AIB Munster Club Hurling Semi Final.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15th
AIB Munster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship Semi Final
@ Walsh Park, Waterford
Ballygunner (Waterford) v Cratloe (Clare) at 2.00p.m.
Reiteoir – John Sexton (Ballyhea)
They started out in 1887 and took 122 years to reach the treasured goal of winning the Clare senior hurling championship but the wait has been well worth it for Cratloe.
But while the parish may be still be celebrating the two-point win over Clonlara in the Clare county final last Sunday week, the squad and their management team are busy focussing on the next big adventure as they prepare to take on Ballygunner (Waterford) in the Munster semi-final in Walsh Park next Sunday.
It really has turned into a magical season for Cratloe whose intermediate football qualified for the Munster semi-final last Sunday by beating St. Patrick’s (Limerick).
Cratloe’s carefully-charted progress to a stage where they are now the No.1 hurling team in Clare is a classic example of how every club can aspire to greatness if they retain their ambitions and work hard to achieve them. Junior and intermediate titles had come Cratloe’s way over the years but the dream of making the senior breakthrough always remained in the hearts and minds of the members, even if many doubted if it would ever be achieved.
Even when the big chance arrived in the Clare final, few outside the parish gave Cratloe any chance. Clonlara were hot favourites and when they held a one-point lead heading into the final seconds, it looked if they would retain the title.
However, Cratloe dug deep into their reserves of pride and determination and sub Padraig Chaplin fired home the winning goal. He said afterwards that he thought Cratloe were two points behind – hence his decision to go for goal rather than take the safer option of slotting over a point.
Chaplin is one of Cratloe’s long-serving players and it was fitting that he should strike for a goal that changed the course of the club’s history. Team captain, Barry Duggan is another long-serving star, having been on the senior team for 13/14 years.
He spoke after the county final win of being handed a hurley by his grandfather at the age of four of five in another example of how club really is family and how the GAA tradition is handed down from generation to generation. His grandfather could have had no idea back then that his grandson would go to become the man to lead Cratloe to their greatest achievement.
While Duggan’s leadership and experience have been crucial to Cratloe’s success, the more youthful wing of the team has more than played its part. None more so than 18 year-old Conor McGrath, who was chosen as man-of-the-match in the county final after scoring 2-1 from open play in a display he will recall for the rest of his life.
Now the big question is whether Cratloe can take the fairytale into Munster, starting against Ballygunner next Sunday? Sixmilebridge (2000) were the last Clare club to win the Munster senior title, an honour which has also gone to Wolfe Tones, St. Joseph’s, Newmarket-on-Fergus and Clarecastle.
Cratloe can certainly expect to have a large following for the trip to Waterford as the tightly-knit club attempts to reach the Munster final, adding another chapter to the glorious tale the squad and their management team of Mike Deegan, Michael O’Gorman, John Gleeson, Fiach O’Loughlin and Brian McMahon have scripted so far.
from www.anfearrua.com.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15th
AIB Munster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship Semi Final
@ Walsh Park, Waterford
Ballygunner (Waterford) v Cratloe (Clare) at 2.00p.m.
Reiteoir – John Sexton (Ballyhea)
They started out in 1887 and took 122 years to reach the treasured goal of winning the Clare senior hurling championship but the wait has been well worth it for Cratloe.
But while the parish may be still be celebrating the two-point win over Clonlara in the Clare county final last Sunday week, the squad and their management team are busy focussing on the next big adventure as they prepare to take on Ballygunner (Waterford) in the Munster semi-final in Walsh Park next Sunday.
It really has turned into a magical season for Cratloe whose intermediate football qualified for the Munster semi-final last Sunday by beating St. Patrick’s (Limerick).
Cratloe’s carefully-charted progress to a stage where they are now the No.1 hurling team in Clare is a classic example of how every club can aspire to greatness if they retain their ambitions and work hard to achieve them. Junior and intermediate titles had come Cratloe’s way over the years but the dream of making the senior breakthrough always remained in the hearts and minds of the members, even if many doubted if it would ever be achieved.
Even when the big chance arrived in the Clare final, few outside the parish gave Cratloe any chance. Clonlara were hot favourites and when they held a one-point lead heading into the final seconds, it looked if they would retain the title.
However, Cratloe dug deep into their reserves of pride and determination and sub Padraig Chaplin fired home the winning goal. He said afterwards that he thought Cratloe were two points behind – hence his decision to go for goal rather than take the safer option of slotting over a point.
Chaplin is one of Cratloe’s long-serving players and it was fitting that he should strike for a goal that changed the course of the club’s history. Team captain, Barry Duggan is another long-serving star, having been on the senior team for 13/14 years.
He spoke after the county final win of being handed a hurley by his grandfather at the age of four of five in another example of how club really is family and how the GAA tradition is handed down from generation to generation. His grandfather could have had no idea back then that his grandson would go to become the man to lead Cratloe to their greatest achievement.
While Duggan’s leadership and experience have been crucial to Cratloe’s success, the more youthful wing of the team has more than played its part. None more so than 18 year-old Conor McGrath, who was chosen as man-of-the-match in the county final after scoring 2-1 from open play in a display he will recall for the rest of his life.
Now the big question is whether Cratloe can take the fairytale into Munster, starting against Ballygunner next Sunday? Sixmilebridge (2000) were the last Clare club to win the Munster senior title, an honour which has also gone to Wolfe Tones, St. Joseph’s, Newmarket-on-Fergus and Clarecastle.
Cratloe can certainly expect to have a large following for the trip to Waterford as the tightly-knit club attempts to reach the Munster final, adding another chapter to the glorious tale the squad and their management team of Mike Deegan, Michael O’Gorman, John Gleeson, Fiach O’Loughlin and Brian McMahon have scripted so far.
from www.anfearrua.com.
