Tactics cost Clare

LIMERICK fully deserved their win but they struggled to put Clare away for a long time.

Clare had some bad wides in the first-half and Diarmuid McMahon missed a great goal chance. I wrote on Saturday that Clare’s best chance would be to hit high ball in and hope to score from that tactic. They kept a big gap between their full and half-forwards but persisted with ground ball, which was mopped up by the eager, quicker Limerick backs, who adopted a man-marking approach, where Seamus Hickey snuffed out Clare’s main danger man, Niall Gilligan.

Up front Limerick seemed to have a plan — to play the ball up the right-hand side, and Mike Fitzgerald and Andrew O’Shaughnessy profited from a good supply. Kevin Dilleen was a little exposed at corner-back at times, but surprisingly, Clare’s management didn’t switch the more experienced Gerry O’Grady across, when there was very little threat from Kevin Tobin of Limerick in the left corner.

O’Shaughnessy had a fine game, but for my money, he drifts out too far from goal at times when he’s needed for support inside. Between frees and scores from play, three-quarters of Limerick’s points tally came from the right flank.

Try as they might, Clare couldn’t really get to grips with O’Shaughnessy and Fitzgerald’s strong running while Donal O’Grady and Mike O’Brien dominated midfield for Limerick.

All over the field Limerick looked comfortable, though they never seemed to move into top gear and put Clare away. Having dominated the game, they were only three points ahead going down the final stretch.

Limerick’s management made a crucial switch, moving Donie Ryan out to operate as a third midfielder. His confidence was up, having scored a smart goal, and he made a vital contribution, picking up a lot of ball and driving forward as he steadied the ship for Limerick.

Clare’s forwards just aren’t quick enough to trouble modern defenders; they fought until the end, none more so than Colin Lynch, but Limerick were comfortable and looked likely winners from a long way out.