Bobby Duggan: Ability to win close battles a lift to Clare

Clare’s ability to come out on the right side of so many tight battles in 2016 has restored confidence in the camp, according to Bobby Duggan.

Of the nine games contested by the Bannermen last year, four ended in one-point defeats — including the Division 1A relegation play-off against Kilkenny and their Munster quarter-final meeting with Limerick — while Davy Fitzgerald’s charges were three adrift of Cork when dumped out of the championship in July.

It was a far different story this spring with Limerick edged out by four points in the Division 1B decider; Tipperary beaten by the minimum in the league quarter-final and Waterford also overcome by a single point in the league decider.

Even in the drawn league final, Conor McGrath slotted an injury-time free to bring the game to extra-time.

From their 13 games across league and the Waterford Crystal Cup, Clare stand unbeaten. They’re grinding out results, says Duggan, and their confidence is all the better for it.

“The league title was significant because in the last few years we were unlucky in some results. Even last year against Kilkenny, losing out by a point, and then in the championship the matches with Cork and Limerick. It resulted in looking like us having a bad year,” reasoned Duggan who featured in seven of Clare’s nine league games this spring.

“This year... even the last day (the league final replay) we came out on top by a point. I think that has made a difference. We are on the right end of the results this year rather than just being off the mark last year. This year we keep hanging in there hoping that results will go our way. That is a massive part of the game, you need to stay going until the bitter end.

“Even Domhnall O’Donovan with that magic point in 2013 which helped us go on to win the All Ireland, you have seen things happen before. You can always expect it to happen if you are prepared for it. Grinding out wins is a massive part of the game. You mightn’t be deserving of them some days, but if you get them, they are hugely important and huge for confidence building.

“The last day, people might have thought the game was gone from Clare, but when Tony came back to get those two points it proved that anything can happen.”

Kelly’s return to the starting team for both the league final and replayed encounter saw Duggan, still eligible for U21, drop to the bench.

“Competition has massively stepped up, we saw the likes of Tony (Kelly) coming on the last day having a huge game. Before that I was playing myself so trying to get back into those spots is going to be tough. Competition has really stepped up this year and I think it has benefitted us hugely. You can see that because we are playing competitive games between ourselves in training, there is a huge difference.”

Benefiting the set-up too has been their move to the county’s centre of excellence at Caherlohan. “It has contributed a massive amount in terms of we have been on a hurling pitch all year. In the last few years, we have trained on astroturf and stuff like that. I think it made a difference in terms of our league campaign. I don’t know if it is the sole reason, but having facilities that you can train on a field every night and have lights instead of having to travel to Limerick.”