Anthony Daly: 'Both teams have question marks' as Clare and Waterford face off in Munster opener
Peter Duggan of Clare is sorrounded during last season's Munster SHC clash with Waterford at Walsh Park. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
I’m involved with the Clarecastle first team again this year in the Clare Intermediate championship. We were supposed to train in our own field on Monday evening but we had to look for an alternative venue when the Clare-Tipperary minor football match had to be switched from Quilty to our place at short notice because of the weather.
Ger ‘Sparrow’ O’Loughlin, the manager, put up a text to say that we were in Clareabbey, our old pitch, just across the road, which is now owned by the county board. That pitch is normally like a carpet because the surface is so good there. I couldn’t get over the field – it was in poor shape.
That’s nobody’s fault. The pitch has just been overused because a lot of the county’s football teams in particular have been there recently because so many pitches elsewhere around the county have just been unplayable. Twelve days from the first day of summer and it has felt like the middle of winter since the middle of winter.
I have come around to the benefits of the split season, and the benefits it has for club players. But at the same time, it just doesn’t feel like championship when it’s beginning so early. And it feels earlier than ever this year when you wouldn’t put a dog out for most of the last month.
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That puts a huge strain on pitches. It also impacts on teams preparations. It even dampens down the mood around a county. It’s a known fact that people feel better when the weather is better. Everybody is thrilled that the championship is finally here again, but I really do think that the weather has tempered the excitement. Because it just doesn’t feel like championship.
At least the weather looks finally set to turn. The temperatures are set to hit 15-16 degrees over the weekend, so it should feel more like championship anyway.
We all need some good weather but hurling needs it too. Every team is so focussed on possession now, retaining it and playing the short game, that the weather is always a risk in turning matches into slugfests. That doesn’t matter to players, who abide by their guiding principles – whatever the conditions - but it can still heavily dilute the entertainment value of hurling championship matches.
That pressure is heightened at the outset of every championship – especially in Munster when the margin of error is so slim for all five teams.
Every match is huge. No team is going to get knocked out after round 1, but I really think that psychological strain is as heavy as it’s ever been in a round-robin Cork-Tipp match.
It was all on the line for both teams in Cork’s final game, and Tipp’s third match, in 2024, but I just feel that the strain has been accelerated now because of the circumstances – especially after last year’s All-Ireland final.
To me, Cork look like a team under pressure. They have to be when the desire for an All-Ireland in the county has turned into a gargantuan beast. Tipp have their All-Ireland but they are under pressure to try and finally retain the Liam MacCarthy for the first time since 1965.
Tipp are at home but I think it will be tougher for Tipp to get out of Munster if they lose here. Despite everything Liam Cahill will have done to insulate the players from that insidious disease, my own gut instinct tells me that there is still a hangover there from last year. I might only be basing that on what I have seen this year but I think that threat is more real again when you have so many young players.
Cork have a different kind of hangover to overcome after last July. I don’t think the league final was a true measure of where they are at, but it was still grounds for concern. Their big players were outbattled. A lot of Cork’s main men are not in good form. Will Cork have the ball-winners across their half-forward line, especially if Tipp play four across the half-back line?
There are so many subplots around this match, the main being as to whether Tipp may play a sweeper. Tipp have the capacity to get inside Cork’s heads again but I think that works in Cork’s advantage now. They have to prove to themselves that they can override that threat. Cork have a serious point to prove. And I think they can prove it.
Cork have to. They have the players but have they the men who can stand up now and show that there is something different about Cork this year? if they play poorly and are beaten here, the wheels could come off this wagon fairly quickly. I’m expecting a cracking contest and a narrow Cork win.
If Cork-Tipp seems huge, Clare-Waterford in Cusack Park tomorrow is just as big in terms of what’s at stake for the side that loses. Both sides will see this match as one they can win. But if they don’t, there are far more perceived bigger challenges coming. And that’s not how you want to be starting your campaign from a psychological standpoint.
Both teams have question marks, especially around injuries. Even though I’m a Clareman constantly meeting Clare people, I have as much of an idea of the health and physical welfare of the Waterford players as I do of the Clare lads. It would easier to discover the third secret of Fatima as it would be to find out how Tony Kelly, Adam Hogan and Davy McInerney are going, and if they’re even fit (I have great respect for this omertà). We won’t know until 1.30pm tomorrow.
Clare did what they had to in the league, beating Dublin twice. But you’d fancy Waterford to have done the same job in 1B – and they did last year – so it’s difficult to get any real handle on where Clare are really at.
There is all this talk about this being this team’s last dance. I can see why it might be. And that adds even more pressure to the pursuit.
I give Waterford a fair chance but I just think that the form of Shane O’Donnell, Shane Meehan and Mark Rodgers in the 1B final was very encouraging. I expect Clare to win. I’ll be very disappointed if they don’t.
There’s no doubt that Galway’s trajectory as a team is far more positive than Kilkenny’s going forward. Micheál Donoghue has done a really positive rebuilding job but the one fear I have with young players is that they can have an off day in their first big game. And Galway have a lot of young lads on board here.
It's even more dangerous when I have never seen Kilkenny with this much money against them in betting terms for a round robin match. I’m expecting a sting from the Cats, especially after getting such a hammering in Pearse Stadium six weeks ago.
I don’t think there is any doubt that Galway will not be in the top three in Leinster by mid-May. They will probably be in the Leinster final. So I just think Kilkenny’s desire may be enough here to secure the result.
This time last year, Offaly went into their opening match against Dublin with huge expectation. I half fancied them to win that evening, which they nearly did. Twelve months on though, and Offaly just appear to be a different place. Confidence will have been drained after the league but having this match in Tullamore is a big advantage. If the Offaly supporters smell an upset, this could get very awkward for the Dubs. I still think the Dubs will win.
I can’t believe that Wexford are 1/7 to beat Kildare this evening, especially going into Newbridge. I think that Kildare will give this a real rattle. If there is to be a real shock over the weekend, I think this is where it could be. I still expect Wexford to have enough. But there is no way that this is a 1/7 game.
Absolutely not.
