Flannan’s team has been building since First Year - Bugler

By Stephen Barry

Brendan Bugler knew St Flannan’s had a good crop of players coming through right from their first year together.

In the Clare schools’ competition, the Ennis institution entered two teams alphabetically arranged by their names: A to Ls and M to Zs. Half the current management team took one side, and half took the other. Both teams beat all other opposition in the county to end up in the final together.

They have lived up to those standards by reaching the Dean Ryan Cup final just over two years ago, losing narrowly to Nenagh CBS, and now returning for a rematch in the Harty decider.

The Flannan’s manager feels that final, in November 2023, isn’t relevant to Saturday, given that both starting line-ups have seen half their team change in the intervening years.

“We're under no illusions. You're up against a real, real, real strong Nenagh team, with a lot of lads that have experience at adult hurling with their clubs. That counts for a lot,” said Bugler.

“Going back to the Dean Ryan, it's a completely different competition, and there is a change in personnel, both on their team and our team, so you can't really look to that game.

“That year that guys get playing adult hurling brings them on leaps and bounds. They have a lot of guys playing adult hurling, and we've one or two ourselves.

“It's going to be a tough challenge for us. It'll be our toughest challenge to date, so we're going to need to have that 60-65-minute performance to be in with a shot here.”

The school has had to deal with tragedy in the past month with the passing of fifth-year student, TJ Chambers.

“We've had a tough couple of weeks over Christmas, and just the way the lads have responded in the last two games against Templemore and Tulla has been great,” Bugler added.

Their bench impact has been a decisive factor in those quarter and semi-final fightbacks, as well as their group-stage draw with Nenagh. However, Dara Kennedy’s injury-enforced absence is a major blow. The Clare centre-back was named on the Minor Hurling Team of the Year in both 2024 and ‘25.

“Quite a few of the lads on both teams have represented Tipperary and represented Clare as well, so there's a lot of familiarity there.

On paper, it's going to make for a great game, so hopefully we'll get that,” Bugler concluded.