Daly expecting a Decies backlash
Daly’s side hammered Kilkenny while Waterford were defeated by a Liam Donoghue inspired Galway.
Seven days earlier, Clare were also beaten by the Connacht champions but produced an amazing turnaround in Nowlan Park. Daly believes Waterford are capable of doing likewise.
“There was a big crowd in Ennis last week for our game with Galway, some individuals were very poor and there was a fierce level of despondency around the county. Fellows were reading that during the week and they responded, fair play to them,’’ said Daly.
On Sunday, the Clare players were warming-up in Nowlan Park when news came through about Waterford’s defeat by Galway. “As soon as we heard the result I said whatever happens here we have to win in Waterford,’’ he added. “We’d like to be in the top phase, obviously, but it will be tough. Waterford will be on a downer after that. There probably will be a kick-back from them. We saw them in the League final last year and they annihilated us in the championship the following week.
“Next Saturday evening we could be going home depressed. It’s all about getting it right for the 5th of June and the best possible preparation is to be in the top level of the League.’’
Brian Cody, who said that Kilkenny had ‘no excuses whatsoever’ to offer for their comprehensive defeat also wants to advance. Under his reign, League success has always been a priority and it has paid rich dividends.
“We’ll obviously be trying to beat Dublin next weekend. We want to get into the second phase. There’s no comparison between being there and not being there. You have meaningful matches after that. We need that and we want that!’’
While Clare promised a shock against Kilkenny in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final, Daly wasn’t that pleased with their season. “I’m not so sure how well we did last year. The Munster championship is always your first target and we were literally blown out of the water. We’ll be hoping to improve on that. We’ll be playing the winners of Limerick and Tipp and that’s going to be a massive match for us no matter which team it is.’’
In general terms, he says that ‘it’s time’ for the younger members of the squad to be stepping up to the level of the players who sustained the team strength for so long.
Tony Griffin will be home on Friday and then returns to Canada to continue his studies, but he’ll be back in full-time training by the end of April. Daly agrees that he’s needed because they can’t always be sure that Niall Gilligan will produce scores like he did on Sunday. “You saw how limited we were in attack at the finish, when we had to bring in Conor Harrison, who is a corner-back or wing-back. We are limited enough in our attacking options, we had an 18 year-old and a 19 year-old in there at one stage. We need Griffin, we need them all and hopefully we will when the ‘key’ time comes!’’
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