Anthony Daly: The stars aligning for an all Munster All-Ireland final
NEAR NEIGHBOURS: Shane O'Donnell of Clare in action against Kyle Hayes of Limerick during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Final match between Limerick and Clare at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
I was talking to four girls from Kildysart during the week about their trip to Croke Park last week to support the footballers in their All-Ireland quarter-final. They had a great time over the two nights but it wasn’t a cheap experience.
They went up on Friday on the train but they had to stay in Leixlip. After going out in Leixlip on Friday night, they hit the hot spots in Dublin after the match on Saturday before getting a taxi back to their AirBnB.
They did make a right weekend of it but it just reaffirmed how much of a financial commitment it is for people from this side of the country, especially families, planning to go to Croke Park for both semi-finals this weekend.
Limerick always bring a big crowd to Croke Park but there appears to be a savage Clare crowd travelling east today. You can never be fully sure about Galway, especially after the Cork game, but the word on the ground is that they’re not travelling in huge numbers.
It can be easy too to forget how much of a haul it is for people, especially in the western parts of all three counties. We’re living in Tullycrine now for 22 years. Having been born and reared in Clarecastle, I see my home now as real west Clare. Yet there’s a lot of territory to my left as I look out my front door. The lads coming into the pub would often be talking about other fellas ‘back wessht’.
The atmosphere, mood and support behind this team now though, has seen support come from every nook and cranny in the county, no matter how far away it actually is from wherever Clare are playing.
Going back to Croke Park is always special. Taking on Kilkenny brings back brilliant memories for me too, especially the 1997 All-Ireland semi-final, which was the only time Clare have ever beaten Kilkenny in the championship.
When I was manager between 2004-2006, we had some right battles with the stripey men too, drawing the 2004 All-Ireland quarter before narrowly losing the replay. We also went down to them after a real battle in the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final.
Everyone is really excited again now. Kilkenny no longer have those great teams that we couldn’t beat in the 2000s, while we always feel that we go well in Croke Park too.
There is much more pressure on Kilkenny, having lost the last two All-Ireland semi-finals to Waterford and Cork. The thought of losing another semi-final now is nightmare stuff for Brian Cody and these players.
Brian Lohan has already achieved his main aim at the outset of this year, which would have been to get back to Croke Park. But now that we’re there, and that Clare have been so impressive and consistent all season, he and players will feel that they can drive on now and reach the final.
Clare are going into this match in an ideal position, especially after the way they won the quarter-final against Wexford through pure grit and determination. Clare didn’t play well but they refused to lose and just wouldn’t accept defeat.
So often down through the generations, Clare have accepted defeat too easily, with obvious exceptions. We did alter that mindset in the 1990s, but even then, we still lapsed on occasions, which are still regrets I harbour to this day.
I sometimes blamed Dickie Murphy for costing us the 2001 Munster semi-final against Tipperary but there were plenty of other games that we let get away from us too easily.
The 1999 championship is still a real sore point for myself. We could have beaten Cork in the Munster final but the pain of losing the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny was all the more acute again because it would have secured us a ticket to another shot at Cork, which we were absolutely mad for. Can you imagine how pumped up Ger Loughnane would have had us for that game?
Clare will be psyched for this one too but this will be an even more dangerous proposition if they don’t approach it with the right mindset. Yeah, we have the dirty diesel blown out now after not having played well against a Wexford team that beat Kilkenny in Nowlan Park in a game Kilkenny had to win to be sure of qualification.
That kind of thinking is grand for the supporters but lethal for the players. There’s no way the players will have any mental slackness heading into this contest because they know full well that a similar performance here to the Wexford display will have Kilkenny out of sight. If they’re six points up with 12 to play, they’ll be going for the jugular and looking to bury us.
Wexford have proved that they’re every bit as good as Kilkenny in Leinster but the psyche of these boys is completely different now that they’re in Croke Park and within touching distance of an All-Ireland final. Clare will have to start like they did in all of the games in Munster.
This is a hard game to call but I think the lads might just take off in Croke Park. We love the place, even though we’ve had a lot of difficult days up there too. It won’t be easy but Clare’s defence is very settled, while our front eight picks itself.
Cody has always believed in having the team in flux to keep guys on their toes but there has been more chopping and changing than ever before throughout this championship. Cody might believe now that he has landed upon his best team after the Leinster final but I’m not sure if he has.
There is more serious pressure on Kilkenny to start putting All-Ireland final appearances, never mind All-Irelands, to those Leinster titles, and I hope our boys will throw off the shackles and just go for it. If they do, Clare have enough firepower up front to get over the line.
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Watching the match back this week, there is no way Galway should have beaten Cork. I’d say that’s the reason Kieran Kingston is thinking of staying on – when he looked back on that game, Kieran will have seen how Cork effectively left 3-12 behind them. And still only lost by one point.
Galway completely rode their luck but they still got there. Just being down on the sideline before that game and looking at the power and physique of those Galway fellas also made me realise that they’re one of the few teams – and I mean few – with the physical profile to match up to Limerick.
Galway don’t have anything like the raw pace of Cork but that won’t be as much of an issue when facing Limerick. Apart from Kyle Hayes, none of the Limerick fellas have real electric turbo boost. So while Cork did give Galway trouble with that speed, Limerick won’t provide them with that same threat.
Galway will still have to face up to so many other challenges but the first thing a team needs to have any chance of taking down the All-Ireland champions is enough big men with the capacity to physically take them on. And Galway have plenty of them.
That’s why Gearóid McInerney would be such a huge loss if he doesn’t make it back. The word is that he hyper-extended his knee and that he was back jogging last week but there are still no guarantees that he’ll pass a fitness test, which may only take place tomorrow morning.
The knock on effect of losing Gearóid would mean having to shift Joseph Cooney to centre-back or wing-back, especially if Galway are looking for Padraic Mannion to man-mark Cian Lynch. I’m not sure if Cian will play but if he’s any way fit, John Kiely will surely start him.
If Cian and Peter Casey are fit, Limerick will have an even more threatening look about them than they’ve already had throughout this championship. That also gives Kiely the option of redeploying Kyle Hayes to defence. If he does, who would lose out?
The four week break will have given Limerick the freshness they probably needed for this game, especially when the provincial championship was so energy sapping and mentally draining, even for a team with their experience.
Limerick are a long time on the road now so some of the lingering questions I have are still legitimate. They haven’t hit the form they showed in the last two years but have they reserved that for Croke Park, just like they did in 2020 and 2021?
They couldn’t shake off Clare as easily as they’d have liked on both days so are Limerick leaking more gas than we all think? Tipp gave them plenty of it and where was Tipp’s form this season?
Can I see Galway beating them? No. You’d give them every chance if Conor Whelan cuts loose but can Whelo do it all on his own either? No.
Galway will need to hit a level they haven’t got near this year while Limerick would need to be way below par. Can that happen? Doubt it.
Limerick to win.
