Clarinbridge can withstand fierce effort from Gort
Date Published: {J}
STEPHEN GLENNON
REIGNING county and All-Ireland club champions Clarinbridge face their stiffest test to date in the defence of their two crowns when they meet a strong Gort side – seeking their first senior title in 28 years – in the county decider at Pearse Stadium on Sunday (2:30pm).
Given the respective showings of the teams in the 2011 championship – each have only lost one game in the group stage – this promises to be an absolutely cracking contest between two sides that promote all that is good about club hurling.
For the champions’ part, they have posted a solid campaign so far, with the only blip a shock 3-13 to 1-11 defeat to Turloughmore in the group stages. Despite that loss, they still topped Group C with wins over Sarsfields, St. Thomas’ and Castlegar to advance to the knockout stages, where Mullagh awaited them in the quarter-finals.
It was in this Autumn fixture that the credentials of the ‘Bridge were most seriously tested. Although Mullagh scored in injury-time to send the tie to a replay, Johnny Lee’s outfit was forced to dig deep in the closing stages to come from behind to keep alive their aspirations of back-to-back titles. They subsequently won the replay on the comprehensive scoreline of 2-14 to 0-10.
Still, it was their performance against local rivals Craughwell in the semi-final that has suggested they may be just hitting peak form at exactly the right time. In the first half alone, all six of their starting forwards found the target as the ‘Bridge led 0-9 to 0-6 at the half-time break. They finished the contest as 0-18 to 0-13 winners.
“We were happy to get through to the final,” says Clarinbridge manager Lee who, aside from a few niggly injuries, looks to have a full complement of players for the decider. “Craughwell put up a stern test, as we expected, and we were just hoping we could get the scores, which we did, to swing the match in our favour. That said, we do have good forwards and it is always a big help when there is such a spread of scorers throughout the team in a game like that.”
Indeed, Clarinbridge wore the mantle of All-Ireland champions superbly in that penultimate tie, playing with a flair and confidence one associates with a team at the height of its powers. However, Lee insists one of the most impressive attributes of his players is that they take nothing for granted and that has been central to their bid for back-to-back titles.
“Since the All-Ireland and the commencement of the current campaign, the ambitions, all along, have been kept fairly modest,” continues Lee. “The players have never looked beyond the next game. There is a maturity there where they take just every step as it comes and it has been this approach that has seen them through to the county final.
“So, we have never discussed that issue [back-to-back titles] specifically. This is a very focused group of players and the mantra [just taking it one game at a time] has worked well for them. As I said, they have never looked too far ahead and the most important game for them has always been the next one. And after that, it has been the next one again.”
In any event, 2008 finalists Gort now stand between them the club’s third Tom Callanan Cup. “Gort are a very formidable outfit. They have won a couple of U-21 titles in the last few years [2009 & 2010] and, to be fair, they are the favourites of many people at this stage. It has come together well for them, in particular against Loughrea in the quarter-final and St. Thomas’ in the semi-final. There is no doubt in my mind, that they are a very good team, one that can create and take their chances.”
For Clarinbridge’s part, he says they will approach this as just another game but, if anything, the Clare native has become a master of down-play over the course of this championship. In this respect, his succinct management of various issues – such as the senior players’ loss of the trip to Australia and now the fact his charges have to take to the field for the fifth week in a row – has been excellent.
For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.