second team, we want to build on what we achieved last year”.
“Reaching the quarter-finals has to be considered as our target, anything after that is a plus because anything beyond a quarter-final for us is bonus territory. At the outset of every year, the focus for us is remaining in this grade”. – Neil Ryan (manager)
