‘A chance is only that — it must be taken’
It is about ‘now’, however, about grabbing this opportunity with both hands because ultra-talented or not, at this level there are no guarantees that you’ll be back in this position again anytime soon.
“Nothing ‘happens’ until you win. If they could win the All-Ireland we might be talking about a golden era but they still have to make the breakthrough and the quicker they make that breakthrough the better,” he argues.
“They are playing with great confidence — agreed. But you could quite conceivably lose to Cork on Saturday, be beaten by Tipperary next year (in Munster) and people will be baying for the heads of the manager, which is what happens in GAA.
“Look at who’s around next year — all these teams are coming. Galway will be back, so will Tipp. You have to take the chances when you get them and I think this is a serious chance for Clare hurling.
“You don’t clock up too many All-Irelands in Clare. The point of 2002 (Clare beaten by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final, their last appearance), I was involved and I would have said ‘you’ll get another crack’ – it’s 11 years later.
“I’ve done that with St Joseph’s (Doora-Barefield, won the All-Ireland club 1999). You say ‘we’ll be back’ but we weren’t. That’s bravado talk. We’re here now so you take it when you can.”
To do so, Clare will have to improve from the drawn performance.
By general consensus Cork didn’t play well in the drawn final, though Louis does take issue with that – “You can’t score 3-16 and not play well.
“On the limited amount of possession they had — Conor Lehane had four possessions and he got 1-1, that’s economy. Look at Pa Cronin, he had two clear possessions and he lifts the net.”
Regardless of that assertion, the Rebels certainly have a lot of room for improvement as Clare won most of the personal duels. His own team also has that capacity, however.
“I think both teams have room for improvement. We have some fellas who would like to have done better on the day.
“We leaked three goals, we didn’t score a goal. If you look at that in context we have serious room for improvement.
“We haven’t played our ultimate game in my view.
“We played well in Croke Park with a young, developing team, no doubt, but there is serious room for improvement from what I know and from what we want to do.”
As with Cork, who left a one-point lead slip with the last play of the game, Clare were a seriously conflicted group leaving Croke Park a couple of weeks ago. Yes, they had that last-gasp equaliser, and from probably the most unlikely source, corner-back Domhnall O’Donovan.
But this was a game they also know they could have and should have won, being the better team for most of the game. Had O’Donovan not got that point, it would have been a big setback for this side, a point with which Louis agrees.
“It would been a serious downer from the point of view of giving everything we had; you would look back at the ifs and buts of the day but we have got a second chance which was great, we felt we had done enough to win it at the start, we felt we had worked hard to win it and it just didn’t happen.
“Sometimes that happens, that’s sport, it’s cruel. You’re leading for 71 minutes and it’s taken from you. You’re looking at the clock, you’re watching; Cork had a line ball, we thought it was gone, I thought they would have kept possession at that stage, would have got it to a player to hold it.
“When we got the chance from the puck-out you always hope that there is something there — you never give up. To us it was a serious lift because at one stage it was cruel, it was like a knife in the stomach and it was being taken from you. It’s a strange feeling.”
Another chance now, however, a chance that must be taken.
