This article is from page 54 of the 2008-06-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 54 JPG
IF 2007 showed us anything, it was that anything is possible. This time last season, only the wisest sage would have predicted that Tulla would win the county championship. And at that, such a prediction would probably have been laughed at.
What it means is that with dawn coming over this year’s champion- ship, there are at least a dozen teams who will figure they can emulate Tulla and their achievements of ’07. And why not?
Only a few days had passed after the county final last year and Tulla captain Michael Murphy was fielding phone calls from clubs all over Clare wondering what the secret to their success was. What could he say? He
told them the truth. That Tulla put in one big, honest effort. That no player shirked any responsibility. On a pan- el that realistically had less than 20 players capable of mixing it at senior level, that was crucial.
Tulla also knew their limits. They had a handful of players with sub- lime skill, but the bulk had to hurl with passion and commitment. That was the most evident characteristic throughout their group games and even more so as the knock-out stage progressed.
For every player, there comes a turn- ing point in the season. For some, it was Tulla’s honest meeting in a local restaurant when a few home truths were told but for most, it was the at- mosphere in the dressing room prior to a game that most clubs would have
simply seen as fulfilling a fixture.
That game took place in Sixmileb- ridge in the middle of the Clare Cup —a competition that Tulla weren’t ex- actly setting on fire. That day, they were missing some players but they were asked for honesty, they were asked could they put pride back in Tulla, pride that had been missing for a number of years.
The players responded, they went out and hurled with honesty and they prevailed. From there, the momen- tum began to build and confidence began to seep in.
When the county final arrived, they had beaten two established teams and it suited Tulla that they were go- ing into the game against a team who also had zero big-day experience.
It’s almost eight months since that
game was played. Afterwards, there was a feeling among those with no stake in the game that the occasion didn’t live up to expectations, that the hurling was static. Fair point then, but eight months on, nobody remembers the type of game it was. All that’s recalled, is the novelty and hope that Tulla brought.
Now, for Tulla, it’s a matter of maintaining that momentum and those standards and given the group they’re in, that won’t be easy.
For the other 19 teams, it’s all about playing with that honesty that Tulla personified throughout 2007.