This article is from page 51 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 51 JPG
LAST year’s Clare Cup final victory over Kilmaley in August should have provided the catalyst for their cham- pionship challenge. Having only played two group games, losing nar- rowly to Clarecastle in the opening round before recording a comprehen- sive victory over Ballyea, at that stage it seemed as if the Clare Cup triumph was the spark St Joseph’s needed to ingite their season and kick on an- other gear in the championship.
However, after much rehabilita- tion since their golden period at the turn of the millenium, perhaps it was too much too soon for the emerging young side. A succession of injuries ravaged their threadbare squad and they were unable to contain a ram- pant Corofin side who outfought them in a tough encounter in Cusack Park. They did manage to win their final game against Inagh but it wasn’t enough to secure a quarter-final place and the disappointment somewhat overshadowed their previous Clare GitiomsteKons
That is not to devalue the Clare Cup as they were proud to win their sixth title, it’s just that St Joseph’s real- ised that the championship is where a team is primarily evaluated and to fall at the first hurdle again, only confirmed that they were not quite ready to step out of their period of transition just yet.
Coinciding with the Clare Cup tri- umph last year was the introduction of trainer Sean Chaplin who was asked to join the St Joseph’s manage- ment through his link with manager Kevin Kennedy in the Clare Inter- mediate set-up. Providing fresh ideas and a new voice, Chaplin set about reviving the side after a disappoint- ing 2006 in which they flirted with relegation. The Clare Cup win last year was a Significant first step on the road to reviving their championship challenge.
“We had a good run in the cup to- wards the end of last year and went on to win it which was a great help but ultimately the championship is where you are going to be judged and while the Clare Cup was nice to
have at the end of the year, not hav- ing come out of the group was by far the disappointing part of the year.
“Now the real judge of how much we have progressed since last year will start in a few weeks time when we Start the championship.”
With a bye in the first round, St Joseph’s won’t commence _ their championship campaign until the last week in June when they face last year’s semi-finalists Sixmilebridge, Chaplin’s native club in round two. As the Chairman of the Sixmileb- ridge Minor Board and having rep- resented the club at all levels, this encounter throws up one of those real conundrums that only sport can provide but while the draw provided mixed emotions for Chaplin, he is totally focused on aiding St Joseph’s championship charge.
“Ttis strange alright. It has only been two or three years since I was on the ‘Bridge senior panel and would have been in the dressing room with all those lads. I have also been involved with most of the younger lads at un- der 21 level so I know them well. At
the same time, I have a job to do and they know I have a job to do and I mean it’s just a matter of getting on with it. On the day, the fact of where I’m from won’t matter. I will be in the St Joseph’s dressing room over that team and we will be preparing to have a right cut at the Bridge and try to get a result out of them 1f at all possible. At the end of the day, it is the 15 or 20 lads on the field that is going to win or lose any game and re- gardless of where I am from or any- thing else, it will have no bearing on the outcome of the game.”
With memories of last year’s dis- appointing championship still vivid, St Joseph’s won’t be taking any side for granted this year. One game at a time is their philosophy. The Crat- loe, Corofin and Tubber games will all be tackled in time. The Bridge 1s all that matters for St Joseph’s at the moment. That is the only realistic method they can apply to finally turn the corner.