Banner tyros bringing life to the team, says Donnellan

How often in the All-Ireland senior hurling championship have we seen four teenagers from the same side on the pitch?

It happened at Cusack Park, Ennis on Saturday evening with Tony Kelly, Seadna Morey, Aaron Cunningham and Colm Galvin, members of last year’s Clare minor team, seeing out the hectic closing minutes of Clare’s magnificent win over Dublin, which set up a date with Limerick on Saturday.

Get used to such an injection of youth, according to Clare centre-back and captain Patrick Donnellan. These tyros are here to stay.

“It’s probably very unusual but they’re four excellent hurlers,” he said. “They weren’t thrown in just for the sake of it, they’re well capable of holding their own at this level. They have a great attitude, are good trainers and have a lovely touch. There’s no fear of them, they all played well the last day and I’m sure they will again when they’re given their chance. You have that kind of freshness that comes with youth, they play with a freedom and that’s great to see. It brings a bit of life into the team.

“Their skill levels are superb but their standards generally are very high, having come from the successful minor panels. They’re well able to look after themselves — I’ve met them at club level and I know, there’s no fear of those lads whatsoever. At that age you just play it as you see it, you’re not burdened with what might have happened last year or the year before. You play with that freedom and fearlessness.”

Against Limerick on Saturday it’s likely Clare will face a team similarly equipped. Shane Dowling, Declan Hannon, Graeme Mulcahy, Kevin Downes, Conor Allis, Seán O’Brien, all were members of the Limerick team that won a fantastic Munster U21 final last year. All of them are now in the mix for starting places in the Treaty attack (Allis subject to recovery from injury), two of them (Dowling and Hannon) still teenagers.

Two sides well matched then, even more so considering that the four competitive games they’ve played this year have ended in draws after extra-time, then a late one-point replay win for Clare (Waterford Crystal), a 14-point win for Clare (league round one), and back to a late two-point win for Clare.

Fifth time meeting this season, Patrick must be sick of the sight of that green jersey, surely? “I know, and after the game on Saturday night everyone was saying to us that we’d probably draw Limerick, the way things were going this year. I know it’s a cliché but it didn’t matter to us who we played. From now on you’re going to be meeting top teams in every game, anyone can beat anyone else any day they go out. Limerick are a team we’ve played a lot already this year, there’ll be a lot of familiarity there but we’ll each be trying to get one over on the other again. I saw their game against Tipperary, they were very impressive and very unlucky. People were writing them off but I’d know a lot of those lads and there’s a great solidarity in that team. They’re a serious outfit, a lot of very good young players themselves, good forwards and a settled defence.

“We know what to expect from them, they’ll be on a mission to finally get the win over us. What’s important for us is that we look after ourselves, just as we did before the Dublin game; that our performance is up to scratch, that we’re challenging them, and if we’re there or thereabouts in the closing minutes that we’ll be able to push on and win it by a point or two, just as we did against Dublin.

“But it will be a dog eat dog day, like another Munster championship day, like any championship knockout day, which it is from now on.”