Banner’s superior strikeforce the key
Clare won this game because they had superior firepower to their opponents, Waterford. All of the Clare forwards scored, and even though Colin Ryan contributed frees, the fact that he scored points in the second half, punishing Déise indiscretions, was vital in pulling Clare back on level terms. They achieved this by the 50th minute.
Waterford, on the other hand, were over-reliant on Maurice Shanahan for scores. He proved a handful for young David McInerney under the dropping ball in the first half, and was excellent when he took over free-taking duties from the inconsistent Padraic O’Mahony.
However, apart from Shanahan, Jake Dillon’s 1-2 and Seamus Prendergast’s two points, not enough of a contribution was made by the other Waterford forwards.
Clare’s winning margin of eight points was satisfactory from their point of view. They controlled most of the second half, but their half-back line got on top and Brendan Bugler in particular thundered into the game, driving them forward, especially in the last 20 minutes.
This dominance at half- back allowed Clare to move the ball freely into space and they were well on top once Shane O’Donnell pounced for their opening goal.
The 18-year-old O’Donnell, Darach Honan and Conor McGrath, who made up the Clare full forward line, were starved of possession in the first half but were better after the break. O’Donnell was replaced immediately after getting that vital goal, shades of Clare’s All-Ireland victory in 1995 when Eamonn Taaffe got the winning goal but didn’t finish the game.
Clare’s win was thoroughly deserved, but the performance was a mixed bag up until O’Donnell’s goal.
The turning point.
The decisive twist in the game was Shane O’Donnell’s goal. The sides were deadlocked when Clare won a 20-metre free slightly to the right of the Waterford goal. Tony Kelly stepped up to take and it was clear he was going for goal, as Colin Ryan had been hitting the frees up until then.
In what was a very tight game, I was surprised Kelly elected to go for goal, and his effort was blocked. Kevin Moran seized possession and I felt the Déise had won a huge psychological advantage. There is an age-old GAA adage that a defender should never cross his own goal if at all possible — the nearest sideline should always be the defender’s destination. Moran, always so assured, should have turned and headed out to the left wing, but he was blocked down on the edge of the square and O’Donnell buried the vital goal.
Waterford’s corner-back Noel Connors was switched from his usual left corner to pick up Clare’s Conor McGrath, and he stuck with McGrath everywhere the Clareman went, with the result that McGrath had little influence on the game.
However, Connors was caught on the wrong side of a group of players in front of his goal on 62 minutes, and McGrath was free to run onto the breaking ball — he finished superbly for the second Clare goal.
Last year Clare made the mistakes that handed the advantage to Waterford; this year it was Waterford who made those errors. In that game Clare failed to score in the last 10 minutes but this year, in that period, they tacked on points with aplomb.
I wrote last Friday that goals win championship matches and errors lose them, and that was the case. When Waterford look at the DVD of this game, they’ll see missed frees and innocuous fouls handing Clare easy points — and above all, that without experience and scoring power up front it’s difficult to survive in a championship game.
Waterford reduced the deficit to four points near the end, but it was academic at that stage. Clare were well on top.
The boost to Clare.
Clare had won very few Munster championship games in the last few years, so this is a big win and a huge confidence booster.
The advantage for Davy Fitzgerald is that they played poorly at times, made the wrong decisions and at times their option-taking up front was poor — so there’s room for improvement.
In the second half John Conlon surged through and could have gone further but he parted to Darach Honan. His pass was too high — even for Honan — and they missed a certain goal.
On other occasions they had Waterford on the rack but failed to press home their advantage; they surged ahead early on after Darsch Honan’s good point in the 11th minute, but they then failed to score from play until John Conlon’s 30th-minute point.
This will be a major concern heading into future championship games.
Their puck-out strategy didn’t fire, and they lost too many puck-outs to Waterford’s midfield and half-backs. The introduction of Peter Duggan, who won three balls in the air, swung the momentum back their way, but it’s a concern.
Just before half-time keeper Patrick Kelly tried a short puck-out but it was intercepted by Kevin Moran, who scored a good point. These are the little things that must be corrected.
Colin Ryan was very assured all through from placed balls, but several short sideline cuts he took went awry, with Waterford winning the ball. The tactic of hitting a quick, accurate line ball to a teammate and moving to take a return pass depends on the accuracy of the initial sideline cut, but Ryan mishit his efforts on occasion.
That worked well in the league but opponents will be on-message with the tactic from now on and it will have to be improved or abandoned before the next game.
Clare’s tackling and shutting down of opponents was generally good, as was the form of their defenders generally.
The goal handed to Jake Dillon of Waterford in the first half will be a good learning experience — to clear to the wings instead of trying to pinpoint passes out of their inside defensive line, which can lead to defensive errors.
On the other hand, Darach Honan showed he’ll be a handful for any full-back line if he gets the supply, and the small mistakes can be worked on and eradicated for the next game against Cork.
