This article is from page 83 of the 2009-08-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 83 JPG
CLARE’S championship challenge came to a grinding halt on Satur- day as an experienced Wexford side eased to a comfortable victory in east Clare. Essentially this was a straight semi-final play-off as both sides had started the day on level points in the eroup, the 2007 All-Ireland champi- ons led from start to finish and gave Clare another hurling lesson of the standard required at the top level. Wexford’s smooth interplay and scoring ability up front were the main differences between the sides and Clare, aside from a gritty second quarter, were never allowed to settle into their stride. The margin could have been greater too only for anoth- er superb display from centre-back Deirdre Murphy who never threw in the towel at any stage and in truth, the entire defensive unit coped admi- rably considering that the game was predominantly played in their half. Clare were also tactically naive, especially in the first half with the aid of a stiff breeze that blew to- wards Tuamgraney as they opted to use Claire Commane as a third mid- fielder. While it did work to an extent as the Corofin player gathered a lot of possession, it also took away any threat close to goal as the majority of Clare’s supply went straight down the centre to the spare Wexford player. In a period when Clare were firmly on top and battling to get back into the game, this was hurling suicide and seemed an impulsive tactic to Wexford’s bright start of five un- answered points. Also if Clare had
rehearsed it beforehand, they would have surely been drilled to play eve- rything down the wings and keep the ball away from the spare player at full-back.
Clare did manage to score their only three scores of the game through Sharon O’Loughlin (2) and Fiona Lafferty during this period but with the majority of the forward line below par, essentially they needed a goal to instill some belief but in truth, it never looked like coming due to Wexford’s extra defender.
Instead, Wexford simply soaked up the pressure, weathered the storm and tacked on a brace of points before the breakthrough to lead by O-7 to O-3. With the stong breeze to come, Wex- ford would have been quite content
with their lofty position but it was only when Michelle Hearne weaved through the Clare defence for Wex- ford’s first goal in the 39th minute that Clare’s heads finally began to drop. The home side received sev- eral warning signs on the restart with Josie Dwyer’s pull going just wide of the post, Katrina Parrock’s effort grazing the top of the crossbar while Una Leacy’s shot was saved by Clare goalkeeper Denise Lynch. However she could do nothing about the goal as Parrock attracted several defend- ers before offloading to Hearne who shipped a tackle before rifling to the net from close range.
That goal sucked the life out of Clare’s challenge and for the remain- der, it was damage limitation stuff
for the home side who rarely got out of their own half. Five more points would be added before Wexford’s second goal, a carbon copy of the first as substitute Lenny Holohan played in the unmarked Parrock to goal in the 56th minute. Clare prayed for the final whistle but had to en- dure a brace of Kate Kelly points first before realising that eventuality as Wexford march on to a semi-final meeting with defedning champions Cork.
Hardly the way Clare would have wanted to end their campaign but it was never expected to be anything other than a difficult first season back at the top level.
How they actually take those les- sons on board will be much more
significant for Clare’s long term de- velopment.