Anthony Daly: It's never a good sign when the Limerick lads aren't even slagging you
I played in some big games for Clare where we shipped some huge hidings, none more so than the 1993 Munster final when Tipperary whacked us by 18 points. It was obvious from early on that afternoon that there was no way back. There wasn’t.
The same happened me in my first game as Clare manager against Waterford in 2004. So I've been there.
The mentality has completely changed now because it’s such a different world in terms of sports science, conditioning and psychological preparation. Big leads now can always be hunted down.
Waterford looked down and out at half-time last weekend against Tipp but they scored 2-17 in the second half. Cork were hammering Clare last year in their opening round robin game but Clare turned the match on its head and Cork were haunted to scramble a draw. Clare had an even bigger mountain to climb against Tipp in Ennis last May in Ennis and, while they still lost the match, they chased down a massive lead.
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Every Clare supporter in the ground on those afternoons last year felt that Clare had it in them to hunt down Cork and Tipp. But very few had that feeling yesterday. After Limerick got ahead early, it was very hard to see a way back. And there wasn’t.
If Tony Kelly’s intended pass had gone to Shane O’Donnell – when it was intercepted by Seán Finn – a goal at that stage (which would have reduced the margin to one) might have been the spark that Clare were craving. But when that opportunity was missed, I never felt Clare would ignite.
Limerick were right at it whereas Clare never were. I don’t know if lads subconsciously bought into all this chat all week about Limerick being vulnerable without Cian Lynch and Aaron Gillane, and how they no longer had the bench to compensate for those losses. John Kiely’s mantra though, has always been ‘next man up’. And Limerick men were queuing up to stand up.
I was incredibly impressed with Limerick. I was on Radio One co-commentary duty alongside Ger Canning and I said it to Ger about how slick Limerick were in their warm-up. They were doing a possession game at one stage and the hits were ferocious. ‘These boys are right at it,’ I remarked to Ger.
As soon as the game started, it was obvious that Clare were off the pace. Their touch was coarse. Their accuracy wasn’t on the money. Their intensity levels were down. It doesn’t take much at this level to put a gap in a scoreline. And once the gap opened up, Clare never looked like closing it.
Limerick really went after how Clare set up by pushing so high up the field. Limerick attacked from every angle of the field. Barry Nash had a hand in 1-1 inside the opening minutes. Seán Finn even found himself up close to goal setting up a point.
If you’re pushing up that high, do you need to play a sweeper? Unless your half-back line is really dominant (and Clare often have been) you’re going to be wide open. And Clare were, especially in the first half. The game was effectively done and dusted in that ten-minute period before half-time.
Mark Rodgers might have had a penalty late in the first half but, even if it had been awarded, Clare just weren’t hurling well enough, or fluently enough, to believe that a comeback was on. It wasn’t. Even if Clare made a spurt anyway, Limerick were just too good to let them make enough of a charge to make any real difference.
There was one ball right after half-time that Ryan Taylor ran onto but he failed to control the sliotar, which broke to Adam English, who flicked it into his hand a la Cian Lynch. To me, it summed up the match; Taylor should have easily picked up the ball but English audaciously touched it into his hand and the ball was over the bar before Taylor or Clare knew what was happening.
Peter Duggan kept trying. It wasn’t happening for Tony Kelly but he kept trying too before eventually getting some joy when he went to full-forward late on. He did create the penalty out of nothing. Shane O’Donnell never gave up but he could never get away from the Limerick defence.
Limerick just had all the big performers. Shane O’Brien, Gearóid Hegarty and Aidan O’Connor were outstanding. Nickie Quaid was superb again. I thought Diarmaid Byrnes set the tone early on too. There have been question marks around Byrnes’ legs and his hunger, but he answered every one of those questions again today. And so did all of his team-mates.
Clare’s stats were way off. Outside of shots or puckouts, all the big hits came from Limerick. Clare took all the punishment, some of which was severe.The Clare lads will have the more bruised bodies today, a share of the tackling strayed close to the edge. But Limerick got away with it. Clare can blame the referee all they want but that’s only looking for excuses. Limerick dictated the terms and conditions all afternoon. And you have to applaud them for it.
This is a serious blow to Clare. One of the biggest concerns was how flat the team looked after a two-week break. They have 13 days ahead of their next game against Tipp. So whatever they did in the last two weeks needs to be seriously analysed to make sure what happened yesterday doesn’t happen in Thurles. Because if it does, it’s effectively lights out.
With two home games still to come, this was a huge win for Limerick. At least Clare have two points on the board this year, whereas they only had one point in the bag after two games last year. I said from a long way out that the game against Tipp was going to be the pivotal match in the group. And it certainly looks that way now – for both teams.
As I was on radio duty yesterday, the coverage was flicking back and over to the Kildare-Westmeath Leinster semi-final in Tullamore. At one stage, Dessie Dolan – who was on co-commentary at the Offaly venue – mentioned one of my former team-mates, Ollie Baker, and how his two sons, Tadgh and Senan, were playing great stuff for Westmeath.
When the live feed returned to Ennis, I said to Ger Canning that Clare could do with an Ollie Baker type character out on the field at that moment, someone who would tear into a few Limerick lads and shake them up.
Clare didn’t have anyone like that yesterday. It was Limerick players who did all the shaking up. It was no wonder that Brian Lohan said afterwards that Clare have a lot of soul-searching to do after this performance. They absolutely do.
Clare people were shell-shocked whereas the Limerick crowd rightly went home delighted. You know it’s a flat day in Ennis when the Limerick lads aren’t even slagging you afterwards. It was more sympathy than slagging.
And that’s never good.
