This article is from page 69 of the 2011-03-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 69 JPG
WITH TWO successive wins under their belt, the pressure eases somewhat heading into a brace of home fixtures against the more unfancied hurling counties of Down and Kerry. Not that Clare will underestimate either side as Down put up an admirable display for 60 minutes against Limerick on Sunday, leading for much of the game before eventually being comprehensively overturned.
Of course, that game was at home in Ballygalget where Down can make life rather uncomfortable for visiting sides but as proven in last year’s campaign, Down are poor travellers down south only beating subsequently relegated Kildare last year and going down to Kerry in the opening round of this campaign.
Clare also hosted Down last year in their opening round, with Mark Flaherty picking up 2-11 out of the 2-20 to 0-06 result. The final scoreline suggests a relative walk in the park but what it doesn’t tell you is that Down hit 20 wides on the day, a colossal total for any team.
Clare will be expected to put their Ulster opponents to the sword in a similar fashion this Sunday as anything less will not be deemed satisfactory.
Clare manager Ger O’Loughlin hopes to have a full squad to pick from this Sunday, with Diarmuid McMahon expected to return from a hamstring concern while Conor McGrath may also play a part despite having a chipped bone in his hand as doctors haven’t put on a cast. Indeed, his appearance may come down to whether or not he has enough strength in the hand.
Whatever the line-up though, Clare should easily secure the points, with arguably more interest for Clare supporters in the Limerick v Laois and Antrim v Carlow games later in the afternoon. Verdict: Clare