Team by team guide to all the team challenging for the Offaly Senior “B” Football Championship

GROUP 2 - CLARA

Manager – John Rouse;

Selectors – Alan Cronin, John O'Hara, Brendan Lowry;

Captain – Cathal Maher;

Retirements/Long term injuries – Ed Cullen;

New players – Christian McKeown, Ryan Carroll, Myles Handy, Kevin Minnock, Ben Kennedy, Eoin Gavin, Ciaran McKeown, Liam Flynn, Greg Byrne, Brian Hogan, Evan Cronin, Kevin Gavin, James Cullen;

Last year – Relegated from senior;

Star player – Cormac Delaney;

Prospects – Relegated from senior last year for the second time in less than a handful of years, Clara are the title favourites. They bounced back at the first time of asking last year and know the importance of doing so again. Clara have fallen a long way from the days when they were perennial contenders for the Dowling Cup. While they are now in the second tier, they are signs of a revival and they will be working hard to achieve this. In Cormac Delaney, Marcas Dalton and Ed Cullen, they have three of this grade's most influential players and they should be strong. Knockout football will define their year and sometimes Clara can be suspect in this red hot environment. The minimum requirement for them is to reach the final.Anything else will be a failure for Clara and the stakes are huge for them. They are the team to beat.