Anthony Daly: Controversy will see John Kiely circle the wagons even tighter

John Kiely will also have been upset and annoyed at the incident last Sunday night when a Limerick player got involved with a Tipp opponent

Limerick manager John Kiely has the luxury of being able to leave established players on the bench, especially if he wants to transmit a message after last weekend. But he might also be thinking, 'we’ll win every game that’s going’.

During the week, I spotted a clip on Twitter of a 1999 league game between Clare and Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds which combusted in multiple bonfires of bad blood. At one stage of the clip, myself and the bould TJ Ryan are rolling around on the ground like a couple of old wrestlers.

It was no surprise that the video nearly went viral - if a similar amount of belting and scutching went on now, both teams would have ended up with about ten men. We always had it hot and heavy with that Limerick team but there was always an edge between the two counties, whether it was league, championship or a pitch opening.

The rivalry between the supporters has always been spiky too, but it is more pronounced down around the border, especially in Shannon, which has always traditionally had a strong Limerick work-force. Limerick fellas were never slow to pronounce their superiority but Clare always resented it, and were always determined to alter the history of the relationship.

It took us a while and we had to suck up a fair share of pain before we did. On my championship debut in 1990, Limerick arrived into Ennis and leathered us. We were much more competitive against them the following year in the Gaelic Grounds but they beat us again.

When they arrived back in Ennis for the 1993 Munster quarter-final, we made a pact beforehand that we were going to face them down. Jim McInerney promised us that we were ‘going to bate them back to the bridge in Limerick’.

During that time, Cork and Tipperary always seemed miles ahead of us but Limerick were a crowd you felt you could at least get close to. That day in 1993 was one of my sweetest ever days in a Clare jersey because we didn’t just beat Limerick – we laid down a marker that we had arrived. Our guiding mission going out that day was to try and bring some status back to Clare hurling and five years of pure misery.

Limerick were cock a hoop and we caught them cold, like an underdog nailing the favourite with a couple of big haymakers early on. They never recovered and we went on to win by four points.

Nearly 30 years on. Clare will be looking to make a stand again, especially considering Limerick’s current status in the game as the absolute standard everyone is trying to reach.

Of course, the conditions are different. A lot of these Clare lads have All-Ireland medals too, while there is every chance that these teams could meet again in the Munster final.

You’d wonder deep down if both managers really want to meet again before possibly squaring up again in the All-Ireland series. Limerick are already qualified in Munster but I still expect this clash to be full-blooded and intense. By the nature, history and tradition of Clare-Limerick games, it couldn’t really be any other way.

John Kiely won’t want to lose in Ennis, especially after being well beaten there in their last championship match in the Park in 2018. Clare need at least a point to be guaranteed a top three slot but the edgy history between these groups of players, along with the Clare public’s insatiable desire to put Limerick back in their box, should turn the Park into a tinderbox.

Tickets are as rare as hens teeth but the place was wedged when the sides drew in Ennis in the league in March. Both sides could have won. Limerick’s league form is unrecognisable now from what it was then but Clare will still take a lot out of that game because they were the better team that afternoon.

Irrespective of Limerick’s brilliance and almost unbeatable aura at the moment, trying to establish who will win is still always a toss in this fixture. It’s even more complex now considering the background noise in and around the Limerick camp.

A lot of the country believe that Aaron Gillane should have been sent off against Tipperary, which is the second time in Limerick’s last five championship games that Gillane has walked that tightrope. Does Kiely really want Gillane going toe-to-toe now with Conor Cleary and risking another flash point? In March, Gillane walked in that game.

Kiely will also have been upset and annoyed at the incident last Sunday night when a Limerick player got involved with a Tipp opponent. It has become a civil matter at this stage but, whatever the details, John can’t be happy that one of his players was in a pub so late ahead of a game seven days later.

For all their brilliance as a squad, there still has been a lot of flash points and nasty incidents involving Limerick players, but Kiely has a good track record of dealing with them, internally anyway. In that context, Kiely might use that as an excuse to circle the wagons even tighter.

He has the luxury of being able to leave established players on the bench, especially if he wants to transmit a message after last weekend. But he might also be thinking, ‘we’ll win every game that’s going’. That’s the attitude Brian Cody always had and Kiely is appearing more and more like Cody with each passing season.

I have a slight fancy for Clare but it’s still impossible to make any real call on this match until we see what Limerick team lines out. If Limerick go with a full deck, I’d expect them to win. But if they don’t, I’d give the nod to Clare.

For all the talk about Cork being under serious pressure tomorrow, I think Waterford are under just as much strain. That was obvious from Liam Cahill’s comments during the week when he urged the Waterford public to back the team to the hilt Sunday. Waterford won’t want to have to come to Ennis next weekend looking for a win but Cahill is probably coming at this from two different angles with his public request; as well as revving up the heat, he also wants to apply the pressure on Cork to see if they might fold. Cork looked devoid of spirit and togetherness in their last two games and, if the cracks appear again, the roof might cave in.

Cahill said that this was the biggest game of his time in Waterford – and it is. So the barricades will be up from every corner. Cork supporters would travel but whatever tickets might be floating, Waterford surely won’t let too many out of the county.

For the first time in the history of this fixture, Waterford have never been as heavily fancied, which is even more precarious in such an important match. Could that pressure get to Waterford? Will Cork just throw off the shackles and go for it? Could Cork push right up on the Waterford puckout and make Shaun O’Brien go long all afternoon?

Both teams are coming off the back of a defeat, but Waterford had a lot more to cling onto after the Limerick loss than Cork had a day later against Clare. A lot has been made of Waterford only managing three scores in the last 25 minutes but two of those were goals and you have to show real courage to get green flags against Limerick.

On all known form, you would have to fancy Waterford here. I’d expect them to win but I’d also expect Cork to man up and show up. If this team are to go anywhere, there has to be a defining day on their journey, especially when the situation so desperately demands it, a day when the time comes to shout stop. Just like we did in Ennis in 1993.