Launchpad to summer sizzler the big incentive for winners
The best spice is provided by the most recent events and in their three competitive meetings so far this year Clare have had the upper hand on Cork, won all three encounters.
First it was the Waterford Crystal Tournament (0-20 to 2-11), then the league (1-22 to 1-16), and most tellingly of all, the league relegation final (0-31 to 2-23, aet).
Cork will point to the fact that in game one, they were completely disrupted, a traffic-jam on the motorway forcing six late changes to their starting line-up; in game two they had Clare on the rack at half-time; in game three they were in control with only minutes to go of normal time – three games they could have won then.
This though is biggest of all, a win here would cancel out those losses, and then some!
It’s not just that this is a Munster semi-final, a place in the final at stake and with it a guaranteed All-Ireland quarter-final spot. It’s who the winners will meet.
This is the first time since 1999 that neither Waterford nor Tipperary have been involved in a Munster final.
Now the next bit doesn’t make a lot of sense but it’s true nevertheless; Limerick beat Tipp, which of course makes them a better team, yet neither Clare nor Cork would fear Limerick as much as they’d fear Tipperary.
In fact whichever of them gets through here, both would probably fancy themselves in that Munster final, in which case an All-Ireland semi-final beckons. Incentive? You bet.
Thurles is recognised as Munster’s most iconic ground, but the Gaelic Grounds has hosted some of the greatest Munster championship games of them all, holds the record for the highest attendance (Tipperary/Cork 1961, officially 62,175 but unofficially it was over 70,000, many thousands gaining admission after the gates were stormed).
Even for Cork supporters, and especially now with the tunnel access to that side of the city, Limerick is closer and far more accessible than Thurles. For Clare supporters, for those in the southern and eastern parts of the county especially, it’s even handier than Ennis itself.
Should be a big crowd there then, from both counties, along with more than few very interested local ‘neutrals.’
Clare have conceded more goals than they’d have liked to all through this year, against Cork especially. You think that full-back line of O’Donovan, McInerney and Dillon isn’t going to be primed to stop Patrick Horgan and company this Sunday?
There will be pain here. At the other end Cork have shipped massive totals against Clare in their three defeats, in the league games especially.
Frees cost them dearly, indiscipline, silly fouls punished over and over by Colin Ryan. Cork will be trying to improve their tackling in their own half, while still remaining strong and hard – fine balance.
Up front here too, it will be interesting to see how Cork cope with a bang-in-form Darach Honan – will it be Brian Murphy starting on the big man again? Murphy did well in the relegation final but Honan still slipped him for a couple of vital points; he’ll take watching.
The spice here isn’t being provided by any animosity between the respective managers, Jimmy Barry-Murphy and Davy Fitzgerald never having said a bad word to each other.
It’s not even the whispers about a little confrontation that may have taken place during the Clare’s comeback league win in Cork between the same Davy and Cork selector Johnny Crowley.
This is about the pressure coming on the respective managers from within their own counties. A lot of Clare hurling supporters would love to see a return to ‘hit-and-hope’ style hurling, ball belted out of defence and let the next fella battle for it.
A lot of Cork hurling supporters have no faith in this team, believe that Jimmy Barry-Murphy is playing with a poor hand.
But one set of those supporters will be swigging their pints on Sunday night and proclaiming ‘See, I told ye what we’re doing is all wrong!’
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