I was talking to one of the lads back in February and he said that Howard had missed the trials, and he wasnât on the panel for challenges, etc at that stage.
His dad was a tough cookie. Iâm surprised he didnât end up out in Patrickswell.
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Of the minor team in 2015; you have no Eoghan Mac, Jack OâGrady, Conor McSweeney, Tommy Hayes, Conor Houlihan, Conor Byrnes, Darragh Carroll. Who were ahead of the likes of OâConnell, OâReilly, Ahern, etc at the time.
Eoghan Mac is obviously a huge loss, heâs a serious goalkeeper and a leader too. There isnât a goalkeeper on the panel as good as him. Adam OâBrien of Ahane, Jamie Power of Monaleen and Jason Gillane of the Well are the goalies on the panel. Not sure who has been playing in the recent challenges but OâBrien is handy and Iâd favour him of the 3 personally.
Jeromeâs article seems to imply that OâGrady and McSweeney also opted out. But both were playing for their respective clubs at the weekend, and both are good hurlers. I would have liked to see them at 2 & 3 respectively. They were both on the panel last year too.
Tommy Hayes was starting for Doon last year, but wasnât even listed on the panel for the weekend, with his teammate McPartland on the panel now.
Maybe Conor Houlihan has been slightly hurt by the strength of Na Piarsaigh, very hard to win a place in their senior team. Heâd be one of their intermediates best players but still hard to force yourself in.
Little surprised that Conor Byrnes isnât there since 4 of his clubmates are. Would always have seen him as a handy player.
And then youâve got Darragh Carroll, havenât really heard much of him in a Limerick sense after he went to Newport.
Couple of others from around the county that I thought might have made it- Kyle Dillon of Bruff, Paul OâBrien of Mungret, Dylan OâShea of Garryspillane, Ciaran OâConnor of Kilmallock, Mikey OâGrady of Knockainey, maybe Josh Ryan.
Probably none of those would be starters though, thereâs a nice bit of depth there already.
Without knowing whoâs been playing where in challenges or whoâs going well in training; the team Iâd pick for Clare:
OâBrien
Boylan OâMeara Timmons/Barry
Adams Hayes Hourigan
OâLoughlin Grimes
Boylan Murphy Houlihan
OâConnell Flanagan OâReilly
As far as Iâm aware that leader panel may be wrong. Or maybe is just the panel for the first game. Eoghan Mc, Sweeney and Dylan O SHea are in the plans.
Jamie Power will be in goals, Josh Adams will be full-back.
Things are not good in this set-up and we could be in for a rough night in Ennis.
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Whatâs the deal there like? Thereâs a good crop of players there, if not as star-studded as last year. I get that they may not have had a whole pile of access to their senior players. If itâs question marks over the management themselves, they may not be top class, but they did win an All-Ireland last year.
By all accounts, Clare are at nothing at this level and it would be a massive shock if we lost, I think. Tipp are a different story altogether.
As for Adams at full-back; that could work⌠Iâd prefer McSweeney tbh. Personally, I donât think OâMeara is a full-back but he could do a job there but heâd be better at wing-back, half-forward or even midfield. Is Josh a full-back? I donât know about that either tbh but heâs a decent enough player and a big unit.
Weâre back ar Ciaran Carey levels of 21s budget for year.
13/15 last week, but there are a few very hard ones to call this week but Iâll go for:
Senior A- Doon, Na Piarsaigh, Kilmallock
Senior B- Monaleen, Murroe/Boher, South Liberties
Premier Intermediate- Mungret, Feohanagh, Bruff
Intermediate- Croom, Dromin/Athlacca, St. Patâs, Claughaun/Old Christians, Effin, Granagh/Ballingarry
Having seen Adare & Ballybrown last week, itâs hard not to see them losing again this week. Nothing to suggest otherwise. Doon vs the Well is the tough one to call; the Well were obviously a lot more impressive last week but how bad were Adare. Doon were unimpressive, NaP were there for the taking but they didnât have the nous to expose it. But with Gillane a potential injury doubt⌠Doon have a few players to come in who didnât start last week; could see them edging it. But I could be totally wrong, itâs a difficult one to call.
Same with all 3 at the lower grade. Murroe/Boher were one of the teams to let me down last week, Ahane just about got the win⌠Iâve gone for Murroe/Boher to bounce back and get the win. Based on South Libertiesâ impressive win last week, they should get another 2 points. Monaleen-Cappamore will be tight, but Monaleen might have that bit extra scoring power.
Bruree were so bad last week, itâs hard to see how they could turn it around even if Mungret are probably the side that their sheer physical power is most likely to exploit. But they were awful and Mungret got a good win, Iâll have to go for them. Feohanagh should have too much for Pallasgreen and without Paudie Leahy, Bruff should be beating Blackrock.
Croom should have too much for Hospital/Herbertstown, and Dromin/Athlacca should win handily aswell. St. Patâs vs Knockaderry will be closer, but Knockaderry were very slow off the mark last week and with Hegarty, Cronin, the Mullinses and Moran; Patâs should get another win. Should be a right battle though.
NCW vs Old Christians is another very hard one to call, could end up being a battle for last place depending on how NaP are. Iâm going to tip the City side; just think they have a few forwards capable of posing NCW serious problems. Effin vs Glenroe could be a cracking game; probably a battle for top spot and both are promotion contenders. Will surely be close, Iâm going to marginally tip Effin. And then G/B should beat NaP2.
About 8 games there over the weekend that are hard to call, and Iâd be surprised if they are decided by more than 3 or 4 points.
Itâs been ropey from the start. They donât seem to be pulling as a group and I believe a couple of players only found out that theyâd been released from the panel by being removed from Whatsapp notifications. They got tanked by the Kilmallock seniors in a challenge - a club team should never be beating a county one.
Adams would be a decent call at centre-back but it seems Kyle Hayes will be there with Willie OâMeara in midfield. Conor McSweeney would have been the obvious candidate for full-back but heâs off the panel.
Iâd imagine theyâll line out something like
Power
J. Boylan Adams Timmons
Hourigan Hayes OâLoughlin
OâMeara Grimes
Houlihan Murphy C.Boylan
Mackey Flanagan OâReilly
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Go back revising for your oral Irish kid .
Is the 21s match not on TG4 ?
Ah Jaysus, did I make a wrong prediction 5 months ago? Should I make a song and dance every time you get something wrong?
Think it is?
Tis
Aah got mixed up thinking it was next week, wasnât on the Sky Guide.
John the Baptist won some U-17.5 All-Ireland title today against Blackwater CBS, Lismore; not sure of the grade. Some good players on the team though- OâMahony, OâShea & Tobin from Garryspillane; OâGrady & Franklin from Kilteely/Dromkeen.
Even less of a crowd in Ballyagran tonight!
HT in Ballyagran
Drom/Broadford 2-3
Dromin/Athlaca 9 Points