This article is from page 71 of the 2011-05-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 71 JPG
IF TRUTH be told, nobody in the national football sphere is giving Clare much of a chance against Cork on Sunday. Just go online and you can get Clare to win at 24/1 while Cork are 1/200 on to lower the Banner, making it hard to believe it’s still only a two horse race.
However, in the bowels of base camp, Clare are keeping a relatively low profile and are happy to play up the All-Ireland and back-to-back National League champions ahead of this Munster opener.
Equally, anyone that knows captain Gordon Kelly can testify that he plays with his heart on his sleeve and doesn’t accept second best, even when playing against the top team in the country.
“Cork are the All-Ireland champions and have already won the National League this year and going down there playing them is a big ask but there’s no pressure on us and as we have been playing well so everyone is looking forward to it and come Sunday, we will be up for it and ready for the challenge.
“The mood in the camp has been good. We have worked hard, we’ve played a few challenges games and played well so we are looking forward to the game.”
The form guide differs however as Cork are off the back of a Division 1 victory while Clare failed to come out of Division 4 for the fourth successive year and finished just above Kilkenny, London and Leitrim in the table. However, Miltown’s Kelly feels Clare’s league standing is false.
“I think maybe we were the mas- ters of our own destruction as much as anything in the league.
“We had a few players sent off including myself at the start of the campaign and after that we were missing so many that we were under pressure and the league kind of got away from us as it went on. I don’t think the league was a true reflection of all the effort we have put in this year so far.”
So what would be a true reflection?
“I believe that if we play to our ability, we will give Cork a good game and if it’s in the melting pot in the last few minutes, you’d never know. Big surprises have happened in sport and if we were to beat Cork, for everyone else it would be a big surprise but we have worked hard and we believe that if we play to our potential and everyone performs to their maximum, we can win on Sunday.”
To accomplish great things, one must not only act, but also dream; not only plan but also believe.
If Gordon Kelly is anything to go by, Clare do believe but need to match that belief with a performance unlike any other seen this season.