Cratloe v. Sixmilebridge in County Semi.
Cratloe v Sixmilebridge
Cusack Park.
Saturday 08.10.11
5pm
It’s not so long ago at all that a new manager went rummaging through his Cratloe dressing room for some sprouts of belief. “Lad’s", he said, "do ye think the Lord stood above on Gallows Hill and decided to put hurlers on one side and none on the other”?
Cratloe were huddled in Meelick for their first senior league bout with ‘the Bridge in a generation and all that usual fighting talk of “ we’re every bit as good” and “nothing to fear” filled the gaps but nerves came dressed up as noise. It was easy to forgive the players. None of them were culpable but many had shared a rearing full of stories of what it’s like being second to what’s west of the Garney. And the once in a while they saw their parish get brave enough to spar, they saw it shown it’s place again.
And you know for two thirds of their existence all Cratloe and Sixmilebridge grappled for was the comfiest spot in the shadow of a host of the big Mid Clare clubs . It was the rivalry that no-one cared about. Two bald men and a comb.
In 1977 ‘the Bridge stepped through the gap and left their neighbours behind. Ten Senior titles followed and, perhaps most humiliating for Cratloe, the rivalry became a forgotten squabble.
In 1984, when Sixmilebridge annexed their first Munster Club Championship, down the road Cratloe teetered between Intermediate and Junior. The gulf could hardly have stretched wider and a bee in a bonnet was born. It would take two decades and a few very thorny days as a Cratloe fan to claw it back to where we're at now.
On paper Cratloe will feel they can finally match ‘The Bridge but on the pitch so far this season it has been a different story. Cratloe have limped through their group stages. A very delicate showing in their first round defeat to Tubber, was followed by a slow upswing each time out against Scariff, Whitegate and Inagh/Kilnamona. The Bridge have arrived here with far less fuss. From the off they have been favourites to win the Canon Hamilton and kept their odds tightened with big wins over Tulla, O Callaghan Mills and Wolfe Tones. Clarecastle did cause them difficulty on the opening day but as they proved in their Quarter Final victory over Inagh/Kilnamona the Bridge have remembered their age old knack of squeezing out a result.
The names on Cratloe’s teamsheet won’t have them trembling too much either. Most of those same stars were on show this year in an U21 County Final where the Bridge won out easily with a merciless final quarter. John Fennessy, Seadna Morey, Paudie Fitzpatrick and Jamie Shanahan all starred on that April evening and will be included again this weekend. Add in Danny Morey who struck 0-5 in their Quarter Final alongside Tadgh Keogh, Niall Gilligan ,Tony Carmody and the returning Davy Fitzgerald and it seems Christy Chaplin’s patience to blend youth and experience has been rewarded.
For good or bad, Saturday’s result has that air of a defining one for this Cratloe team. Victory would prove Cratloe’s worth to their neighbours and carry them to their third Senior Final on the hop. A loss would feed the doubters already growing louder with Cratloe’s mix of good, bad and ugly this season. They have an undisputable pace in their attack but critics will say they have too often dawdled with supply to it in the group stages. One encouraging feature in their journey to the Semi’s has been their performance in defence where the sextet of David Ryan, Barry Duggan, Liam Markham, Mikey Hawes, Enda Boyce and John O Gorman have often kept Cratloe in games beginning to slide against them.
Cratloe will need to stay dominant at midfield for longer periods than they have been to date. The return from injury of Oige Murphy alongside Sean Chaplin is a very energetic pairing but admittedly not the tallest one. The Blues will have to be very clever with their own puck outs and hope they arrive first when and if the ball hits the floor. If they do, they have the forwards capable and waiting to punish.
Sixmilebridge coped well with largely that same attack in the aforementioned 21's final and Bridge fan's will keenly be awaiting the duel between Sean Collins and Conor McGrath and their defensive spine of Paudie Fitzpatrick and Aidan Quilligan. And what about the man between the posts? David Fitzgerald comes from an era untroubled by the existence of Cratloe. He may well be assuring his younger team-mates of that this week and rumours from over the river are that he wasted no time in getting up to speed for this duel since his invitation back. The Clare manager in waiting will add spice and media interest in this tie but his presence may take pressure off many of the young players in the Bridge line up. And call a spade a spade, who better would a club prefer to call on after the unfortunate loss of Trevor Fahy than a four time allstar?
Paddy Power have Sixmilebridge as favourites for Saturday’s contest at 5/4. If we lived outside Cratloe I suppose it would be hard to argue with that. But we don’t and I guess the hope locally would be that Cratloe have been building for a big day. Here’s hoping that it's Saturday.
Results so far;
Rnd 1; Cratloe 2-14 v 3-12 Tubber
Rnd 2; Cratloe 0-16 v 0-10 Scariff
Rnd 3; Cratloe 0-20 v 2-12 Whitegate
Rnd 4; Cratloe 0-8 v 0-7 Inagh/Kilnamona
Rnd 1; Sixmilebridge 0-15 v 1-11 Clarecastle
Rnd 2; Sixmilebridge 3-16 v 0-10 Wolfe Tones
Rnd 3; Sixmilebridge 1-14 v 0-8 O Callaghan’s Mills
Rnd 4; Sixmilebridge 4-25 v 1-13 Tulla
Quarter Finals;
Cratloe 4-12 v 0-15 Tulla
Sixmilebridge 0-17 v 0-15 Inagh Kilnamona
Ar Aghaidh Linn
Cratloe v Sixmilebridge
Cusack Park.
Saturday 08.10.11
5pm
It’s not so long ago at all that a new manager went rummaging through his Cratloe dressing room for some sprouts of belief. “Lad’s", he said, "do ye think the Lord stood above on Gallows Hill and decided to put hurlers on one side and none on the other”?
Cratloe were huddled in Meelick for their first senior league bout with ‘the Bridge in a generation and all that usual fighting talk of “ we’re every bit as good” and “nothing to fear” filled the gaps but nerves came dressed up as noise. It was easy to forgive the players. None of them were culpable but many had shared a rearing full of stories of what it’s like being second to what’s west of the Garney. And the once in a while they saw their parish get brave enough to spar, they saw it shown it’s place again.
And you know for two thirds of their existence all Cratloe and Sixmilebridge grappled for was the comfiest spot in the shadow of a host of the big Mid Clare clubs . It was the rivalry that no-one cared about. Two bald men and a comb.
In 1977 ‘the Bridge stepped through the gap and left their neighbours behind. Ten Senior titles followed and, perhaps most humiliating for Cratloe, the rivalry became a forgotten squabble.
In 1984, when Sixmilebridge annexed their first Munster Club Championship, down the road Cratloe teetered between Intermediate and Junior. The gulf could hardly have stretched wider and a bee in a bonnet was born. It would take two decades and a few very thorny days as a Cratloe fan to claw it back to where we're at now.
On paper Cratloe will feel they can finally match ‘The Bridge but on the pitch so far this season it has been a different story. Cratloe have limped through their group stages. A very delicate showing in their first round defeat to Tubber, was followed by a slow upswing each time out against Scariff, Whitegate and Inagh/Kilnamona. The Bridge have arrived here with far less fuss. From the off they have been favourites to win the Canon Hamilton and kept their odds tightened with big wins over Tulla, O Callaghan Mills and Wolfe Tones. Clarecastle did cause them difficulty on the opening day but as they proved in their Quarter Final victory over Inagh/Kilnamona the Bridge have remembered their age old knack of squeezing out a result.
The names on Cratloe’s teamsheet won’t have them trembling too much either. Most of those same stars were on show this year in an U21 County Final where the Bridge won out easily with a merciless final quarter. John Fennessy, Seadna Morey, Paudie Fitzpatrick and Jamie Shanahan all starred on that April evening and will be included again this weekend. Add in Danny Morey who struck 0-5 in their Quarter Final alongside Tadgh Keogh, Niall Gilligan ,Tony Carmody and the returning Davy Fitzgerald and it seems Christy Chaplin’s patience to blend youth and experience has been rewarded.
For good or bad, Saturday’s result has that air of a defining one for this Cratloe team. Victory would prove Cratloe’s worth to their neighbours and carry them to their third Senior Final on the hop. A loss would feed the doubters already growing louder with Cratloe’s mix of good, bad and ugly this season. They have an undisputable pace in their attack but critics will say they have too often dawdled with supply to it in the group stages. One encouraging feature in their journey to the Semi’s has been their performance in defence where the sextet of David Ryan, Barry Duggan, Liam Markham, Mikey Hawes, Enda Boyce and John O Gorman have often kept Cratloe in games beginning to slide against them.
Cratloe will need to stay dominant at midfield for longer periods than they have been to date. The return from injury of Oige Murphy alongside Sean Chaplin is a very energetic pairing but admittedly not the tallest one. The Blues will have to be very clever with their own puck outs and hope they arrive first when and if the ball hits the floor. If they do, they have the forwards capable and waiting to punish.
Sixmilebridge coped well with largely that same attack in the aforementioned 21's final and Bridge fan's will keenly be awaiting the duel between Sean Collins and Conor McGrath and their defensive spine of Paudie Fitzpatrick and Aidan Quilligan. And what about the man between the posts? David Fitzgerald comes from an era untroubled by the existence of Cratloe. He may well be assuring his younger team-mates of that this week and rumours from over the river are that he wasted no time in getting up to speed for this duel since his invitation back. The Clare manager in waiting will add spice and media interest in this tie but his presence may take pressure off many of the young players in the Bridge line up. And call a spade a spade, who better would a club prefer to call on after the unfortunate loss of Trevor Fahy than a four time allstar?
Paddy Power have Sixmilebridge as favourites for Saturday’s contest at 5/4. If we lived outside Cratloe I suppose it would be hard to argue with that. But we don’t and I guess the hope locally would be that Cratloe have been building for a big day. Here’s hoping that it's Saturday.
Results so far;
Rnd 1; Cratloe 2-14 v 3-12 Tubber
Rnd 2; Cratloe 0-16 v 0-10 Scariff
Rnd 3; Cratloe 0-20 v 2-12 Whitegate
Rnd 4; Cratloe 0-8 v 0-7 Inagh/Kilnamona
Rnd 1; Sixmilebridge 0-15 v 1-11 Clarecastle
Rnd 2; Sixmilebridge 3-16 v 0-10 Wolfe Tones
Rnd 3; Sixmilebridge 1-14 v 0-8 O Callaghan’s Mills
Rnd 4; Sixmilebridge 4-25 v 1-13 Tulla
Quarter Finals;
Cratloe 4-12 v 0-15 Tulla
Sixmilebridge 0-17 v 0-15 Inagh Kilnamona
Ar Aghaidh Linn
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