Lessons still to be learned

In my column on Saturday I flagged Limerick’s greater goal potential and Clare’s tendency to give away frees and they proved the two main reasons for the Treaty victory in Saturday’s All-Ireland SHC qualifier.

The Limerick goals, either side of half-time, gave them the confidence to keep their noses in front in the second half. Seanie Tobin rose to pull on a high ball from a Gavin O’Mahony free and found the net for Limerick’s second. There are lessons for the Clare defence from this passage of play.

Tobin made an unhindered run from the side of the square and his momentum allowed him to leap highest to connect cleanly. Domhnall O’Donovan, who put in a fiercely determined defensive display throughout, should have picked Tobin up and remained tight and goalside, restricting his run instead of positioning himself at the front of the square. If he had, the ball would have dropped harmlessly into Clare keeper Patrick Kelly.