Month: June 2008

JUSTIN McCarthy emerged from the Waterford dressing room and didn’t have to be prompted to offer his thoughts on where it all went wrong for Waterford.

The Waterford manager felt his injury-hit team were outplayed by a Clare side, he reckoned would have beaten any team on Sunday.

Despite posting a more than re- spectable total of 0-23, the crucial CUTS sTOLN Ke) e Mole AN (ole) IMA Nome CUE KM BEls one element inseparable from Water-

ford performances from recent times — goals.

“T felt the way they performed they would have beaten any team” said McCarthy afterwards, ““We came up here with high ambitions but at the end of the day they outplayed us. They got some great scores, from frees and from play. The two goals of course were a big issue. We scored 23 points which wasn’t bad but we needed the goals as well.”

McCarthy wasn’t getting too down though. He is around long enough to know that plenty more twists and

turns lie in the road ahead.

“There is a lot of hurling to be played in August. We’re playing in five weeks time, which is a good gap in between. We’ll regroup and reorganise ourselves and hopefully ZNO MEO stom DON LEDC Sh MAYA 00MM oLomCed (or-B Kore Mel OO), then. Its not going to be an easy road back, there’s no doubt about that. Having said that we’re experienced enough too. A lot of teams will fall by the wayside between now and Au- gust.”

McCarthy said and lingering feel- ings of despondency will be well and

truly purged by the time Waterford enter the qualifiers.

“If you win youre on a high, if you lose you’re on a low. At the end of the day, these things come and go over a matter of days. You’ve a different outlook coming into the next game will be Galway or Antrim. We’ll just have to take every step as it comes and who knows what the outcome will be in the long run.”

The All-Ireland that everyone in Waterford yearns and hungers for.

Not on the evidence of this tired

display though.

THE win may have been unexpected but Clare manager Kevin Kennedy never for a moment doubted the com- mitment of his players.

Sunday’s victory over reigning Munster champions Waterford, owed everything, Kennedy said afterwards, to character and pride.

“All I can say is that we have a panel of 24 there and they are 24 of the finest fellas you could get,” said Kennedy, standing near the entrance

to the player’s tunnel.

‘There were fellas asked to play for Clare. Some fellas refused, we had more that were injured and unavail- able. Fellas refused to play for Clare. These lads didn’t. They were proud to wear the Clare jersey and I am re- ally proud of them. Simple as that now, they gave it everything.”

Preparations may not have been ideal and Kennedy acknowledged that everyone within the panel knew getting past Waterford presented a major challenge.

“It’s a great win. Waterford were in the All-Ireland final last year. We knew ourselves, we were up against it, but I am absolutely thrilled for those fellas. There were evenings there this year, when we had only the bare 15. They proved they were up to it. They were proud to play for Clare today, proud to win.”

Last year Clare defeated Cork, then Munster champions in the first round before losing to Waterford in the pro- vincial semi-final.

A year on Kennedy hopes the win

can be a springboard to greater suc- cess in the grade. Clare have never won an intermediate title, since it was elevated from the status of a jun- ior championship.

“Anything is possible now. We weren’t given a chance there, in fair- ness we thought we were up against it. We got the lads right. The last four or five games, I knew things were improving. I knew the attitude was good and that was it. They are decent lads. Good club hurlers and proud to get a chance to play for Clare.”

The Clare manager felt Clare’s work-rate and willingness to hunt in packs was the winning of the game.

“We hit and we chased in fours and fives. When a team is playing like that, they are very hard to beat. We felt we could beat Waterford. Clare lads feel they can beat Waterford anytime’, added Kennedy just as Clare’s senior hurlers ran onto the pitch for the day’s main event against Waterford.

Maybe he knew something we oleln ae