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WHAT is it about Cork that causes Clare to implode at the vital time? The 2005 All-Ireland semi-final. The 2008 All-Ireland quarter-final. Prime examples of Clare’s failure to see out the game when coasting to vic- tory against Cork but Sunday’s lat- est clash has to go down as the most dramatic turnaround. Six points and a player up with only eight minutes remaining, Clare inconceivably shot themselves in the foot, allowed Cork to gain momentum and facilitate a perfect return for their 2008 squad.
Of all the four league games to date, this was undoubtedly the most gut-wrenching pill for Clare to swal- low and as manager Mike McNamara came to speak to the unusually large media contingent outside the dress- ing room, his face understandably cut a picture of sheer frustration and disappointment as he contemplated what went wrong.
“We gave them the initiative. We gave them the scores exactly when they wanted them and we conceded scores again, and goals again at in- opportune times for us. We conceded goals at vital times in a game that we were coasting towards victory. Sport has that knack of kicking you in the face just when you think you have turned a corner but sport has also a knack of lifting you up when you are down so we have Kilkenny next week and I think if we play as well as that against Kilkenny, we would probably beat them.”
And McNamara was the first to concede that it is difficult to turn their luck around when confidence and the winning habit deserts a team.
“Probably had we won a game early on in the league, then things fall into place but when you are struggling for points, when you want points badly, sometimes it doesn’t go your way. UNC MOM me UIMOloMny Sue) Imm sLUeMmB ele team, it’s just a little correction here and there. There is very little wrong with the manner of their perform- ance as you have seen, they played
extremely well for most of the game. It was a good game of hurling and we probably dominated most of the exchanges in most quarters of the field. That we finished on a losing note would just be put down to the vagaries of sport more than anything else. Look what one kick yesterday could have done in a rugby match to Ireland’s hopes and dreams. So we feel we are in the same situation, we need to get a few more scores on the board and we need to play with a bit more confidence. But again there is a bigger picture down the road so we would like to pick up a few more points in the league and hopefully we will.”
If things weren’t problematic enough for Clare at the moment, news that Gerry Quinn had left the panel after a training dispute on Friday spread like wildfire over the week- end but when asked whether or not Quinn would return to the panel, Mc- Namara’s response was open-ended. “T would imagine that’s up to Gerry Quinn. The story of Gerry Quinn is very simple. He is gone off the panel at this point and time. That’s as much
as I’m prepared to say”’
Rooted to the foot of the Division 1 table after four games, Clare now must win all their remaining fixtures to stand any chance of avoiding the drop and to do that, McNamara sug- gests that he needs his strongest side available.
“We have to start pushing now. We pushed Brian O’Connell out there today and as you saw, he was a lit- tle ring rusty. Tony Carmody was pushed out there today and we have to start getting our better players back in the form that can win match- es. Hopefully when that happens we will turn the corner, get out of the hole we are in, win a few matches and get a bit of pride and spirit going in the crowd again.”
The reality for Clare is that they have now been beaten by all four Munster sides so far in the league. If the bigger picture is securing a Munster Championship, that is not the type of statistic that breeds con- fidence.