Clare have massive momentum in search for that precious gold
My first gig with The Sunday Game was back in 2007. I disappeared for a few years, when I was appearing on the other side of the camera with the Dubs, before returning to Montrose again in 2015. I really love the work but of all the days I have been with RTÉ, yesterday was definitely the toughest.
As Eddie Brennan and I sat down to watch the game, I was pining to be down in the Park. When I heard the Tulla Pipe Band cranking up, I nearly cracked up. When the memories of all the times I walked around our field with the boys behind that band came flooding back, I was nearly in tears.
I was just dying to be there, not just to stave off the symptoms of FOMO (fear of missing out), but to sample the Park, the Fortress, atmosphere, and to soak up the Mardi Gras mood around the town. I was missing out too on the jamboree we had planned after the game because all the lads from the 1995 and 1997 teams were meeting up for a few drinks in the Diamond Bar afterwards. But you just can’t have it every way.
I was still clinging on to any little connection that returned me to home. As the camera flashed around the ground, I was picking out fellas in the crowd that I knew, guys from all around the county. I was telling Eddie some old stories from those golden days we had in the Park.
I also mentioned that weirdest day of all, when I went back there with the Dubs in 2012, when I was on the other side of the battlefield. And that day, I really found out why the Park is the Fortress it continues to be for Clare.
In that context, I could not understand why Limerick elected to play against the breeze after winning the toss. When I was with the Limerick underage academy, that was a point I continually raised. They had a tendency to play against the wind but I always railed against it, especially when you’re away from home and you want to build an early momentum and land a sting in the throats of the home crowd.
Limerick were really intent on killing Waterford’s momentum early last week but they should have had that mentality even more so yesterday when they were coming to Ennis. Maybe it was mental tiredness after emptying themselves below in Cork, and wiping Waterford out last week, but Clare were sharper in their hurling, and especially in their thought process, all afternoon.
Clare tactically bossed the game, especially after the sending-offs. Jamie Shanahan was clearly outstanding as Clare’s spare man but Eddie and I couldn’t identify who was Limerick’s spare man at the back. Jamie gave huge support to the two-man full-back line. His distribution was superb and he repeatedly stopped the Limerick supply going into their full-forward line. However, nobody was doing the same job — or to anything like the same effect — for Limerick.
Their defence was a little disjointed. Limerick lost Sean Finn early. Tom Condon, his replacement, was red-carded before the break. Richie English hobbled off late on but I thought it was a little bizarre to bring on Richie McCarthy for Graeme Mulcahy at half-time. That move was to try and tie down John Conlon but John remained a threat all afternoon.
In contrast, Clare got their match-ups right, especially in defence. David McInerney completely frustrated Seamie Flanagan. Gearoid Hegarty and Kyle Hayes never got going. Shane Dowling did some good stuff but not enough of it. Shane also had a couple of wides from frees that he’d normally expect to nail.
Limerick were well tied up by the Clare defence but they seemed flat and were so untypical from how they had been playing all year. They weren’t hitting space and runners like they routinely had been. Much of the ball was just lorried down on top of Jamie Shanahan, or to Limerick players with no direct advantage.
Jamie was an easy choice for man-of-the-match but when we were putting the other two nominations together last night, we had a list of Clare lads lined up in front of us, and no Limerick fellas. Tom Morrissey was Limerick’s best player. His brother Dan wasn’t far behind him. But after the brothers from Ahane, we were stumped for any other Limerick player to even be considered among the top nine or ten performers.
Peter Duggan was outstanding again from placed balls. Tony Kelly had an immense second half. Conlon was outstanding all through but there was a fluency and fluidity to Clare’s attacking play that was totally absent from Limerick’s. That was reflected in the greater economy in Clare’s shooting.
Diarmuid Byrnes went back to hit one long-range free in the second half which I felt could have been a turning point if he had nailed it. It would have reduced Clare’s lead to three and I said to Eddie, ‘The Limerick crowd will lift the roof off the stand if this goes over’. When it tailed off to the right, you could hear the huge Clare roar off the TV in the studio, and they went up the field and soon stretched the lead out to five. They kept building thereafter. For a finish, Limerick looked like they had nothing in the tank as Clare just stretched their legs to the finishing line.
It was a battle but it was a scrappy and tense match, just as you’d expect for a local derby. There wasn’t much needle, even though there were two men sent off. David Reidy’s red card was a joke, and he should have it rescinded. Initially, I thought that it would suit Limerick; they’d lost a corner-back, Clare lost one of their most influential men around the middle. But Clare were just better set up, even aside from Jamie at the back, and they continued to work the ball better up the field. And the Clare forwards were showing better for the ball all the time.
Clare are on a roll now. They got a huge break against Tipperary and have massive momentum behind them heading into a Munster final. Having lost to Cork in last year’s decider, and again in May, Clare have all the motivation now to beat the Rebels in the championship for the first time since the 2013 All-Ireland final replay.
When Cork were trailing Waterford yesterday, I’m sure John Meyler was telling Kieran ‘Fraggie’ Murphy or Seanie Barry, or whoever was wearing the Maor Foirne bib, to get in and tell the players that Clare were ahead and that a Munster final appearance was on the line.
I was even thinking the same myself: ‘Jeez, we need Cork to win this. We want another crack at them. Otherwise, Clare will have to face into Limerick again, after beating them. I want to see Limerick again in the championship alright — next year. Not this year.’
You can only imagine what the Cork lads were listening to all week. No matter how much they tried to block out being told that they were definitely going to beat Waterford, and that this was already a done-deal, all that stuff was surely seeping into their psyche.
Waterford certainly didn’t make it easy, as you would only expect from this group, and the honesty and integrity within their circle. Philip Mahony was excellent. His brother Pauric was on fire during the first half. Jake Dillon and Tom Devine were outstanding as a two-man full forward line. Tommy Ryan had one of the games of his life.
When Cork brought it back level late on, up came the Brick Walsh from the back, appearing off Jamie Barron’s shoulder before laying off the perfect pass for Tommy Ryan to bury it. Cork went down and got the goal to level it. Waterford went back up a point but Cork showed huge character to hit the last four scores.
Mark Coleman was superb. Conor O’Sullivan came on and steadied the ship at the back. Conor Lehane came up with a huge point but Seamus Harnedy was the fulcrum again up front. Cork are a potent outfit but when Cork wanted somebody to win a dirty ball, Harnedy got his hands on it and made something off it. The Clare management will need to devise a plan now to stop Harnedy because I really believe if you get a handle on him, you go a long way towards spiking that Cork attack.
The prize on offer is huge now. One of the biggest attractions with winning Munster is avoiding Galway but it’s about much more than that for Clare now, who haven’t won a Munster title in 20 years. Most of these boys have every medal you could wish for in Clare — All-Ireland senior and U21. But that Munster medal has always been cherished in the county because we have so few of them.
And yesterday was a massive step towards securing that precious piece of gold.
