Daniel Goulding
Friday, January 22
McGrath Cup Final
Cork v Clare, Mallow GAA Complex, 7.30pm
The two most successful teams in the history of the McGrath Cup meet in Friday’s final at the impressive GAA Complex in Mallow. Clare, in fact, are way out on their own at the head of the roll of honour with 12 titles, though they haven’t won the competition since 2008.
Given Waterford won the McGrath Cup outright this time last year and then went on to have a miserable season that included just one competitive win over the remainder of the year, reading too much into McGrath Cup form is never a good idea.
Nonetheless, Clare have clipped smartly through their opening games of 2016, claiming a 1-10 to 1-9 win over Tipperary thanks to a late Kieran Malone goal. The 0-12 to 0-9 defeat of Kerry comes with an asterisk attached, however, as the Kingdom fielded a significantly weakened side made up chiefly of U21 players.
Clare manager Colm Collins has used the competition to cast an eye over some new talent, with Cian O’Dea, Keelan Sexton and Damien Burke among those to get game time. Playing in Division III of the Allianz Football League once again this year, the Banner open their campaign against Sligo on Sunday week.
On the same day, Cork get their campaign underway with a significantly trickier assignment at home to Mayo, an indication, if it were needed, of the gulf that exists between the sides. Remember that Cork beat Clare by 1-20 to 1-8 in the Munster Championship last summer.
The Rebels, under new manager Peadar Healy this year, have beaten Limerick (1-10 to 0-12) and Waterford (3-19 to 1-5) en route to the final. Healy experimented in the early rounds, but has named a strong team for this game, with Daniel Goulding (0-11 in the competition so far) starting for the third game in a row at corner forward having fallen out of favour under the previous manager.
Ian Maguire, the rangy St Finbarr’s man, also looks to be central to Healy’s plans after injury denied the talented midfielder any real role in 2015.
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