Making a mark in Munster is now Sixmilebridge’s target

Sixmilebridge joint-captain Seadna Morey says the club are determined to make amends for their recent poor record in the Munster championship.

The Clare men open their provincial campaign at home against defending champions Ballygunner in November 3’s quarter-final.

The Waterford champions squeezed past ’The Bridge by a point in a semi-final in Walsh Park in 2017 — two years previously they lost by the same margin to Na Piarsaigh. The 2013 campaign was also a forgettable affair with those same Limerick champions hammering them in the final by 18 points.

Morey admitted that those defeats still sting: “I feel like we have unfinished business in Munster. We’ve been there three times and not performed the way we can so we have to focus on that now. We’ll enjoy the next few days but when we come back in we have no better man to help us refocus than Davy Fitz.

"We played Ballygunner in Walsh Park two years ago and they got on top of us so we’ll be looking to rewrite that and just put in a performance because that’s the main thing.”

After Sunday’s win over Cratloe, Fitzgerald said Sixmilebridge’s preparations in the build-up were intense - and for good reason, admits Morey.

To be honest, we didn’t perform the way we could have in the quarter-final and the semi-final and I think the teams had more say in those games that we wanted them to.

"We showed composure in the last couple of minutes of those games to see them out and beating Cratloe was just about getting the performance out of ourselves and once we got ahead of Cratloe we never let them back into the game. These are the days you dream of when you’re younger and to be living here with your family, friends and brothers it’s incredible.”

That Cratloe were their final opponents was a motivating factor in itself. Morey explained: “They knocked us out in the quarter-final last year and they are our next door neighbours and the parish of Cratloe extends right into The Bridge village. We’ve grown up with those lads and have built an unbelievable rivalry.

"Every time we go out on the field the rivalry is so intense and we were just dying to get over them in the championship. It’s a hurling community and lads will do anything for this club,” continued the 26-year-old.

“You’ll see the volunteer effort that is put in every day whether it’s cutting the grass or doing something. There’s an unbelievable sense of community within Sixmilebridge and that transfers to all the players growing up. We know what people put into it and we want to do the same for them.”