Galway rout sowed seeds for Clare win

CONCEDING nine goals to Galway in a challenge game helped inspire Clare to an unexpected win over Sligo in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers on Saturday.

"In hindsight, it was what we needed,'' Clare boss John Kennedy claimed when recalling the 9-13 to 0-15 scoreline. "We had a good meeting afterwards and on Tuesday night we refocused. It was what we needed.

"People say we had a good display against Kerry, but we weren't happy with the overall performance. We felt there were areas where we did well in, but where we needed to improve especially in front of goals. Certainly it brought us back down to earth."

Kennedy said they approached the Sligo game in a positive frame of mind, based on a combination of the Ennis venue and "a good record" against the visitors.

Then they concentrated on building on the positives from the Kerry game.

"We felt Sligo would not be as good as Kerry but we knew we would have to match our overall approach and intensity with an improvement in our finishing. We needed to take the game to them and get it right in front of goals.

"That was always going to be crucial because we created a lot of chances against Kerry and didn't take them. The players worked hard in training and we improved,'' he added.

Young Michael O'Dwyer from the Kilmurry-Ibrickane club was one of the stars on the day, scoring a vital goal.

He had been based in Dublin earlier in the year and missed out on a lot of training, but has been available in recent weeks and benefited from the panel training.

"He deservedly got his chance and he was absolutely flying,'' added Kennedy.

"While all the forwards played well I would give a lot of credit to the midfield and the half-back line for the quality of ball they gave to the forwards. It was much better than against Kerry.

"We have made a lot of progress and are building up a nice young squad.

"Progress is one thing, but you need to put results on the board.

"So from that perspective, the Sligo game was huge. Clare can go on from there with confidence.

"The players are looking forward to the draw," Kennedy said.

"If we can match our performance against Sligo in the next round, we'll be a match for anybody.''