The reasons why Cork and Clare will both fancy their chances this weekend
David Fitzgerald of Clare is tackled by Ciaran Joyce and Brian Roche of Cork during the 2023 Munster SHC. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
“You have to win your home games. That’s the key. We all know it’s very tight. Winning your home games is key.” The words of Pat Ryan at last month’s Munster SHC launch resonate that bit louder this week as Cork look to wash the Waterford loss out of their hair.
It’s no time for recriminations and accusations because there isn’t enough time. Ditto for Clare. Sunday was the fourth round-robin running that they failed to win their first game in Cusack Park but in those previous three championships they finished in the top two twice.
Sunday is not knock-out – four points has been good enough to qualify from Munster in all but the first running in 2018. But it won’t feel that way, especially for Clare who will have three weeks before they face Waterford in Ennis on May 19.
Backs firmly against the wall this Sunday, who is more suited?
Cork were the only one of the five counties not to lose on their own sod last year, beating Waterford and drawing with Tipperary. In the four previous seasons of the round-robin structure in Munster, Tipperary in 2019 and Limerick in ’22 are the only teams to beat them in the Páirc. The pair have also taken a point off Cork by the Lee. It’s easy to say Clare have never beaten Cork in championship fare in Páirc Uí Chaoimh when they have only faced off there once in 2018 when the home side won by five points. However, home records stand longer in Cork, their 85-year unbeaten SHC record against Tipperary, which ended in 2008, being a prime example.
To beat multiple reigning Munster and All-Ireland champions Limerick on their own patch last year a week after shipping five goals against Tipperary set Clare up for the remainder of the round-robin. Brian Lohan will obviously be hoping his team’s muscle memory kicks in against Cork. Clare haven’t lost two Munster games in a row since 2019 whereas their opponents this weekend are on a losing streak of three and haven’t won in their last four. Fortress Cusack Park might not have the same ring to it but on the road they are stronger, six of their 11 round-robin wins coming on the road albeit most of them in Thurles.
Cork score goals. Sunday’s solitary one was far less than they intended but it means they have found the net more than any other county in the province’s round-robin. And Clare cough up goals. Before Sunday, the latter had the worst goal concession rate with 28 despite being top of the four-season round-robin table. That was four worse than Waterford at the bottom who had won nine games less than The Banner between 2018, ’19, ’22 and ’23. Limerick’s three goals in Cusack Park, the same number Cork registered there last May, brings that unwelcome figure to a hefty 31, which is five clear of Waterford and Tipperary. Connolly once again exhibited his eye for the net in Walsh Park and also hit Clare for one in this fixture two years ago when the game had to be played in Thurles.
For a county that suffered five straight SHC losses to Cork after the 2013 All-Ireland final, Clare’s return has been distinctly better in the Lohan era with three wins from four. That is a reason to smile even if Lohan, understandably in the immediate wake of the defeat, felt it was difficult to dwell on the positives. As the week moves on and providing they don’t read too much into the psychological blow landed on them in that final quarter in Ennis, there are several to glean from a game when they led the All-Ireland champions by nine points.
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