Hayes to stay and Daly set to follow suit

GAELIC GAMES/Managerial appointments: Anthony Daly, like Conor Hayes in Galway, looks set to be reappointed as Clare hurling manager for a third year at next Tuesday's county board meeting. Hayes confirmed yesterday his decision to return after guiding his team to the All-Ireland final.

This achievement ensured last year's in-fighting in the Galway hurling board, when minor manager Mattie Murphy was initially installed in his place, was avoided with unanimous ratification on Monday night.

Hayes cited the new qualifier system as the ideal preparation for the displays that ousted Tipperary and Kilkenny from the championship. "We needed those extra games. In other years it would take us a championship game or two to find the best side, but by then you could be gone out of the race.

"The side which started the All-Ireland final had changed a lot from that which started the first of the qualifiers against Laois. Those games brought our side on a lot.

"We now know what is required to win an All-Ireland. Nothing is guaranteed, we will have a lot of work to do, but this year the players learnt what it takes to win it. Whether we make that other step remains to be seen, but we feel it is worth giving it another shot."

Hayes will retain the management team of Gerry Dempsey, Pearse Piggott, Seamus Coen and Seán Silke.

"We know now exactly what we have to do to win an All-Ireland and if you look at the Tipp match you can see there is something special about this group of lads.

"The one thing we did not have this year was experience. It stood to Cork in the final, most of them were playing in their third final. That counts, it always has, but now we too have that experience.

"When you look at the way this side has developed it was not a hard decision to stay on. It wasn't an easy one, either, but there is great excitement back in Galway hurling again."

With the senior players expected to remain in Clare, the reappointment of Daly and his management team of Fr Harry Bohan, Alan Cunningham and trainer Johnny Glynn is considered a formality.

Last week Brian Lohan, speaking at the Guinness hurling legends team announcement where he was selected as full back, confirmed he would be available in 2006.

"There has been no talk of retirement of any players in the county," said PRO Des Crowe. "It also looks like the status quo of the management is to remain. It is understood to be a case of just making the announcement."

Daly, however, is yet to confirm this but there is no obvious opposition to the reappointment especially considering Clare came the closest to denying Cork a second successive title at the semi-final stage.

Already, a new Clare football ticket of joint managers Donal Buckley and Michael Brennan, from Kerry and Galway respectively, has been put in place to replace John Kennedy.

In Cavan, Martin McElkennon has been appointed senior and under-21 football manager for a two-year period. Former Derry player Damian Cassidy, who managed Bellaghy to the Derry senior championship last Sunday, will continue as his assistant. Both men stepped into the breech this year when former manager Eamonn Coleman was forced to step down for health reasons.