Clare U21s boss Kinnerk hails his ‘once in a lifetime’ panel

Clare hurling coach Paul Kinnerk has labelled the county’s three-in-a-row Munster U21-winning team as a "once in a lifetime group".

The Banner annihilated Cork by 15 points on Wednesday, clinching the team’s fifth provincial title on the hop following minor victories in 2010 and 2011. Kinnerk was drafted in by joint-managers Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor as minor coach at the outset of this remarkable success story, the scalp of Cork stretching their unbeaten run in Munster to 14 games over five years.

“It has been incredible,” reflected Kinnerk. “If you told us five years ago down in Walsh Park when we were beaten by Waterford by eight points in the first round of the Munster minor championship that this team would go on and win five provincial championships in a row I would have thought that you were mad.

“With this group of players they have got it. Their standards are so high. Cork came into it in the second half but I still thought our lads were relentless in their efforts. The blocking and hooking was immense and any score that Cork got they had to work so hard for. They are an incredible group, a once in a lifetime group.”

The marquee names of Tony Kelly, Colm Galvin and Séadna Morey have never lost an U21 championship game in their three years but Kinnerk hailed the team’s lesser known lights who led the way at Cusack Park.

“Eoin Enright for me was fantastic at midfield. He went through some amount of ball and no one sees the blocks he was putting in. He was super. Jarlath Colleran may not be as well known as some of our other players, but he was fantastic at corner-back. Those lads are brilliant.

“We have a panel of 37 players and it is the boys that didn’t even get to tog out tonight that are making sure that the lads who started here are being pushed to the wire in training. We try and train 30% harder than what we are likely to face in a match so that our boys are so well prepared. That is what we try and do. It needs 37 players to pull that off.”

Gerry O’Connor hailed Kinnerk as “a mathematical genius” following the win and the coach provided an intriguing insight as to how Clare countered a sweeper system which had served Cork so well in their semi-final win over Waterford.

“We studied Cork over the last few weeks and we knew they would play the sweeper. The boys were probably sick and tired of us covering the sweeper over the last two weeks. Every condition and scenario was to do with the sweeper because we know we are comfortable with 15-on-15 and possibly the toughest games we have had over the last number of years have been dealing with the sweeper.

“The lads went in with confidence knowing that over the last 10 days they had the sweeper system sufficiently covered. That showed in the first 15 minutes. We really hit into the game and worked the ball around, trying to keep that extra man they had in defence out of it.”