Ballinacourty look to secure Munster Final spot

How or where would you start writing a preview of Ballinacourty’s Munster Senior Club Football Semi Final?

Not only do we not know who Ballinacourty be playing this Sunday, they don’t know where the game will be played, and there is even the possibility that the game might not even go ahead. Hardly ideal preparation is it?

The County Final in Clare is not due to be played until Saturday afternoon. The game is due to be played in Ennis if Cratloe should emerge winners on Saturday afternoon, but if Doonbeg who go into the game as the underdog despite winning the title eighteen times in the past while Cratloe have never won the Clare Senior Football Championship, the game goes ahead on Doonbeg’s own home venue.

However, what happens if the game ends in stalemate after and hour’s football on Saturday. Have the Clare County Board and the two clubs involved agreed that extra time will be played in the hope of finding a winner, and even after that, what happens if the game ends in stalemate.

The whole problem is one caused by the Clare County Board and one that other Counties have often found themselves in.

When they go on good run in the Inter county Senior Hurling and Football Championships, Club games involving the thirty plus players on the panel are suspended, and the end result is that come late October and early November, County Boards and Clubs are playing catch up to be ready for the Munster Championship.

Is it right that County Boards suspend games during the year? You answer that for yourself. We all will do what we can to try and help our county win a Munster or All-Ireland Final during the year, but we have to think of the consequences of the actions we take to do so, and the few hundred players who are left without meaningful games during the course of the summer months when we should be playing our games.

This is not a stab at the Clare County Board, but at County Board’s in general. Waterford in the past had no team competing in the Munster Club Championships because competitions in Waterford ran late. Thankfully this has improved over the past few years, and we now have our county played in good time and have our representatives ready to compete in Munster.

Can Munster Council do something to ensure that a repeat of what is happening this weekend does not happen again? They can. Will they however is the big question? I doubt it somehow is my answer.

Maybe a way to try and fix what is happening this weekend is to not hold draws for the different championships until the middle of October each year, and maybe throw in some sort of rule, that if the competing counties do not have their county final played by the date that the draw takes place, then they are not included in the draw. This might sound harsh to some, but it would ensure that County Boards would have to work hard to ensure that all games are played by a given date.

Cratloe are favourites to win tomorrow’s Clare County Final.

They go into the game having beaten Kilmurry-Ibrickane in the first round of the championship on a 0-11 to 0-4 score line. This was followed up with an equally impressive 4-11 to 0-12 win over Cooraclare and in the quarter finals they beat Kilrush Shamrocks 2-6 to 0-7 and in their recent semi final they had a 2-8 to 0-9 win over Eire Óg Ennis.

Doonbeg head into Saturday’s County Final after beating Lissycasey 1-13 to 1-10 in the first Round of the championship. In Round two they proved too strong for St Sennans Kilkee, winning 0-15 to 1-9 and in the quarter finals beat Cooraclare 1-8 to 0-4. In the semi finals recently, they beat Lissycasey for the second time in the championship, by the same margin as they won first time around, winning this time 0-15 to 0-12.

Which ever of the two sides Ballinacourty get to play, they will face a contrasting side to the other, but Packie Hurney’s charges will be ready for which ever come through and will be capable of beating either.

Cratloe are a side that play the game with speed. They like to favour a short quick puck out and to work the ball with speed and support up the field and once in front of their opponents goals they can prove to be very dangerous.

Doonbeg on the other hand tend to favour a slower more traditional game, but once they have the ball in front of their opponents goals, especially in the hands of David Turbidy they can be very dangerous.

Playing too days in a row will not be ideal for whoever comes through from Saturday’s County Final. However they will be looking to fellow Clare club Whitegate for Inspiration. They recently played the Intermediate County Final on Saturday and twenty-four hours later drew with Youghal in the Munster Semi Finals. Sometimes winning can give you great momentum games.

Ballinacourty have reached a Munster Final once before and will be confident that they can do so again this year. Their previous final appearance was in 2007 when they lost to Nemo Rangers.

They have a very experienced team. In the likes of Stephen Enright, Shane Briggs, Sean O’Hare, Richie Foley, Mark Fives, John Hurney who is set to return to the team after missing the game against Dromcollogher-Broadford after he was sent off on a straight red against Stradbally in the county final, Mark Ferncombe, Gary Hurney, Michael O’Halloran and Patrick Hurney they have experienced and some exciting players to watch.

Appearances by Waterford sides in a Munster Senior Club Football Final are rather thin on the ground. Stradbally in 1980, Kilrossanty in 1986 and again in 1988, Stradbally in 2004 where they lost after a replay, The Nire in 2006 and Ballinacourty twelve months later have all reached the final, but a Waterford side is yet to win.

Ballinacourty will feel that they can reach another final in 2013, and maybe go on to become the first Waterford Club to win the title by beating Dr Crokes from Kerry or Loughmore-Castleisney from Tipperary, but first they will have to overcome the obstacle put in front of them on Sunday afternoon.