This article is from page 65 of the 2008-06-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 65 JPG
SINCE group stages were introduced to the championship, it’s become a dog-eared cliché to say that win- ning the opening game provides an element of breathing space for the remainder of the competition. It’s a common reality for sure and it’s one that Ogonnelloe have been using for motivation in the lead up to this sea- son’s championship kick off.
The opening game of the season hasn’t gone their way over the past few seasons and according to man- ager Gerry Cosgrove, it has left them with too much ground to make up in the drive for a play-off place.
Last year, they played Scariff in their group opener, put up a good battle but ultimately lost by four points. They followed this up with another defeat, this time to Tulla and by then, the Senior B championship was looming.
In that competition, there were glimpses of what Ogonnelloe can of- fer. They reached the final and were beaten by Eire Og and while it gave
Ogonnelloe a brief glimpse at the big stage, the secondary competition was never the place they wanted to be.
‘The definite target this year is the first game, which 1s against Clonlara,’ says Cosgrove. “We’ve been striving to get off to a good start these past few years and haven’t been able to do it, but hopefully that can change with our first game this season.”
He says it’s not going to be an easy task, though, considering Clonlara will come to the game aiming to lay down a marker for themselves.
“IT saw Clonlara a few times last year and they’ve got one of the finest up and coming sides in Clare hurling at the moment. They’re well capable of putting it up to the bigger teams and they’ve got some great young players, particularly close to goal. We’ve been playing senior now for 13 years so it’s going to be a case of
the young guns up against the expe- rienced side when we meet.”
Cosgrove has had to plan without the services of Pascal Sheedy and Noel Gavin who have both retired but this year’s Under 21 amalgamation with Scariff for the B championship allowed some younger players expo- sure. As a result, Michael O’Brien, Eoin Collins and Paul Healy can all expect some role to play in the sum- mer’s championship.
“Tt’s still going to be a daunting task for us this season,’ adds Cosgrove. “If you look at it, we have Scariff again and they’re a team we’ve never beaten in senior championship hurl- ing. That shows the kind of test that we face.
“But we’re aiming to get second spot in the group and advance. It’s fair enough to suggest that Crusheen will be the team to beat and the rest
of us might be playing for second place. If any team can beat Crusheen then you’d have to fancy their chanc- es of then progressing.”
For now, though, it’s that opener with Clonlara that’s going to occupy Ogonnelloe minds. They played in the Clare Cup in May and just man- aged to nick a win by a point. Both sides were missing some players but Cosgrove still expects little to sepa- rate them when they meet for the eroloe
Not long to go now until Ogonnel- loe know if they can find that mo- mentum to propel them to greater things this year.