This article is from page 41 of the 2008-06-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 41 JPG
DEFENDING champions _ Tulla, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Clarecastle and Eire Og have nearly 50 senior championships titles between them, but lofty reputations counted for nothing as the Canon Hamilton Cup race was launched at the weekend with an eight-match programme.
These big four were the big casu- alties on weekend one, all of them left reeling after shock defeats that plunge them headlong into fights for senior championship survival in their respective groups.
Pride of place goes to Inagh/Kilna- mona though, who in their first senior championship game ever claimed the scalps of county champions Tulla on Sunday afternoon thanks to a thrill- ing 2-17 to 0-15 win in Cusack Park.
“This was a great day for us,” en- thused Inagh/Kilnamona mentor Noel Hehir afterwards. “We went into this championship not knowing what to expect, but determined to give it a real go. We did that today, especially in the second half and it’s brilliant to get off to a winning start, especially against the county ove Oey
And, if Inagh-Kilnamona’s heroics reflected the changing landscape of the senior championship, so did the victories of both Clooney-Quin and Clonlara. Both have come from the intermediate ranks in the last two years and threw their senior champ- onship markers down in their open- ing contests. Clooney-Quin inflicted a humiliating 3-17 to 2-7 defeat on 2007 Senior B champions Eire Og.
“We showed great character to come back after the two goals – they were an awful sucker-punch before half-time. The lads responded bril- liantly in the second half – a better team than us would have struggled after those goals,” said manager Pat O’Rourke.
Clonlara were equally impressive in dispatching renowned champion- ship battlers Ogonnelloe in Killaloe, even though they had to make do without their ace forwards, Darach Honan and John Conlan due to the Leaving Cert. Afterwards, manager Jim Gully did his best to douse the expectations building up around his team after their impressive entreé into senior hurling.
“TV’d be disappointed if we don’t make the quarter finals and it was important to start with a win, but we have to keep our feet on the ground. There could be a lot of twists and turns in this group yet,” said Gully.
There’s no need to douse expeca- tions in Newmarket-on-Fergus any- more – they were extinguished for the time being with their lamentable per- formance against Wolfe Tones, when they bowed out with a whimper in the second half of a forgettable con- test that launched the championship on Friday night.
Then there’s Kilmaley – the 2004 champions shocking 2005 winners Clarecastle, largely on the back of an inspirational performance from Co- lin Lynch, who was the outstanding player on view during the opening salvos of the Canon Hamilton race that’s now up and running until Oc- tober.