Banner back on track, says Kennedy

Brendan Larkin

April's week-long training camp in the Catskill Mountains ignited hope that Kennedy's side would once more be amongst the big boys in the Munster championship campaign. After all, Mayo had taken the same route 12 months previously and ended up in the All-Ireland final.

Such was the weight of expectation that the failure to deliver was all the more painful.

After stumbling to a first-round four-point win over Waterford, they collapsed against Cork (0-18 to 0-6) with rumours of disharmony and ill discipline filling the air.

There was talk of Kennedy leaving, of Clare football going backwards. There was plenty of talk but little action.

Then something wonderful occurred. Westmeath and Páidí Ó Sé swaggered into Cusack Park, with big reputations and a seemingly preordained right to progress to the next phase of the qualifiers.

Something clicked for Kennedy's charges. Maybe it was the sight of their manager and his former Kerry teammate having a little shoving match in the opening spell. Or maybe it was payback for dented pride.

Suddenly on the first Sunday of July, Clare began to play the kind of football Kennedy always believed they could. At the end, they were three points clear and assured of a trip to Castlebar and a meeting with Sligo.

The achievement was lost in the media storm which brewed up after Ó Sé's resignation.

Kennedy doesn't care. He knows what his guys have done and what they can still do.

"The Sam Maguire is all about desire and passion and raising yourself to play for your county. I think our players have made a remarkable recovery since that defeat by Cork," said Kennedy.

"There wasn't much pressure on us to beat Cork but Dave Loughman, Frankie Griffin and I felt we had a very good chance, but we never legislated for what happened.

"It was hugely disappointing to lose so heavily because we are a far better team than we showed in that game.

"I was hurt, we all were hurt by our performance and there was a lot of soul-searching and straight talking done. Credit to the lads, they took what was said and responded.

"We got the chance to put that defeat behind us and show what we can really do when pitted against Westmeath in the qualifiers. If we had any pride left this was a game we had to win and to do so with some style.

"Our performance that day in Cusack Park was superb and reinforced my belief that Clare football is as good as in any of the other counties, when they apply themselves properly.

"While we did have a heart-to-heart chat after the Cork defeat, there was no real need to lift the players. They knew they hadn't performed and were glad to get the chance against Westmeath to show what they can do."

Kennedy dismisses the notion that football in Clare is at a low ebb though the mind set may need a review.

"With counties like Clare, it's a case of mind over matter. Prepare well and give your best and you can compete with any team. This team has worked extremely hard in the last two years and to be playing inter-county championship football in the second week of July is great.

"The win over Westmeath was a tremendous confidence boost as they would be regarded as one of the better teams and it got that defeat by Cork out of our system, but it will count for nothing if we don't beat Sligo.

Clare have a good record against Sligo, as Kennedy points out last year the Banner won the two games the two met in, including the final of the Tommy Murphy Cup.

"Championship football is a different ball game and Sligo, like ourselves, know that victory on Sunday would open up all sorts of possibilities for the rest of the campaign.

"If we play with the same passion and pride as we did against Westmeath I would be confident of winning and keeping our season going for a couple of weeks longer.

"It hadn't been possible to pick our team due to a couple of niggling injuries but we have nothing serious to worry about.

"Sligo in Castlebar won't be easy. They'll be guaranteed plenty of support but we'll be hoping the Limerick followers get behind our lads and drive them on. It's anyone's game between two counties desperately in need of success."