Athenry face anxious wait over ref report on Cloonan
Aodan MacSuibhne issued Cloonan and John O’Brien straight red cards following an off-the-ball incident in the 54th minute of Saturday’s tie at Cusack Park, Ennis.
Athenry manager Billy Caulfield is hopeful the inter-county defender will only receive the minimum one-month suspension, which would make him available for the decider against James Stephen’s on St Patrick’s Day.
“I don’t really know what happened, it was close encounters inside there, the game was pretty frenzied at the time. Contact was minimal (in the incident), no-one was hurt, but there had been a lot of yellow cards before that, I suppose the referee just lost his patience,” Caulfield said.
“We’ve heard nothing official yet, but we’re hoping he’ll get just the month minimum. I don’t think there’s any question of a match-ban, that only applies at inter-county level, as far as I’m aware. He’s only a young lad it would be terrible if he were to miss the All-Ireland final because of something as harmless as this.
“Diarmuid is a very good player, an excellent sportsman, a good individual on and off the field. We’re very proud of him, and hopefully he’ll be available to us on March 17.”
Cloonan apart, the Athenry manager reports no other major worries, as his side gets set to face Kilkenny and Leinster champions James Stephens, impressive winners over O’Donovan Rossa.
“Michael John Quinn and Brian Hanley both have leg injuries, but it is nothing too serious. I didn’t see James Stephens as I was in Nenagh at the indoor athletics championships (Billy’s son Conor won the 800m), but I believe they were very impressive, especially in the first half.
“We’re expecting a major challenge, any team that comes out of Leinster or Munster will be battle-hardened, certainly won’t be overawed by the occasion. There will be no let-up in our preparations, I can assure you,” he said.
Meanwhile, Adrian Finan manager of their final opponents insists his side are not overly reliant on Eoin Larkin.
Larkin, named Kilkenny Club Hurler of the Year for 2004, has hit 2-25 in the Village’s last three games en route to an All-Ireland senior club hurling final against Galway giants Athenry.
His six frees at the weekend in Parnell Park again made him top scorer on the day, but for once he was outshone in front of the posts by Eoin McCormack who hit five in a scintillating first-half individual performance.
“We have very good players,” said manager Finan. “Up to this year everyone has said that the Village never had a forward. Then when we were doing well they were trying to give the credit to one guy.
“We know we have guys like Davy McCormack, Eoin McCormack, Richie Hayes. These guys are well able to score and maybe the pressure is taken off Eoin a little bit now with other fellas stepping up to the mark.”
Final opponents Athenry are bidding to add a fourth title to the trio they brought back between 1997 and 2001. Finan is keen to talk up his opponents’ pedigree.
“I’ve just seen the reports on the Athenry game in the papers, that’s all. We’ll get a video of it somewhere. I suppose themselves and Birr have been the two superstar teams in club hurling over the last 10 years. We aspire to that level, but that’ll be hard to do.”
Considering Kilkenny’s relentless wave of success at inter-county levels, it strikes as odd that it’s 14 years since one of their club sides could lay claim to being the best parish outfits in Ireland.
Glenmore were the last to reach that summit after a 1-13 to 0-12 defeat of Patrickswell in 1991, but Finan is more anxious to bridge the club’s own gap of 23 years than strike a blow for the county prestige next month.
“As far as we’re concerned, James Stephens are well overdue an All-Ireland title, but it is a bit odd to think that it’s something like 14 years since a Kilkenny club have won one.
“So, yes, it’s long overdue but unfortunately from our point of view Athenry are one of the really genuine class teams out there. We’re happy to be there though. It’s been long enough watching club championship matches from the stands or on television on St Patrick’s Day.”
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