Lack of pace leaves Banner flagging in race for glory

ANTHONY DALY had some fantastic days in Thurles as a player. Unfortunately, his two worst days as a manager have come at the same venue.

Fine pitch and all that it is, I'm sure at this stage, he and Clare would prefer to play anywhere else.

Last year it was Waterford, in the Munster SHC first round, when they shipped a heavy loss, conceding 3-21. Almost 12 months to the day later in a National League final, Kilkenny racked up 3-20.

The one thing you need in Thurles, apart from the obvious, skill and ability, is pace. With one or two exceptions, Clare were lacking in that department, and it cost them. A lot of people were saying to me at half-time that Clare were well in this game; I said no. Take Davy Fitz out, and this game was over at the break. His three world-class saves kept Clare in it.

The Clare full-back line was under huge pressure all through the match.

At the other end, James McGarry was as much a spectator as the rest of us and didn't have a save to make all game. Therein was the real difference.

In predicting the outcome of this game, I felt that Clare's hunger would give them the edge. I was wrong. The greater hunger yesterday, and it gives me no pleasure to say this, was Kilkenny's. In my estimation, they won out in 13 positions on the field overall. The only exceptions were Davy Fitzgerald and Gerry Quinn, who had outstanding games for Clare.

Clare's biggest problem started, oddly enough, at the extreme end of the field, in their own full-forward line. They were completely overwhelmed by this fired-up Kilkenny full-back trio of James Ryall, Noel Hickey and newcomer Jackie Tyrell.

Mind you, the protection that trio got from their half-back line and midfield was exceptional and grew as the game went on. By the end, Clare must have felt they were playing the ball off a wall, so regularly and rapidly was it returned upfield.

Even in a game that turned out to be as one-sided as this did, there were highlights all through.

In the first half we had that sequence of fantastic, acrobatic, reaction saves from Fitzgerald; then the DJ Carey penalty goal. Even with Brian Lohan encroaching, only a few yards to his right, DJ rose and struck that penalty with such venom that nobody, and certainly not the three unfortunates on the Clare line, saw the ball.

That goal finally saw the end of the defiance of the creaking Clare rearguard. It was a critical score, putting Kilkenny firmly in the driving seat.

It was the first Kilkenny goal, but it could have been their third or fourth. In the second half, there was a brilliant point from Tommy Walsh, who showed once and for all that his best position is up front, on the wing; then we had the pass for Henry Shefflin's goal from that genius himself, DJ Carey.

What happened to Clare in the second half? The same thing that happened against Waterford last year they imploded, but maybe there was nothing happening in the second half that wasn't already happening in the first, it was just that Kilkenny began to get value for all their pressure and dominance.

Carmody and Plunkett won a few good balls on the wing in the first half, as did Griffin when he came out, but even that source dried up. Why? Because JJ Delaney and Richie Mullally stepped up their game to match the performance of Peter Barry in the centre.

Good to see Barry back to his best also; I had my doubts, given his long year with James Stephens, but this performance puts him back at the top. His All-Ireland club title-winning team-mates, Eoin Larkin and Jackie Tyrell, two newcomers to the Kilkenny starting 15, also impressed.

Ah, the riches at Brian Cody's disposal; what Anthony Daly would give to be able to bring on the likes of Eddie Brennan as a forward substitute.

On this performance, you'd have to say Kilkenny are going to stroll through Leinster, without opposition. Clare?

They must be praying for Tipperary to beat Limerick in the first round in Munster, because their semi-final game would then be played in the Gaelic Grounds. A Limerick win, and it's back to Thurles. Pace, pace, they have to work on their pace.

They must look at the spine of this team, so comprehensively outplayed yesterday. And they must look for forwards, scoring forwards. One point in the first 21 minutes of the second half, when the pressure really came on? Simply not good enough.

Niall Gilligan has looked so good all the way through this campaign but yesterday, and not for the first time, he failed to deliver on the big occasion.

Clare went on to win the All-Ireland in 1995 after another big beating by Kilkenny but you'd have to be a supreme optimist to believe that history will repeat itself.

Anthony Daly needs a few minor miracles, but above all, he needs these players to start lifting their heads and lifting their game, especially when things start to go wrong.