The gates of Cusack Park could be reopened later this month to stage the third round of Clare SHC games.

Jody O’Connor was the first speaker on stage at last January’s GAA Games Development Conference.

Clare SHC

It’s been a rocky road to this year’s Munster SHC club final for Na Piarsaigh, a hell of a lot rockier than the fun trip they had two years ago after they had won their first Limerick senior title.

Ballyea caused a shock at Cusack Park on Saturday, defeating 2010 and 2011 champions Crusheen in the Clare SHC quarter-final.

TODAY:

Last year’s beaten finalists, Cratloe, were knocked out of the Clare SHC on Saturday when their final group game against Crusheen finished in a 0-16 apiece draw.

Pádraig Chaplin is fine-tuning the wiring in Setrights tavern.

The glory days of Newmarket on Fergus may be in the distant past but their achievements of yesteryear still demand huge respect from those who know their Clare hurling.

They provided one of the most uplifting stories of 2011.

Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea has become embroiled in a row between his county board and club Mayo Dublin, the Mayo GAA Supporters’ Club in the capital.

MUNSTER chairman Sean Walsh warned a motion from a Clare club calling for all club games to be played on a home and away basis would create a serious headache.

WHAT a difference a week makes.

IT has been a trying week for Munster Council chairman Seán Walsh.

FEW people are more aware of the qualities of burgeoning Na Piarsaigh and Limerick hurling star Shane Dowling than Niall Moran.

MUNSTER chairman Seán Walsh last night blasted Limerick champions Na Piarsaigh over their refusal to toss a coin to decide a venue for their provincial senior hurling championship club final against Crusheen of Clare.

HE may have been playing the poor mouth, but Crusheen manager Michael Browne was adamant his side were lucky to escape with a draw from Semple Stadium and have the most to work on ahead of Sunday’s replay at the same venue (2pm).

EVERY GAA parish has one — a character, a living embodiment of the club and its history.

NO matter who wins this game tomorrow a new name will be etched on the Billy O’Neill Cup, one dream still running, another dashed.

WHY is this game on in Thurles?

BRIGHTENING up some very dark days and putting a smile on people’s faces while keeping the recession at bay: that was the sentiment being expressed in Effin this week as they celebrated their Munster Club IHC title — their first provincial crown.

“BRILLIANT, absolutely,” that was the summation of Crusheen manager Michael Browne of two key saves, one in each half, by goalkeeper Donal Touhy in yesterday’s Munster Club SHC semi-final win.

THIS was a day that highlighted the beauty of the club championship.

SUCH is the level of analysis into the opposition at club level these days, in advance of Sunday’s Munster Club semi-final Crusheen manager Michael Browne knows almost as much about Carrigtwohill as he does about his own side.

THEY’LL don their usual blue and gold jerseys on their backs, but, according to selector and former player Seanie Barrett, when the hurlers of Carrigtwohill take to the field take on Crusheen, they’ll be wearing red and white on their sleeves conscious of the fact they are also carrying the hopes of Cork.

CLARE County Board chairman Michael O’Neill has defended the decision to play Sunday’s senior hurling decider between Crusheen and Sixmilebridge in Cusack Park despite the horrendous weather conditions and insists no representative from either club made an attempt to get the game postponed.

YOU thought conditions at the Clare senior hurling final were bad on Sunday last?

IT won’t bother Crusheen today, their title retained, but the question has to be asked: should this Clare SHC final have been allowed go ahead?

WHEN Sixmilebridge overcame Cratloe in the Clare senior hurling semi-final, the focus fell on veteran keeper Davy Fitzgerald who, despite being out of the game for a number of years, answered an emergency call and showed he had lost little of the nerve and catlike reactions that had seen him win two All-Irelands with Clare in the mid-90s.

OLLIE BAKER is set to follow his former Clare All-Ireland-winning teammates Davy Fitzgerald and Anthony Daly into inter-county senior management, after being recommended by an Offaly County Board appointments committee to succeed Joe Dooley as the county’s new manager.

TODAY

DAVY FITZGERALD is the only candidate in the race to be appointed Clare senior hurling boss ahead of tonight’s county board meeting at the West County Hotel in Ennis.

THE €106 million Western Rail Corridor was given a boost yesterday when a new station on the route got the green light.

ANTRIM:

CLARE boss Ger O’Loughlin has described the loss of last year’s team captain Brian O’Connell who has emigrated to Australia, as a massive blow ahead of their 2011 campaign.

Kilkenny's O'Loughlin Gaels and Raharney of Westmeath earned AIB Leinster SHC quarter-finals wins this afternoon, while in Munster, the hurlers of Kilmallock also claimed a semi-final berth.

MICHAEL BROWNE knows plenty about bringing teams to the Promised Land.

ST Gall’s and Portlaoise are the only two clubs in contention to retain their provincial titles as the action in this year’s AIB All-Ireland Club Championships gets cranked up a few notches in the coming weeks.

CRUSHEEN made history yesterday in Cusack Park, collecting their first Clare SHC title at the expense of Cratloe, a late goal from Paddy Meaney finally killing off their opponents.

THE Cratloe-Crusheen clash in tomorrow’s Clare SHC final (Cusack Park, Ennis, 3.30pm) reinforces the sense of a power shift in Banner hurling, from traditional powerhouses to newer forces.

PATRICK CRONIN is set to miss Cork’s entire National Hurling League campaign after suffering a serious knee injury. Cronin will be out of action for a minimum period of three months but it is hoped he may be able to make a return before Cork’s Munster SHC opener against Tipperary in Páirc Ui Chaoimh on May 31.

ALL-IRELAND winner Niall Gilligan has turned down an initial approach to link up with the Clare senior hurling panel for the 2010 campaign.

DUBLIN will have to plan without full-back Kevin Ryan — out with a hamstring injury — for their Allianz NHL league clash with Cork at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday. But the Dubs are hopeful centre-back Tomás Brady and midfielder Johnny McCaffrey will have recovered from knocks sustained when, respectively, assisting Na Fianna and winners Lucan Sarsfields in the Dublin U-21HC final last Saturday.

CLARE senior hurling manager Mike McNamara has made one change to the team which defeated Waterford in the opening round for Sunday’s Munster Championship semi-final against Limerick at Semple Stadium.