This article is from page 1 of the 2014-02-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
AN ATTENDANCE is excess of 10,000 is expected in Cusack Park this Sunday as Clare’s senior hurlers kick off their 2014 Division 1A National Hurling League campaign against Brian Cody’s Kilkenny.
The ground is expected to be able to host the fixture despite the inclement weather forecast for the week, with up to 12mms of rain possible on Friday. Clare come into the game on the back of a fourteen point loss to Tipperary in the Waterford Crystal Final under lights in the Gaelic Gounds on Friday night.
That game highlighted the gap between the All-Ireland champions and the other top hurling counties in terms of preparations according to Banner boss Davy Fitzgerald:
“We are way behind all the other teams in terms of work done. This time last year, going into the league we were eight weeks ahead of where we are this year.
“That’s the price of winning an AllIreland and we’re happy to pay it. It just means we might struggle in the early rounds of the league because we have an awful lot of work to do on catching up with the other teams. But we’ll knuckle down and we’ll get it done,” he told The Clare People this week.
Clare’s team won’t be finalised until closer to the weekend although it is expected to contain a couple of changes from the fifteen that started the All-Ireland final.
Cathal ‘Tots’ O’Connell and Seadna Morey are just two players expected to be pushing for starting places, while Peter Duggan, Shane Golden and Donal Tuohy are also in the reckoning.
Brian Cody is bringing a strong panel to Ennis, with Henry Shefflin expected to start the match. The Cats will be providing a guard of honour for Clare before the game starts.