Diarmuid Ryan: Clare's performance has to go up another level, if not two against Limerick

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: Clare's Diarmuid Ryan knows they will need to play better against Limerick. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom O'Hanlon.

Clare signed off on their Munster senior hurling championship with a decisive loss to Cork. However, finishing in third position allowed them time to regroup before facing Dublin in an All-Ireland quarter-final, and in Thurles on Saturday an impressive double-digit victory was secured.

Cratloe’s Diarmuid Ryan said the month to prepare was well utilised.

“You have to learn from the defeats. Obviously, we were hurting, but we knew that we still got out of Munster and while our performances did hurt, we knew that the All-Ireland was there for us and these couple of weeks could make or break the year.

“We got players back on the field in those four weeks as well, so we trained really hard, worked on a lot of stuff. The performance is really what we wanted to go after and just right a few wrongs and get back to Croke Park because we like going up to Croke Park.

“We didn't get up there for a couple of years, so to be up there again is nice. We've been comfortable enough going up. Obviously, we haven't been playing our best hurling up there, 2024 kind of turned that, we dealt with a few ghosts from the years previous, so we're going to look forward to that challenge and it's going to be really good now at training the next two weeks.

“The result is just what we wanted, and we push on now for two weeks' time, but we know it has to go up another level, if not two.”

In the other corner will be near neighbours Limerick. When they clashed in Ennis in early May, Brian Lohan’s side endured a rough day at the office. Clare have mixed the good with the bad.

“Yeah, it’s been hot and cold. We haven't really backed up two good performances in a row, so that's where we're going to focus on for the next couple of weeks. Going up against Limerick, look we know Limerick so well from the last couple of years. We're going up to Croke Park, it hasn't always been pretty up there for us but look we're going to put in just massive work. Just really looking forward to getting back up there.”

Growing injury concerns include David McInerney, David Reidy and Conor Cleary, and this will test the strength of their panel.

“Yeah, it’s next man up. All the good teams that are left have a good bench and you'll be looking to your bench the next couple of weeks. You've seen the players that are coming on there, David Fitz (Fitzgerald), Ian Galvin in the forwards, Diarmuid Stritch coming on, there's huge amounts of talent there, and even lads that didn't get game time today, they're really putting their hand up in training so it just gives you such confidence.

“Yeah, they're three big players and you’d miss them. They’d make any county team. We know we're so confident in the lads that will come in and it’s just next man up and that's the way it has to be.”