This article is from page 117 of the 2009-05-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 117 JPG
THE TEMPLATE is there from the League final in Semple Stadium. That is the standard that we must aim to achieve — and exceed. Only the foolhardy would disagree that we are quite a long way from it at this moment in time. The League final action was simply terrific. Cold rea- son will even tell us that we have no hope ever of equaling it. Yet reason 1s often thrown to the wind at champt- onship time. Show strength of mind and body never seen before.
The majority of it in our case will come down to managerial planning and preparedness.
Absolute ruthlessness in the correc- tion of rampant previous mistakes. Players must almost be put on oath not to repeat them. Of any sector of the Clare set-up that reached last year’s Munster final the manage- ment needs to improve the most. At the start we stated here that this is not a novice management. Excuses for failure in approach and planning are hardly acceptable at this stage. Yet some of the mistakes made last year were so obvious and fundamen- tal that one dreads that they may be repeated again.
This is groundhog time.
Back for a moment to the League final. This was trench warfare with style and skill. Those who com- plained that it was too tough should get real.
The only serious injury came from a fair shoulder. No point in dwelling further but one man deserves special mention. In half a century I cannot recall a better half back than Tommy
Walsh. More combative and deter- mined than even the great Whelehan. To my knowledge Walsh played eve- ry round of the league.
Never flinched, never stood back. Courage, skill, steel and spirit. The complete player.
On June 21st Clare will be facing consummate stickmen in either Tip- perary or Cork. It would be unwise to think that we can match their skills totally especially in scoring. Other measures and tactics will have to be produced.
Shock and awe must be the pass- word. The task is enormous. The problems are many. Two of the main ones are defenders who are not up to the pace for championship hurling and the provision of a balanced at- tack. Over the past decade Clare has tended to field too many big men up front. Big men need a lot of space for striking. Space that will not be given, especially by Tipperary.
We do not have a sacrificial fielder. One who would contribute little ex- cept the invaluable ability to field un- der pressure and lay off.
Barry Nugent could do a job here with persistent drilling. Tony Car- mody and Jonathon Clancy are capa- ble of running at defences and taking scores although the latter would be well advised to let it go more often. He was brought to a somewhat shud- dering stop by the Noresiders in Cu- sack Park.
Tony Griffin needs a lot of space these days and the fear is that he has left his best days on the roads with his bicycle. Even more worrying 1s the lack of pace in defence. For in- stance in the game against the Cats
Ritchie Hogan gave Conor McMa- hon five metres yet still managed to beat him to the ball.
Remember that? It was very signifi- cant. Brendan Bugler has some pace but needs to look to his discipline. We need a mobile fullback to help out Gerry O’Grady hence my prefer- ment for Brian O’Connell at No 3.
The loss of Gerry Quinn is cata- strophic for the defence. It is a deba- cle that should never have occurred.
Up in Westmeath when their key forward Dennis Glennon was absent from training his manager sought him out and brought him back to the camp. Domhnall O’Donovan was
brought in late into the panel. Had he played through the League he might well have made it at corner back. Nicky O’Connell could make the team right now either as a halfback or midfielder. Great skills and fire. Surely the makings of a good one. Tipp showed themselves power- fully against Kilkenny. They showed themselves to Cork as well. The Rebels will be primed and ready with plenty of extra incentives to jus- tify themselves after the managerial incident. Cork is bursting with hurl- ing talent. Denis Walsh is putting together a dynamic forward set-up. Thirty two points on the board re-
cently against Limerick.
Now the third O hAilpin is on the horizon. Hot stuff there. Fintan O’Leary too is making ground and Patrick Horgan has skill to burn. Their problems may arise in the last line of defence with the departure of the Rock and Brian Murphy. Two great defenders and sportsmen.
Can Clare learn enough from the league final and next Sunday’s semi- final to mount a decent challenge’?
Meer Mee B Le