Taking over from a legend!
They went on to win their first Munster title in 63 years, their first All-Ireland since 1914 and repeated that double two years later.
Central to the breakthrough was midfielder Ollie Baker, a true colossus. “He was vital to the success of Clare, because of his physical presence, his power, the way he guarded the whole half-back line, and above all, he was uninhibited on the big day,” stated manager Ger Loughnane, in his book Raising the Banner; “I’ve often said we’d never have won anything without Baker. He could devour ground, devour opponents, and was inspirational and indispensable. He could lift the crowd, was a big-day player.”
Ten years on, Clare face Cork again, in an All-Ireland semi-final this time, but Ollie is in the stands, with his young kids. So, who now stands beside Colin Lynch in the middle of the park, in the engine room? Meet Brian O’Connell from the Wolfe Tones club, home to the famous Lohan brothers.
It’s Friday evening, the sun still shining, and as the training session finishes, the fans, mostly saffron-and-blue jerseyed youngsters, are invited onto the pitch to meet their heroes. They swamp Davy, iconic guardian of the net, crowd around Brian Lohan, Seanie McMahon, Lynch, Alan Markham, Niall Gilligan, long-time heroes all.
But, who is the fresh-faced youngster over there, a Dublin blue-on-blue top, standing more or less apart, unbothered, taking it all in with a grin on his face?
Clare’s new midfielder, no less.
“It’s great to see all the young lads out in their Clare jerseys again,” says Brian. “It wasn’t so long ago they were in Kilkenny and Cork jerseys, but we’ve turned it around a bit.
“I was only 11 in ‘95 when we won it first, I was following around after them, and now I’m playing with a lot of those fellas. In fact, I have a cap here myself (produced from under his armpit), I want to get it signed by all the lads, so I went over to Brian Lohan and said, will you sign that for me. ‘I was doing it long enough for you’, he said, ‘I might as well do it again’. Ah it’s great to see all the kids here again, hopefully we can keep it going for them now.”
To many observers, given the way they imploded against Kilkenny in the League final and then to Tipperary in the Munster semi-final, reaching the All-Ireland semi-final this season is already a superb achievement by Clare.
To hell with that thinking, reckons young O’Connell
“It’s no good unless we can go on and win this now, reach the last two, and we’ll see what happens from there. It’s not achievement enough to reach the last four, that’s the way we’re looking at it anyway.”
Spoken like a true warrior, spoken like a man fit to fill any boots. Anyway, for all that he’s not the physical specimen Ollie was. Yet O’Connell reckons that they aren’t utterly unalike.
“Physically different, yes, but our work-rate would be the same, at least I’d like to think so. Ollie worked and worked and worked, I try to do the same. That’s what playing midfield is about - work-rate.”
Of course, having a half-decent partner helps. He smiles.
“Half decent, yeah, Colin covers all the ground, he is unreal. For years for Clare he’s been fantastic, and he still has the hunger, the appetite for it, and I’m delighted to see that. You learn from the likes of Colin, how to play midfield in the modern game, from Seanie (McMahon), Brian (Lohan), all those lads.” That midfield is looked on as crucial as Cork’s Jerry O’Connor and Tom Kenny have struck up a fine partnership in recent years.
Ironically, just a few years ago, it was thought that midfield was almost being phased out, by-passed with the long ball out of defence.
“That was the case for a while, especially with the experimental ball (now discredited), but not anymore. I think midfield players have decided to play themselves back into the game, the two Cork lads especially, Kenny and O’Connor. They’re looking for the ball all the time, back deep in their own defence, up in attack, on the end of puck-outs from Donal Óg Cusack. They’re the link men for the Cork attack, on the ball so much and carrying the ball a lot. But if you can follow them around, stay with them, stop them from running free, you’re in with a good chance.”
That’s what happened in the League this year, in Ennis. Powered by Kenny and O’Connor, Cork raced into a big lead in the first-half, looked set to blow Clare away; little by little however, Clare worked their way back and took the honours by three points.
“We got the better of them in the end, but that game was typical of our play during the League,” O’Connell recalls. “We had a tendency to go up and down, play well, play badly, every second game, even during games. I think we’ve improved on that, we’re a bit more consistent now. If we can raise ourselves now once more, for this big game, keep plugging away, stay with them, and if you’re still there or thereabouts with five minutes to play, you never know.”
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