Paul Madden: We have momentum, we want to keep it

Ikem Ugweru of Clare signs autographs for Clare fans. Pic: Natasha Barton/Inpho

Promotion is very much back on the Clare radar after their hat-trick of victories, this time over neighbours Limerick. 

Scoring difference saw them miss out last season but a slow start hasn’t curtailed their enthusiasm to return to the second tier.

Manager Paul Madden reflected on a dominant victory as the second block of games saw them chalk up a third win after losing the first two rounds.

“We had to get wins. Even when we lost the first two games, we knew we were heading in the right direction and while we are not where we want to be, yet, we are heading in the right direction. We did the basics right, and I thought our energy was excellent for 35-40 minutes. It probably dropped a bit but we aren’t happy with it or with how we finished. But overall I thought we were really up for this game”, explained the rookie inter-county boss.

While his charges could have been rocked by the concession of a Cillian Fahy goal after eight minutes, they didn’t let it derail their hopes. It was a rare moment of defensive fragility in an otherwise dominant opening half.

“We conceded a soft goal – it was terrible and they kicked a couple of two-pointers, but other than that we gave them very little. Why would you panic? We came from behind last week to win well. Overall, we have to be happy with it."

Trailing 1-3 to 0-1, Mark McInerney hauled them closer, then level and finally, ahead. He linked well with Eoin Cleary, Dermot Coughlan and the supporting cast to swat aside a disjointed Limerick rearguard.

Apart from two orange flags, raised by Eliah Riordan, the hosts were struggling. Indeed, it took them until nearing the three-quarter mark to find a third scorer – when Danny Neville arrowed over.

A strong defensive showing was needed and while Cleary and McInerney employed the umpires, the impressive Brendy Rouine, Ikem Ugwueru and Alan Sweeney all contributed at both ends.

“There was a lot of questions asked over our defence recently, but today we told the lads that they need to have that bit of pride, bit of aggression and we knew that if we turned them over that we had the legs to get up the pitch quickly – and that is what happened”, said the Ennis native.

“Alan Sweeney coming up from corner-back, subs contributing…it is a team game.”

The aim now is Wexford in two weeks. A brace of wins could be enough to head back into Division Two, with Westmeath’s run halted on Saturday evening, while Clare now have the intangible – momentum.

“We took a long time to get it (momentum). We have it now, and we want to keep it. I think we did a lot of good things against Down and Westmeath, but we lost both of those games. I was very despondent when we left Mullingar, as we just didn’t perform. I think since then, and even in the Down game, we had huge energy. You could see that tonight, for maybe 45 minutes, and then it tapered off a bit.” 

It is just one victory across 12 Division Three outings for Jimmy Lee’s Limerick (2024 and 2026), as their injury problems mount.

Lee cut a dejected figure as they succumbed to Clare, a county that has dominated this fixture in recent times.

“We will have to look back on it. The focus will be on those games (Westmeath and Fermanagh). That is where it is. If we don’t get results, the answer is in that. We will follow the process we always follow, we will see where we are at.” 

The Treaty will know that two more defeats will send them back to the basement division once more, having collected just three points to date.