Ciaran Russell: 'It was win or we were out of the Munster championship and All-Ireland'
RAISING THE BANNER: Munster GAA Senior Football Championship Quarter-Final, Cusack Park, Ennis, Clare 9/4/2023
The second half of Sunday's Munster quarter-final was six minutes old. Ciaran Russell and his Clare teammates realised they simply had “to go for it”.
Trailing by 0-9 to 0-5 after being hit for a quickfire Cork three-in-a-row and playing into the teeth of a somewhat swirling wind, Clare stared down the barrel and saw looking back at them a long summer of travelling the Tailteann backroads. It didn’t appeal to them one bit.
From one-dimensional and slow on the break in the opening half, they went about their business with far greater urgency in the half an hour they had left to stave off second-tier involvement.
There was greater pace in their counter-attacking, driven by Russell and his outstanding half-back colleague Jamie Malone. More bodies were committed forward. More risks were taken in beating the Cork press and in their build-up play.
“We knew we had to go for it,” said Russell.
“Probably a small bit tentative in the first half, maybe sat back and didn't attack them as much as we'd like.
“In the second half, we knew we had no choice. It was win or we were out of the Munster championship and All-Ireland series. There was a changed mindset. We went for it, and thankfully we came out on the right side.”
Russell was a key actor in Clare’s 75th minute winner. The half-back hared up along the stand sideline and burnt a couple of fresh red shirts in the process. Through the hands of Keelan Sexton and Jamie Malone went possession before Cillian Rouine fisted Clare to a first championship win over Cork since 1997 and within 70 minutes of a place in the new-look All-Ireland series.
“One of the lads gave me a breather about three or four minutes before that. That last run was probably all I had left,” Russell continued.
“Cillian, a corner back, actually ended up ahead of me. You are probably better off looking at his run, it was a lot harder than mine.
“Anytime you win a Munster championship game it is a big result. We want to be in the Munster championship final, we want to be in the All-Ireland series. We'll just try and keep winning and hopefully, keep progressing in those.”
Russell, a two-time county football championship winner with Éire Óg Ennis, was adamant the Clare panel came into Sunday’s game unburdened by the weight attached to it. Instead, they used as motivation the fact that they simply had to win to remain in the frame for Sam Maguire fare.
“Like every other year, you want to win in the Munster championship. Obviously, there were consequences this year. We knew if we could play our best and put in a performance, we knew we could get a result.”
The sort of result they’d not been able to nail down during a Division 2 League campaign that ended in relegation.
“There has been a lot made of the league performances. Here, it was the complete opposite of what was happening in the league. We weren't able to see out games and finish strong in the league.
“In the last few weeks, we put a real emphasis on changing that. There was a real focus on those last 10 minutes and making sure we kept pushing. We went right to the final whistle and got the score we deserved at the end. Overall, we got the result we deserved.
“Our focus now switches to Limerick. It is going to take another quality performance from us. We'll be going in with the same focus and same attitude. And if we can do all that right, hopefully we can end up in a Munster final.”
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