This article is from page 77 of the 2011-06-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 77 JPG
THERE WAS obvious disappointment etched on Clare selector Liam Doyle’s face as he shuffled down the players tunnel at the final whistle. However, beneath the understandable resignation lay an immense pride in his players that they left everything on the field in a bid to topple the AllIreland champions.
“To lose is disappointing from our point of view but you just couldn’t fault the lads. We asked them before the game and we asked them again at half-time to work their socks off and run themselves into the ground and in fairness that is exactly what they did today.”
“You always dream of getting off to a great start and in fairness, Conor [McGrath] had a brilliant game today. He’s a natural forward and took his goal very well so the start was brilliant but I suppose for our lads, we couldn’t let Tipp dictate the game. We had to take the game to them so you couldn’t have asked for any more.
“On the balance of possession, we probably deserved to go in half-time in front but a bit of naivety and Tipp got a couple of soft goals suppose you’d call them. But that’s Tipp, give them a sniff of a chance and you will be punished. They have the experience of All-Ireland finals and they are ruthless.”
Indeed, big game experience and the fact that the teams are plying their trade in different tiers of the National League was the crucial difference in the end for Doyle.
“Tipp got to the All-Ireland final last year and are playing in Division 1. We are playing in Division 2 and our best game was in the Division 2 final when the pace was much higher than the group games. The pace of the game today was even higher again and maybe our fellas just weren’t used to it. The likes of Clare, Limerick, Wexford and Offaly need to be playing against the top teams, even if it means a couple of defeats along the way. You need to be playing the top teams to improve your hurling and to get used to the pace of the game.”
And what of the qualifiers?
“We will take it one game at a time. For the last five weeks since the league final, we just totally concentrated on June 19 and now we have to take lock, stock and barrell today and review the situation again. We will get nothing easy in the qualifiers, as Galway is a local derby and really when it comes down to it, there is nothing between all four teams in our round of the qualifiers.”