This article is from page 70 of the 2011-02-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 70 JPG
WATERFORD continued to be Ger O’Loughlin’s bogey team after his Clare side slumped to their third successive defeat to Davy Fitzgerald’s side in the space of twelve months. And while Waterford deserved to triumph in the opening two clashes, Clare looked to have turned the corner on this occasion when leading by 11 points by the interval, only for a second half collapse to maintain their poor run against the Deise.
It was clear from manager Ger O’Loughlin’s face upon exiting the dressing room afterwards that this was another inexplicable and frustratingly bitter pill to swallow but equally he was happy to suffer such defeats in January rather than June.
“We’re very disappointed with the result. After 35 minutes of tremendous hurling in the first half when they had no answer to us, the one thing we said was to not take our foot off the pedal in the second half, push it on and try to win by ten or eleven points but we did the opposite.
“So that’s very disappointing but look, I think the game itself will bring us on a tonne. We need to start learning to win because it isn’t the first time that we have done this. Last year against Wexford as well in the Park, we threw away a big lead and again we had a very young, inexperienced team out there today but in general in Clare hurling we have to start learning to win. Until we do that, we are going to put the crowd and ourselves under major pressure.
“They got on top of us then and we lost our way big time. They got six or seven unanswered points in rapid succession in the second half and Seamus Prendergast inside full-for- ward was posing serious problems for us and again we have to learn from these games because they are invaluable in January and they will stand to us for the league.
“I was just telling the lads inside in the dressing rooms that we have to learn from this and we have to put it behind us and say that we threw away a big lead, we were way better than them and yet we are coming out on the receiving end of a point beating. So that’s disappointing but we got a good run out of the Waterford Crystal competition and can take a lot of positives out of it and remind ourselves often enough as well that we just have to be more ruthless.”
One of those positives was the threat of Cratloe duo Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath, who were only making their second ever competitive appearance in a Clare senior jersey.
“They were very good and as I’ve said last week, they are natural forwards, they just create that space and they are very good young lads. I think that’s what really bodes well for the future of Clare that if we have them and another three or four lads, we are not a million miles away but we just need to be putting away teams.
“We were on the backfoot in the second half and that’s something we have to look at and be truthful and say that we are not the finished article by a long way but at the same time, we are learning fairly quick.”
So while attempting to put this disappointing defeat behind him, O’Loughlin and his management team will now hone in on their crucial National League campaign, backed by a full squad for the first time this season.
“We probably have ten or eleven guys to come onto that team and be pushing for places but I would prefer if we had those guys today as well because that sort of match is invaluable. It was helter-skelter and it was a good game for both counties so it will sharpen them up and while there were lads that missed out on that today and who are playing with their colleges, at the same time I would prefer to see them here on days like today.
“We have some good lads to come onto the squad as well this year and push for a place. We’ve had seven or eight lads like Ciaran O’Doherty, James Gunning and Mark Earley, together with the Cratloe lads who have shown exceptionally well at times in the games. So as I say we have a lot of positives we can take out of the Waterford Crystal competition and hopefully we’ll be a team to contend with in the coming months.”