DONAL O'GRADY: Spring lessons must be learned

The lessons a manager can learn from the league will help shape the decisions they make for the championship.

That’s why, after such a tight league, the managers in the Allianz HL Division 1A will be gleaning plenty from the matches they’ve been involved in.

For Clare and Waterford in particular, the experience so far has been as positive from a psychological point of view as it has been from a playing outlook.

Davy Fitzgerald and Michael Ryan will be pleased with their defences and overall commitment. Ryan will have learned the good conditioning work by former Kerry trainer Pat Flanagan has made them very competitive but he is conscious that they lack the scoring power required to take them to the summit.

Jake Dillon has potential but needs to be played in the inside line regularly and given a quality supply. Last week’s goalscorer, young Jamie Barron, is a first year in UCC and has potential. But tomorrow he will be faced by Fergal Moore and Ryan should know a little more about his credentials after this encounter.

Clare play to a system where the half-forwards and midfielders cover their defence in a bid to retain possession and make space for score chances. But while this makes them defensively sound it also means the final ball to the inside forwards is laden with pressure.

When Clare were faced with similar tactics against Waterford and Kilkenny their system struggled. Players were forced to make speedy decisions they reverted to hit and hope striking and showed their inexperience by being impatient.

It takes a while to change a culture and Fitzgerald will know now that setting up his inside attack with chances is a huge challenge. Based on their system a runner must come from between the 65s to deliver quality accurate passes. He has such a player in Séadna Morey who is fast, intelligent and has excellent stickwork. But his pace is needed at corner-back at present, particularly in the absence of full-back Cian Dillon.

Fitzgerald will also know he needs to get the best out of the physically imposing John Conlon in a role closer to the danger area, which could help improve their low conversion ratio of goals scored to chances created.

They’re not the only county in that position though. Last weekend Cork manager Jimmy Barry Murphy spoke about the need for Cork’s full-forward line to battle harder and create more goals. He is aware that failure to notch up major scores in games is a significant weakness.

This weekend will be a massive test to the work they are doing to rectify that. At half-back both William Egan, now in his third year, is out injured while the experienced Tom Kenny is also unavailable. Lorcán McLoughlin is currently Cork’s top midfielder and deploying him at wing-back weakens Cork’s scoring potential.

The inexperienced Chris Joyce, groomed for centre-back since last year, was overlooked for the position against Clare and Waterford. He gets another chance to stake his claim as the long term solution for this position, while Stephen White comes in on his left. No doubt they’ll receive a searching test from the Cats.

In the league final last year Cork were unable to deal with the system employed by a rampant Kilkenny, so it will be interesting to see if the lessons of that defeat have been learned.

Brian Cody is conscious his Cats are still the top side but no longer put a fear into their opponents like they used to. This league has been tough given the injuries they have suffered, but they have unearthed replacements.

However, the biggest thing he has discovered is the one major piece of the jigsaw he needed for this year’s campaign in former minor keeper Eoin Murphy, who looks the real deal.

It’s not quite as rosy for Galway, whose manager Anthony Cunningham has found that in this revamped division of six teams, good fitness is important.

Cunningham will also have learned that to progress in any competition a tight, settled defence is essential. Playing Joseph Cooney at centre-back one week and half-forward the next doesn’t instil confidence.

A priority for Galway will be to develop a system that compliments the scoring skills of Joe Canning but without being solely dependent on him. They may have realised that forward rotation, if it’s not carried out to perfection, can be more confusing for the attackers than defenders.

Tipp’s Eamonn O’Shea will have noted there is no substitute for confidence no matter what the time of year. One of the tasks he set himself was to re-ignite the support for the team after the debacle that was the All-Ireland semi-final last year.

After the Cork game O’Shea knew the only way to do this was by performing on the field. They did in their home game against Kilkenny, which gave them the confidence to defeat Galway in Salthill. He will be aware that work rate, principally from the front line players, is the primary requirement for victory.

Clare dispensed some free education to them on systems and work-rate in the Waterford Crystal final. The Tipp management will know tomorrow whether they got their match-ups spot on or whether they learned enough from their first league campaign.