Athenry a bridge too far for Camross

THE weather may still be a bit cold and wet but the hurling year is upon us with tomorrow's AIB All Ireland club semi finals. Both matches fit comfortably into the best traditions of the championship with none of the four provinces returning the same representatives as 12 months ago and sufficient doubt about who will be the finalists.

Wolfe Tones from Shannon are the only newcomers at this level and their encounter with Cushendall (Parnell Park, 3.00) revives the Clare Antrim rivalry of last year's final when Sixmilebridge took the All Ireland at Dunloy's expense.

Decisive factors in the Shannon club's favour are that Cushendall haven't the same positive semifinal track record as Dunloy and that Wolfe Tones, with the implacable Lohan brothers driving them from the back, are unlikely to suffer any lapse into complacency despite their inexperience at this level.

Both teams are stronger at the back although Ballygunner put ferocious pressure on Wolfe Tones in the second half of the Munster final and made four goals out of it. It's hard to see what is apart from Terence McNaughton and a few others - a young Cushendall team having the composure to do that.

Semple Stadium, Thurles (3.00) is the venue for the other semi final, between Camross of Laois - last seen at the All Ireland stage 20 years ago - and Galway's Athenry, who swallowed a poisonous late goal in the 1995 semi final when leading Dunloy by two points in injury time.

The Connacht Leinster meeting is the more inscrutable of the two.

Athenry, buoyed by years of under age success and an assemblance of hurlers that would be the envy of some counties, are the type of club for whom All Ireland success at some stage seems inevitable. Yet the stumble of two years ago holds out the possibility that even with an array of inter county talent (nearly every player holds an All Ireland medal at under 21 or minor level), they may be accident prone.

Such reservations ring alarm bells when the opposition has the gritty credentials of Camross. John O'Sullivan, last year's Laois captain, puts it this way: "You can never write off Camross. If it's down to who wants it the most, they'll win and if it comes down to a scrap, they're the best scrappers in the business. Their preparations are incredibly thorough.

They'll have dissected Athenry and will have a plan for everything. If that doesn't work, they'll have plan B."

The Laois club possess the edge of having come through a competitive Leinster championship, whereas Athenry, although they had to fight a path out of Galway, haven't been notably troubled since. Camross had to win against the odds in eliminating Wexford's Rathnure and the surprisingly sprightly challenge of O'Toole's from Dublin.

In terms of personnel, Athenry have such a range of options that they can name on the subs' bench Aidan Poinard, whose attacking acumen yielded four goals in two visits to Croke Park during last year's All Ireland minor championship.

The team revolves on two axes, Brian Feeney at centre back and Joe Rabbitte at full forward. Rabbitte is enjoying a good campaign, scoring and instigating in equal measure. Beside him is another minor star, Eugene Cloonan, who benefits from the attention that Rabitte draws.

Feeney's performances earned him the Player of the Championship award for Connacht with his physical presence, siege gun clearances and leadership at the back. His prowess will need batteries on full charge tomorrow because his counterpart for Camross is Joe Dollard, who is also his immediate opponent.

Dollard lacks pace, but his experience, reading of the game and skill have been central to Camross's progress. "He makes them tick," says O'Sullivan. "Ten points against Portlaoise in the county semi final and eight against us (O'Sullivan's club, Castletown) in the final. All the way through, he's been their focal point."

Unlike Athenry, the Laois club's reserve strength is restricted and there's a fair sprinkling of veterans, with PJ Cuddy in the full forward line and Joe Doran at full back, where he kept Eamonn Morrissey of O'Toole's quiet in the Leinster final. In the attack, back into the reckoning comes Fint Lalor, one of the county's most highly rated forwards.

In what is likely to be a finely balanced match, two considerations tilt the verdict in Athenry's direction. Firstly, although young, they are sufficiently robust to compete physically with Camross and secondly, the open spaces of Thurles will suit their younger, zippier players. Conditions may intervene to compensate but, like all Camross's recent victims, Athenry get the nod here.