Charleville stand ready
Charleville v Feakle (Clare) Sunday, November 18 The Gaelic Grounds, 1.30pm
CHARLEVILLE will make the trip to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick this weekend looking to secure another Munster Club hurling title just seven years after securing the junior hurling title in 2011.
The Avondhu men have made a dramatic rise through the county ranks over the last number of years and will round that off next season when they take their place in the senior county hurling grade for the first time in their history – but in the meantime the small matter of a Munster Final with Clare champions Feakle awaits – and that will be the only focus for this golden generation of Charleville hurlers.
A comfortable, semi-final win over Kerry side Lixnaw set Charleville up well for this one, but there is little doubting that the opposition this weekend will bring a lot more to the table than the Kingdom side were able to manage.
Of course, the names like Darragh Fitzgibbon, Danny O’Flynn will take the attention of most of the Clare side’s defensive stars, but there are plenty other Charleville players likely to cause the Banner side problems throughout the fixture.
Tim Hawe, Andrew Cagney, Mark Kavanagh, Alan Dennehy, Jack O’Callaghan, Jack Buckley and Jack Doyle will also have huge says this weekend however fresh from being named an AllStar Fitzgibbon will be the big draw here.
O’Flynn’s hand injury that has stunted his performances in the last couple of games will likely have improved since the game against Lixnaw and that will be a big plus for a side that have shown plenty, but still far from their full potential since their quarter final win over Fermoy earlier in the year.
Feakle won the Clare championship in impressive fashion and battled past Clonea of Waterford in the provincial semi-final to book their place in the showpiece game. The Clare side will bring plenty to the weekend’s fare.
The Banner County champions showed they have a real eye for goal in the semi bagging 5-15 away to the Waterford champions.
Raymond Bane was the hero that day in Fraher Field bagging three of the five goals and the potent attacker will be looking to cause maximum damage on a Charleville defence that will have their work cut out for them in the final provincial game of the season.
Val Donnellan’s side have shown well all season seeing off the challenge of Tubber in the Clare final by an impressive nine points. 0-27 to 0-16
Star man Shane McGrath and Oisin Donnellan will be huge players this weekend and while Charleville are currently the favourites with the bookmakers this one will be won on the pitch and not in the betting shop.
Charleville have plenty going for them and with the likes of coach Ben O’Connor driving them on from the side-line there are few that will question either their ability or focus for this one.
O’Connor has been a hugely positive influence on Charleville this year and with Tony McAulliffe and John Moloney also going above and beyond to make sure Charleville have everything they need, all pre-game indications point to the Cork side’s win – albeit this one is likely to go all the way to the final whistle.
Verdict: Charleville