This article is from page 80 of the 2009-07-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 80 JPG
FRANK Doherty stepped down as Clare manager in the immediate af- termath of his side’s defeat to Done- gal in Ballybofey on Saturday night.
The Galway man, who led Caltra to an All Ireland club title in 2004, an- nounced his decision to the players in the dressing room, thus ending his two-year tenure as manager of The Banner.
“I had a good chat with the lads, thanked them all for the effort and the 100 per cent they’ve given me for the last two years,” he said, as play- ers silently filed by, heads bowed reflecting on another championship consigned to the history books.
“We did our best and introduced a lot of young lads to the squad and I think it will be onwards and up- wards for Clare. I will never have a bad word to say about Clare. I will be watching results from here and be hoping they get out of Division Four. It’s not going to get easier, if anything it will get tougher.
“The fact of the matter is that eve- ryone in Clare should be putting their shoulder to the wheel and making themselves available to be involved with the county. That new manage- ment team will have a great opportu- nity going forward if that happens.”
Clare were the raging underdog on Saturday night against a Donegal side that was expected to win handsome- ly, despite just stuttering through the last couple of weeks.
However, Clare can feel aggrieved not to have forced extra-time. David Tubridy found the back of the Don- egal net for a second-time (having netted a penalty in the first-half) late on, but he was somewhat harshly pulled back for picking the ball di- rect from the floor.
“I thought David Tubridy was un- lucky,” said a despondent Doherty after the game. “I asked him (referee, Martin Higgins) beforehand what he was going to be strict on and he said
that he really wanted the foot beside the ball.
“David Tubridy picked the ball off the ground with his foot, stuck the ball in the back of the net and he pulled him back. Little things like that didn’t happen today.
“That was a bit of a shock to the system. From where I was I thought it was a legitimate goal and where everyone else was, but there you go.
“We needed the rub of the green. We needed a ball to bounce at the right time at the right stage during the game and that was critical. We needed to be a bit cuter when we got possession on the ball, not to be turned over as much. Donegal, in their own backyard, are a serious team for anyone.”
Clare were down five players from their Munster semi-final defeat to Limerick, but despite this and the long journey they put on a commend- able showing.
“We lost by three points after a long journey with a weakened side. Treo mA (oa as cOlU(C MO) mnelemE-leKm- nw told them,’ Doherty continued.
‘At the end of the day, it’s not about being proud and losing, it’s about be- ing proud and winning. It was there and it was in the melting pot.
“T wouldn’t say that we could have taken the game, but we put up a good show against Donegal, a Division One team. We had a couple of good chances in the game. Frank (O’Dea) had a good chance in the first-half when the ‘keeper kicked it out and it lashed over his hand, otherwise it was an open goal.
“I’m not being disrespectful to any- one here, because we were five points down, threw a couple of points over the bar to get it back to three. We had a couple of opportunities at the end, but in the end it was probably wee bit of quality that we lacked.”