It has been a very successful week to date on the underage front. The minor side got their Division 2 group campaign off to a winning start with a comprehensive 9-16 to 2-2 victory over Parteen. While management will be delighted with the winning start, all are well aware that much tougher tests lie ahead in the coming games.
The u-21 side recorded a very good 1-9 to 0-10 win on Thursday evening over Kilrush who had shocked Kilmurry Ibrickane in the previous round. They now advance to a semi final of the u-21 'A' championship against Lissycasey. Lissycasey will enter this game as favourites having defeated the Cooraclare-Kilkee amalgamation and winning last year's minor A championship. However, with a county final place at stake, it is all to play for.
This weekend sees another crucial weekend of games at adult level. The Junior B side are due to face Michael Cusack's in the first round of the championship on this Saturday in Ennistymon. Having failed to field in the last number of league games and with several players lost to the Junior A side after last week, Manager Sean O'Brien will be hoping any possible players make the effort to be available so that a team is fielded at this level.
The big game of the weekend is the Cusack Cup Division 1 semi final on Sunday in Quilty at 5 where Miltown face Doonbeg. Doonbeg will enter the game as favourites but a win would be a massive boost to Miltown's season. The following is the preview of the game from this week's Clare Champion:
The Cusack Cup semi-finals will be staged at separate venues at 5pm on Sunday. Following their O’Gorman Cup final win over Lissycasey last Sunday evening, Doonbeg will play Miltown in Quilty for a place in the final.
Two years ago they reached the decider, only to be beaten by Kilmurry-Ibrickane in Kilmihil. The Mapgies topped the Cusack Cup table, winning six games and losing just twice to Cooraclare and, ironically, to Miltown. That latter game meant more to Miltown in that if they had lost, they could have been relegated. Instead, their win led to Miltown qualifying for the last four, which indicates how tight the Cusack Cup was this year.
Doonbeg were already sure of top spot and knew that if Miltown won, they would be likely to meet in the semi-final. Not alone will Miltown be highly motivated to reach the final, the fact that they will be given little chance of beating Doonbeg a second time should further spur them on.
If Miltown are to stun the Mapgies, players such as Eoin Curtin, Gordon and Graham Kelly, Enda Malone, Dessie Molohan, if fit, and Micheál Malone will have to produce their best form. Molohan limped out of Clare’s All-Ireland qualifier against Offaly in Tullamore two weeks ago, while Shane Curtin, Kevin Burke, Dessie and Brian Curtin are also expected to be absent this weekend.
Graham Kelly played against Doonbeg two weeks ago but was restricted by an arm injury that he has to recover from.
Doonbeg will look to Colm Dillon in the middle, David Tubridy, Shane Ryan and Kevin Nugent up front, Conor Whelan, Richie Vaughan and Padraic Ahern in defence to see them through.
Doonbeg haven’t won the Cusack Cup outright since 1994, although the 1998 final against Kilkee was not finished. They will be heavily favoured to qualify for this year’s final however, and should have a few points to spare over Miltown.
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