Clare prepare to tear up form guide against league champions Kerry

AROUND Kerry and beyond, members of Jack O’Connor’s squad will have met countless supporters interested in discussing a meeting with Cork in the Bank of Ireland Munster championship semi-final.

For most of those fans, Sunday’s date with Clare in Cusack Park is a minor obstacle, easily negotiated before the real championship begins.

The footballers north of the Shannon are used to such attitudes, but it doesn’t mean they’ve grown to like or accept them.

“You have to put up with it. You get it every year,” Odran O’Dwyer says.

“But you don’t think about things like that. You focus on your own game and get on with business. You hope to do your best.”

O’Dwyer is one of the Clare footballers who was involved in last year’s International Rules Series in Australia.

He combines his playing role with his career as a sports injury practitioner in Ennis, although he admits financial sacrifices have to be made with a growing training schedule.

He views himself as an elder statesmen in the squad, pointing out there aren’t too many players around with a lot of championship experience.

“Six or seven of the 1992 team (which shocked Kerry in the Munster final) were around up to a few years ago. A lot of the players are very young and a few of us are shoving on. It means we have a responsibility to help them to fit in,” he states.

The highlight of his playing career was the Australian tour last year while he remembers the Munster final appearance in 2000 against Kerry fondly.

Up to a point ...

“I remember Pa Laide got a cracker of a goal, which sealed it for Kerry. That was a bitter disappointment, but as far as championship goes, it’s the same when you lose any game. There’s no point in dwelling on the past.”

While positive about Sunday’s game against the NFL champions, O’Dwyer accepts that Clare’s League form was poor.

“We just did not perform. We have a lot to prove. There were a lot of people trying to knock us, maybe rightly so. For that reason, there is a lot of pride at stake for the team.”

Limerick’s progress and the manner in which they are challenging the older order hasn’t surprised him.

“You have to put a lot of it down to their minor and U21 wins. Liam Kearns has done a great job with them. They deserve the success. It’s great to see other teams coming through. We have not had underage success in Clare and unfortunately, we’re paying for it at senior level.”

So to Sunday and the men of the Kingdom still looking for All-Ireland glory since 2000.

“They might have lost a few big games in Croke Park in recent years, but a good team doesn’t become a bad team overnight. You never underestimate them. And I don’t think it’s going to bother them playing in Ennis, where they have won games before.”