This article is from page 83 of the 2008-04-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 83 JPG
AS CLARE manager Colm Hanley says himself, comparisons with last season’s All-Ireland decider with Derry were inevitable. In that Croke Park meeting, Derry stung Clare with a late, late win but Hanley says this experience was used by Clare to defeat Derry on Saturday evening.
“We knew we had it in us to win the league,” he says. “In fairness, we were the better team on the day and we followed through on that. I still think we were the better team when Derry beat us in Croke Park last year, but this time we stayed going.
“It’s obvious that there would be mention of that game, particularly as we were meeting Derry in another national final and in Croke Park we just didn’t put them away, so it was pleasing to do that this time round.”
As the clock ticked down and with Clare leading, Derry were thrown something of a lifeline with four minutes of injury time announced.
“When the few minutes of extra time was announced at the end it was a real flashback to our last game but even if the referee played ten minutes added time, we never looked like conceding.
“It goes to show that we’ve learned from that experience and hopefully that’s something we can use in the months ahead because Clare really showed enormous conviction.”
With the league secured, Clare move on with the championship on their minds and three more weeks of training has been scheduled before the players take a week off at the end of May.
‘The season was divided into two sections at the start of the year. The league and the championship. We wanted to play well first and fore- most in the league and maybe secure a win. Now that we’ve got the title, it’s full steam ahead for the champi- oyeravl On
“But we’re not looking at Croke Park just yet. We’ve three tough group games to get through against
Offaly, Down and Antrim with our first outing on June 29. But for now, we’re just delighted with the way things have gone in the league. The ereat thing 1s, we have a nice mix of experience and emerging talent and that augurs well for the future.”