This article is from page 78 of the 2011-06-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 78 JPG
Ga lway v Cla r e @ Pea r se St adium, Sa lt hill, Sat ur day 7pm (Dia r muid Kir wa n, Cor k) Ext r a-t ime playable if necessa r y CALL IT Déjà vu if you will but the truth remains that we have been here before. Only 12 months ago in fact, off the back of an encouraging yet losing start to the championship, Clare entered the qualifiers with renewed hope before disappointingly failing to perform when it mattered most.
How much Clare have learned since then is still up in the air but their propensity to leak ‘soft’ goals is something that has haunted the Banner for the past three years and going on the Tipperary game, is still quite prevalent. Clare have now conceded 14 goals in their last seven games while only scoring six themsevles.
As Anthony Daly stressed before the league final, that tendency to flit in and out of the game is something that just needs to be ironed out over time and comes with young and inex- perienced players and looking at his Dublin side, it certainly gives Clare hope for the future.
For that to happen, Clare need to make the breakthrough and take a big scalp. After all, it’s over three years since Clare’s last championship victory and having lost their last seven games, beating Galway is now of paramount importance.
However, Clare’s neighbours have been eerily quiet since being humbled by the Dubs which is worrying for the Banner. Had they come out and pointed fingers, the morale in the camp would have diminished further but by staying quiet, you can sense a back lash from the Tribesmen. After all, before Tipperary emerged from the pack last year, it was felt that Galway were the team most likely to knock Kilkenny off their perch and they haven’t become a bad team overnight, regardless of what is being said about them outside of the camp.
So this is essentially a clash of two wounded animals who may have to eat up the other in order to survive. It’s survival of the fittest at this stage.