'We have a good system in Clare': U20 triumph points to bright banner future
Clare U20 captain Eoghan Gunning: “Winning the minor was great, but where would you be winning the minor if you didn't win an U20 alongside it." Pic: ©INPHO/Stephen Heaney
From Clare’s maiden U21 All-Ireland success in 2009, eight players - Cian Dillon, Domhnall O’Donovan, Nicky O’Connell, John Conlon, Darach Honan, Colin Ryan, Conor McGrath, and Patrick O’Connor - saw game-time during the Liam MacCarthy replay triumph of four years later.
From the all-conquering U21 classes of 2012 and ‘13, nine players - David McInerney, O’Connor, Conor Ryan, Séadna Morey, Colm Galvin, Tony Kelly, Podge Collins, Cathal McInerney, and McGrath - saw game-time during the Liam MacCarthy replay triumph that arrived a fortnight after the second of those U21 victories.
From the three-in-a-row-completing U21 class of 2014, five players - Conor Cleary, Kelly, Shane O’Donnell, Peter Duggan, and David Reidy - would see game-time during the extra-time Liam MacCarthy triumph of 2024. Also present and prominent two years ago was Cathal Malone, a graduate of the 2013 U21 class.
That’s a remarkable conversion rate from U21 to senior. That sort of follow-through, both in personnel climbing the ladder and then climbing the lower Hogan steps, sets the bar incredibly high for the county’s fifth All-Ireland winning group at the last staging post before senior.
The intrigue now is how many of Terence Fahy’s class will graduate to the senior ranks and how many will make an impression upon successful graduation. Mark Sheedy, Jamie Moylan, and Ronan Kilroy are already part of Brian Lohan’s set-up, albeit well down the pecking order.
The age-profile of Lohan’s side means a rebuild is inevitable in the next two to three years. A raft of retirements will arrive en bloc. Many shirts will require filling.
Niall O’Farrell, Seán Rynne, and Diarmuid Stritch have recently made the leap from underage talents to senior championship starters. This trio lined out alongside several of Sunday’s All-Ireland winners when the latter were in their first year out of minor in 2024. They too are eager to find out how many they will reacquaint with at the top level in the years ahead.
Even with two All-Ireland medals already in the pocket, the latest emerging Clare crop certainly won’t lack for ambition or appetite in setting out on their next chapter.
The attitude articulated by captain Eoghan Gunning, when chatting to the in the Semple Stadium dugout on Sunday, left you in no doubt on that front.
“Winning the minor was great, but where would you be winning the minor if you didn't win an U20 alongside it,” said Gunning.
“You can take great confidence going forward from winning any bit of silverware. If you look at our whole year, you can take great confidence [going forward] from the way we have worked and just built nicely.”
Whatever the number that moves on up in the ensuing years, the conversion rate of this group in going from All-Ireland minor champions to repeating the dose at U20 is so impressive and reflects so well on the underage structures in the county.
From the 34-strong minor panel in 2023, 16 of them were part of Sunday’s matchday 24. At the other end of that spectrum were superb midfielder Graham Ball and 0-4 corner-forward contributor Paul Rodgers, both of whom have immediately stepped up from U17 last year.
“It shows that tough mindset,” Gunning said of delivering on the very obvious potential displayed during the all-conquering minor campaign.
“It was said to us at the start of the year that we were All-Ireland minor champions from 2023, but we didn't read into that at all. We were just going to leave no stone unturned in the winter. We did savage, savage work. We have worked so hard over the last three years.
“There was a clear pathway put in front of us, as well. When we came in with the U20s the first year in 2024, the goal was the same: to get over the line in Munster. It is extremely hard and it took us three years to get there. You see all the players today, they have all come through development squads and developed at different rates.
“I've often referenced Thomas O'Connor. He was never on a development squad. He sprung in the last couple of weeks. In the Harty Cup, he showed well. He was putting his hand up in the Clare Cup. He was thrown in [at full-forward] and there was absolutely no fear of him.”
Before Thomas joined the U20 set-up three weeks before the county’s March 25 Munster opener, he was part of the Clare U19 panel that worked in parallel with Terence Fahy’s main group.
The Clare manager explained that nine of his 38-man panel came through the U19 route. Essentially, what has been on offer to Clare players coming out of minor in recent years who don't make an immediate jump to U20 is the U19 avenue. It is also a means of keeping in the system for two more years those that represented the county at U17 Celtic Challenge level.
“We’d be anxious to give everybody who wants to be engaged in a Clare team in that post-minor space the opportunity to do so until they are 19,” said Fahy.
“They are part of an S&C programme under Conor Shannon. They take part in development competitions. They take part in a lot of prep games with the U20s in December and January, exposing them weekly to the U20 standard. It is a good development step. We had around 70 players between the two panels this season.
“Colm Madden was U19 manager this year. Brian O’Connell [minor manager in 2023] and Donal Moloney [former senior manager] were involved previously, so we have had and continue to have great people in that space.
“We have a good system in Clare, we have a good academy.” Whatever the future holds for the latest all-conquering U20 crop, they’ve been given the best base possible to continue thriving into the future.
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