This article is from page 69 of the 2011-07-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 69 JPG
THE FIRST part of that question is easy to answer – Pairc Ui Chaoimh this Sunday for the Munster minor hurling final between Clare, the defending champions, and the up and coming Waterford. This is the second year in succession that we have both contested the Munster minor decider, another sure sign of an impending shift in the powerbase of Munster hurling. We have never defended our Munster minor crown, Sunday is a big day for Clare hurling.
After Sunday thoughts can turn to the Munster Intermediate Final which will be played in Cusack Park on Wednesday July 13th. We have some young hurlers betwixt and between the senior and U-21 panels and they should be to the fore in this Munster final.
Just one week later, back in Cusack Park we have our U-21s to look forward to. A home semi-final with Limerick, if won, will mean a final perhaps against the mighty Tipp back in the Park on August 3rd. So plenty of hurling to look forward to.
The dust has settled now on last Saturday night in Salthill. It was a desperately disappointing performance from literally the word go – but the panic button should not be hit. The bigger picture, as always, is the one that matters most.
Clare supporters only want to talk about whether ‘The Sparrow’ stays or goes this week. That’s not the conversation we should be having. That’s not the bigger picture. How many of the future stars of Clare hurling are now blooded? How many can we say with confidence, are senior intercounty hurlers, up to the task? That’s the conversation we need to hear more of.
My sixpence worth is that we are in a far better place than we think we are. We fell away against Galway and it was entirely predictable for a squad as light as this, for a squad as young as this. Tipperary was our game and we put everything into that – there was very little left for the likes of a fired up Galway, a stiff breeze and a sun at their backs in Pearse Stadium. It was never going to happen for us in 2011.
Facing into 2012 we can look to Conor McGrath, Cian Dillon, Conor Cooney, Nicky O’Connell, Patrick O’Connor, John Conlon and a rejuvenated Darach Honan to be nailed on starters, not rookies anymore, but fellas who know what it’s about. That’s half our team.
That’s the quality we have coming through and there’ll be more with that from Sunday in Pairc Ui Chaoimh and from our U-21s in Cusack Park, not to mention the odd intermediate or two.
Those instant gratification merchants that expect a Munster championship or All-Ireland every year need to cop on. That’s not how counties like Clare win things. We build, we do it right and we have patience. We have no choice. We’re not Cork, Tipp or Kilkenny and we don’t arrive overnight with a team. Bigger picture.
We’ve taken beatings before and we’ve come back stronger. Those with short memories can look to the Munster finals of 1993 and 1994. Those will longer will think of the National League Final replay of 1976, or the Munster final of 1974. No matter, the beatings hurt every time, but the spirit was never quenched. Dalo, Jamesie, Seanie, Sparrow, Lohan? Look what patience and focus on the bigger picture garnered for the county when those boys and their like were persevered with after ‘93 and ‘94. It will be the same with this bunch. So, a little perspective. It wasn’t the end of the world.
We’ll be up there again, like the class of ’95-’98. Within three years we will be contesting Munster SHC finals. A chunk of the team that played last Saturday night will be winning those coveted pieces of gold. The hurling fraternity knows Clare are coming. A little education along the way won’t hurt us.