This article is from page 69 of the 2010-01-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 69 JPG
CLARE will learn of their quarter- final opponents in the Oscar Traynor Cup next week with the draw for the last eight round scheduled to take place in the Aishling Hotel in Dublin on Friday, January 22.
The Clare side, managed by Hugh Kelly advanced to the knockout stag- es for the first time since 2004 thanks to taking four points from their two games in Group 5 of the prestigious nationwide competition.
In their opening game with the Limerick Desmond, Clare secured a valuable away point when Rock Rov- ers’ Stephen Hickey grabbed a share
of the spoils with a goal in the 90th minute.
Then in the second game against the Cork Business League at Mc- Donough Park in Newmarket-on- Fergus, an injury time strike from Bunratty’s Con Collins gave Clare a thrilling 3-2 win and safe passage into the quarter-final stage.
Those teams who will be in the draw with Clare are Galway or Mayo from Group 1, Roscommon, Sligo or Don- egal in Group 2, Tipperary Southern & District League in Group 3, Cork AUL in Group 4, Wexford in Group 6, The Defence Forces in Group 7 and Dublin AUL in Group 8.
Manager Hugh Kelly, in resum-
ing the management reins for the 2009/2010 competition said “any- thing is possible and we could go all the way”. The Derryman was man- ager of the Clare team that scored a famous victory in the competition six years ago, when they beat the Dublin Senior League 2-1 in the final played in Ballycasey.
It was Clare’s first national cup suc- cess since the Clare Youths won the Irish Inter League Youth Cup in 1971 thanks to a 2-0 win over Dublin Ath- letic Union League in Ennis Show- erounds. Clare’s Youths are also in the knockout stages of the FAI Youth Inter League for the first time since the 1970s.