Category: Sport

IN a career that spanned more than three decades and included spells with the biggest clubs in England, John Giles has seen and done it all when it comes to football.

So the dramatic events of last week when English clubs splashed over € 200 million on transfer fees for new players, came as no surprise to the former Leeds and Manchester United great.

Recalling how in the 1950s Albert Quixall signed for Manchester United for a then record fee, Giles told The Clare People that big money has always been part and parcel of professional football.

He explained, “I go back to the time when I was playing with Manchester United and we had a lad in 1958, Albert Quixall, joined Manchester United for a record fee of £45,000. So it was always there. I believe even before my time there was a man called Tommy Lawton, a great player, an international. I think he was transferred for 30,000 and people thought this was it. It will never go higher than that.

Then we had the first million pound player with Trevor Francis and everybody thought, my god a million pounds. There’s nothing you can do about it really because if the clubs want to pay it, they want to pay it. Whether you think it’s too much or I think its too much, it doesn’t matter”.

The former Republic of Ireland player/manager was speaking in Ennis on Saturday at the Clare launch of the John Giles Foundation, ‘Walk of Dreams’.

Commenting on the multi-million euro deals that saw Fernando Torres trade Liverpool for Chelsea, and Andy Carroll swap Newcastle for the Anfield club, Giles said inflated transfer fees can sometimes weigh heavily on players’ minds.

He said, “I think it does tell on some players. I don’t know what Carroll is like. He looks quite a confident lad. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing I don’t know.

But he could take it in his stride. But we’ve seen players before like Garry Birtles and Peter Davenport. He went from Forest to United and it was too much for him.

“It can happen. Certainly Old Trafford seem to affect players more than others”.

Gile also believes Ireland have a “reasonable” chance of qualifying for the 2012 European Championships. Citing the emergence of young talent like Seamus Coleman, Keith Fahy and Greg Cunningham, Giles reckons that captain and new West Ham United signing Robbie Keane remains an integral part of Giovanni Trapattoni’s team, despite an unsettled season to date.

H explained, “He’s got 48 goals, he scored on his debut for West Ham. I don’t think players lose that and I don’t think Robbie Keane has…. I don’t think the players do. What I found happens when I turned 30, was that if you had a bad number of games, it was down to your age. And then they are wondering if you are past it”.

Giles added, “You go beyond that then and you actually become ageless. Ryan Giggs is 37. Now I remember they were saying is he finished? It was the same as Paul Scholes. So what can they say now? Scholes is 35, 36. He can still play. Giggs is playing as well as ever. So you become ageless.”

IRELAND’S top soccer pundit John Giles has revealed that he has no interest in taking up any of the vacancies at Sky Sports created by the departures of Richard Keys and Andy Gray.

The pair were dismissed from the station following a recent on air controversy over comments about assistant referee Sian Massey.

Giles, along with Eamon Dunphy and Liam Brady, is one of the star members of RTE’s hugely popular panel of soccer pundits.

The trio’s analysis and comments are often as eagerly anticipated as the action on the field. Speaking in Ennis on Saturday, Giles said he would turn down a move to Sky.

He said, “No, no. There’ll be no chance of that call anyway but I wouldn’t do it. It would be too time consuming. I wouldn’t want to do it. I’m just happy doing what I’m doing at the moment”.

The former Irish international also admitted that he isn’t a big fan of the analysis provided by some of his counterparts on cross-channel televisions stations.

He explained, “I don’t think it’s very good. I look at them the same as everybody else does. I thought at the World Cup they were very poor. I thought the BBC panel, all of them… England were having a nightmare against Slovenia and America and they kept hedging their bets. They were worried about them qualifying and being shown up and I don’t think they called it at all. England were awful at the World Cup. But they only started having a go at them when they were 4-1 down against Germany. But they didn’t say any thing critical of them before that”

Giles added, “I think we call it as we see it. In the first match against America they played very poorly. But when you see the English media, they were saying, ‘oh they played well, they played ok’. When it was obvious to everybody that they played rubbish. But that’s their business and we get on with our business. And hopefully we’ll get the viewers and we’ll keep them”

The 70-year-old Dubliner says he enjoys his role as a soccer pundit and has no intention of hanging up his microphone anytime soon.

He said, “I’ll go as long as they want me. I keep saying I’ve been doing it for 24 years and they haven’t found me out yet (laughs), so until they do I’ll keep doing it”.

TUAMGRANEY’S Diarmaid Nash again tasted national handball success with a stunning victory at the All-Ireland Intervarsities Championships in Kingscourt, Cavan over the weekend. Representing NUI Galway, Nash won the Men’s Open title when he defeated Tipperary man Fergal Collins in the final. Nash had overcome Waterford’s David Walsh and Kilkenny man Nicholas Anthony in the quarter and semi-final respectively.

Nash’s Tuamgraney and NUIG clubmate Niall Malone also reached the Open semi-finals with an impressive win over ITT’s Shane Hedigan but Ballina man Collins had too much for Malone on the day and the reigning All-Ireland under 21 Champion went into the final against Nash. The Scariff native came out on top in Sunday’s decider 21-18, 21-7.

There was also victory for Clooney’s Lisa Loughnane (University of Limerick) when she claimed the Ladies B title with an 11-7 tie-break win in the final against Linda Connolly (RCSIA). Nash’s win in Cavan capped a busy but successful weekend for the Tuamgraney club at adult and juve- nile 40×20 levels. Friday night saw Munster Secondary Schools Championship wins for Alice Akers and Clodagh Nash. Alice (Scariff CC) won the Girls Junior Singles title while Clodagh (Ursuline Convent, Thurles) took the First Year’s crown after defeating Tuamgraney clubmate Katie Minogue (Scariff CC) in the final in Capagh, Limerick. Ciaran Malone (Scariff CC) reached the Boys Schools Intermediate Munster final but went down to Kilkishen’s Colin Crehan (Ard Scoil Ris) in a tie-breaker in Cappagh on Saturday. Barry Nash will this week be involved in the Leinster Schools championship, representing Cistercian College, Roscrea. Meanwhile, in the County Juvenile Championships, Tuamgraney will be represented in the under 12B Singles (Cian Minogue), Under 13B Singles (Ian Murray), Under 16A Doubles (Barry Nash, Patrick Fitzgerald) and Minor A Singles (Ciaran Malone). All five will be bidding to add to county titles won by Tuamgraney players Clodagh Nash (under 12) and Alice Akers (under 16). Tuamgraney will also be well rep resented in this year’s Munster adult Championships. Paul Healy played Under 21 Singles and Doubles (with Chris Ryan, Newmarket) for the county while Ciaran Malone will also play both Singles and Doubles (with Jamie Lynch, Kilkishen) at Minor grade. Malone has already won his first-round singles game as has Ciaran Walsh (Junior B Singles) who also partners Tom Kirby (Shannon) in Doubles.

Diarmaid Nash and Niall Malone will once again be gunning for glory when they compete in both Singles and Doubles at Intermediate and Senior grades. Anne Marie Fitzgerald, Ashling Fitzgerald and Edel O’Grady are all in line to represent Clare in the Munster Ladies Championship in what is already shaping up to be a very busy spring for Tuamgraney Handball Club in what is the club’s centenary year. Tuamgraney will also play League semi-finals in divisions 2 and 3 next week.

THE Munster 40×20 adult Handball Championships are well under way this week and a number of Clare players have been in action and almost all are still in contention. There were first round wins for Ciaran Malone (Minor Singles) Ciaran Walsh, Paul Lynch (Jnr. B Singles) Aidan Lynch (Jnr. Singles), Barry McMahon/Chris Philpott (Minor Doubles) and Ciaran Walsh/Tom Kirby (Jnr. B Doubles). The fixtures continue this week with matches invloving Clare players coming thick and fast.

Clare handball’s management and selectors will be confident of securing at least Munster titles for the Banner County in a number of 40×20 grades this year. Supporters can contact local club secretaries for exact details of fixtures and take advantage of the glut of high-quality handball fixtures taking place in Clare’s handball courts over the next few days and weeks.

This week will see the following in Munster Chamionship action; Ciaran Walsh & Tom Kirby (Tuesday in Tuamgraney v. Limerick, JBD), Christy Philpott (Tuesday in Kilkishen v. Cork, SMBS), Jamie Lynch & Ciaran Malone (Wednesday in Dungarvan v Waterford, MD), Trevor Vaughan & Alan Leamy (Wednesday in Dungarvan v. Waterford, U21D), Niall Malone and Diarmaid Nash (Wed. in Tuamgraney v. Tipp & Cork, Intermediate Singles), John Nihill (Wed. in Cashel v. Tipp, SMBS), Paul Lynch (Thur. in Clooney v. Limerick, JBS), Cathal Hannon (Thur. in Clooney v. Limerick, JS), Aidan Lynch (Fri. in Clooney v. Limerick, JS), Derek Healy & Finbarr Sheridan (Fri. in Clarecastle/Ballydesmond v. Limerick/Cork), Ciaran Walsh (Fri. in Nenagh v. Tipp, JBS), Ciaran Malone (Sat. in Cappagh v. Limerick, MS), Lisa Loughnane (Sun. in Broadford v. Karen Lawlor (Kerry), Intermediate Singles Final).

REMEMBER last year’s treacherous Division 2 campaign that could be likened to a circus ghost train of unforeseen pitfalls? Clare senior hurling selector Danny Chaplin is adamant that Clare are not about to endure another such trepidatious ride through the so-called lesser lights of the hurling world and feels that the county are better equipped both on and off the field to deal with anything that is thrown at them during this year’s league campaign.

“I hope that it isn’t like last year because it wasn’t good for the heart condition last year down in Carlow and up in Antrim. There are banana skins, of course there are but we would feel that we are a year further down the road and better prepared ourselves on the sideline for these level of games. We would probably have a better view of it ourselves so last year was a big learning curve for us as well.

“What went on last year, it was our first year and we accepted certain things but we wouldn’t be happy with that this year. We have to get performances, even if it is the league. It is no good struggling through games and last year the biggest score we put up was against Westmeath [4-19] but yet we conceded 3-15 which took a lot of the good out of it. But the likes of that, we would hope to rectify this year and put teams away from early on and not be praying that we get a late score.”

That confidence is derived from a positive attitude from the players to their individual strength and conditioning programmes during the winter collective break as well as a further batch of new talent that have embraced the squad in the Waterford Crystal games.

“I think one of the big things for us this year is that we have a good pre-season done and after the winter break, we were ready to start in January. We had looked at the Clare cham- pionship last year and we brought in a few new guys. Some of the Under 21’s made the step up as well and at the end of last year, we had a small panel of only 23 so we added to that and gave them a weights programme which they were doing themselves because of the collective ban. In fairness they were all doing it in gyms so by the time January came around, we were ready to start the physical programme. It’s going well, we are getting a great response and the players are putting in a superb effort and if anything I would be concerned that we are a good bit ahead of where we were last year.

“Some guys have taken the chances, more guys haven’t as of yet availed of the chances they got but they will get another couple of games before we trim down the panel. Some of them have been very promising. I mean you look at the likes of Mark Earley who would not have made the 21’s and he has played in a couple of games in the Waterford Crystal and did very well. Conor Tierney started out very well in the first couple of games and maybe wasn’t as effective in the last game but he will get another game. It’s guys like that who are getting chances and that’s what it’s all about at this time of year.

“The two Cratloe guys Conor McGrath and Cathal McInerney; Darach Honan who is only in his second year at this level; Patrick O’Connor who we looked at at wing-forward on Saturday against Cork, all these guys are only 19 or 20 years of age and doing very well.”

Looking at the league schedule, the stand-out fixture for Danny Chaplin is undoubtedly the first round clash of Division 2 favourites Clare and Limerick in Cusack Park on Sunday, a tie that not only renews the local derby rivalry but may also have a greater relevance in terms of making the final in May.

“Clare and Limerick takes on a life of its own really whether it’s league or championship, Division 1 or Di- vision 4, it doesn’t really matter. It’s Clare against Limerick and it’s just like the club scene in Clare, it’s your nearest neighbours and it will be the same on Sunday. There’s the local rivalry aspect of it, guys know each other well so I think it’s good for us and will give us a real barometer of where we are. We are very hopeful of doing well in it but it’s probably going to be our toughest game.

“When we looked at the league when the draw came out, we saw we had Limerick first and then Antrim up in Belfast next which are probably the two toughest games in it. But our targets are two wins out of two in the first two weeks. Next Sunday will take on a life of its own and it’s probably the bigest league match that we have been involved in, even bigger than last year because we didn’t meet Limerick last year and we are really looking forward to it.”

Árdscoil Rís 2-19 – St Flannan’s College 0-22 at Gaelic Grounds, Limerick

THERE was no silverware handed out in the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday but Árdscoil Rís are certainly overwhelming favourites to claim historic back-to-back titles after overcoming main rivals St Flannan’s at the penultimate stage.

Regardless of your allegiances, it was a truly great advertisement for college’s hurling, a throwback to the memorable jousts of the past that invariably involved St Flannan’s in some capacity. Indeed, it was no wonder that Árdscoil’s Niall Moran implored supporters to travel to the game as it was compelling end-toend action from the first minute to the final whistle.

It truth, the result could have gone either way in a dramatic finish but defending champions Árdscoil just about deserved victory in the end, thanks to their greater experience and leadership at the vital times as well as two second half goals in a seven minute period at the turn of the final quarter.

The game centred around the unerring accuracy of two inspirational protagonists: Shane Dowling at centre-forward and later midfield for Árdscoil Rís who claimed 1-10 of his side’s total and Ballyea’s Tony Kelly who at times single-handedly maintained St Flannan’s challenge with a haul of 14 points.

In between those scoring feats, there were three point cameos for impressive wing-forwards Mark Carmody (Árdscoil Ris) and Conor O’Gorman (St Flannan’s) and corner-forwards John Fitzgibbon (Árdscoil Ris) and Shane O’Donnell (St Flannan’s) that further enhanced this tie. However, it was Shane Dowling’s 38th minute 20 metre free to the net and Oisin Hickey’s opportunistic follow up seven minutes later that swung the contest decisively towards the holders.

The opening half was a seesaw affair that saw both sides take control for extended periods but all the while cancelling each other out. Limerick side Árdscoil Rís flew out of the blocks to open up a 0-5 to 0-1 advantage by the seventh minute and could have even snatched a goal in that period when Kevin O’Brien’s acute shot rebounded off the crossbar.

St Flannan’s were struggling but found their feet thanks to the determnation of Tony Kelly who hit four out of St Flannan’s first five points to level matters by the 12th minute.

Shane Dowling pushed Árdscoil ahead once more with three frees while St Flannan’s had goal opportunities through Conor O’Gorman and Kelly that both ended up as points. And as the momentum swung towards the Ennis school, they finally took the lead for the first time with further points from Martin O’Leary, Kelly and O’Gorman at 0-10 to 0-8 by the 22nd minute.

Three successive points, two from the stick of Dowling had Árdscoil in the ascendency once more approaching the break but inevitably it was Kelly and O’Gorman who gave St Flannan’s the narrowest of advantages at 0-12 to 0-11 at half-time.

Árdscoil brought out Meelick’s Damian Moloney to man-mark Conor O’Gorman for the second period but it was Kelly who maintained St Flannan’s early lead with two points in the opening three minutes.

However, an unanswered 1-3 including a bullet free to the net from Dowling in the 38th minute transformed the game dramatically. With the bit between their teeth, the holders hammered home their momentum through a Dowling free and 1-1 in the space of a minute for Meelick’s Oisin Hickey who was perfectly positioned to finish a John Fitzgibbon flick from a Declan Hannon clearance to the net in the 45th minute.

Now eight points in arrears, St Flannan’s needed to dig deeper than ever before and indeed got a spark of in- spiration from corner-forward Shane O’Donnell who tormented Árdscoil’s last line over the next ten minutes.

Along with hitting three points himself, he also earned two frees that Kelly converted to cut the deficit to three by the 54th minute and there was almost a full reprieve when an Alan O’Neill close range pull produced a great diving save from goalkeeper PJ Hall.

St Flannan’s could smell blood but while Kelly continued to chip away at the lead with placed balls, Árdscoil kept their cool at the other end through points from substitute Jack Kelliher and John Fitzgibbon.

Indeed, St Flannan’s best chance to snatch something out of the game came in the 58th minute when a teasing ball across the square by O’Donnell was flicked towards goal by Alan O’Neill only to drift agonisingly past the far post much to the relief of the Árdscoil defence.

The scenes of celebration at the final whistle highlighted just what this victory meant to Árdscoil Ris. With their main rivals out of the way, the passage is clear for a second successive title and taking into consideration the quality of the second semi-final, it appears that on this performance, anything other than an Árdscoil win would be the shock of the competition.

MICHEÁL McDermott bristled with anger at the end of it all. Even before he opened his mouth you could see it in his face. Clare were done by the refereeing decisions over the 70 minutes and he wasn’t afraid to say it either.

But it wasn’t all about Shaun McLaughlin’s performance – he had some words for his players too. Pride at the way they rolled up their sleeves in the face of adversity in second half, utter dejection at the poverty of their play in the first 35 minutes when Clare just turned up, but didn’t play.

“The first half was very disappointing, very, very disappointing,” he admitted. “We didn’t get on the breaking ball. We didn’t support like we have been playing in the McGrath Cup. All round it was a disappointing display in the first half.

“They out-muscled us a little bit in the first half. They were very tight, very tenacious and very hungry for the win in the first half. We lacked that little bit of hunger to match them,” he added.

But the second half was a transformation as harsh half-time words saw a rejuvenated Clare take the game to a Leitrim side that only fielded four of last year’s Connacht championship side.

“The second half was much better and it was disappointing to lose after that. Gordon Kelly was an awful loss because he’s an inspirational guy on the field, while David Tubridy’s send- ing off was another huge blow to us, but after that they gave it everything and really deserved something from the game.

“Our second half performance showed the character that’s within the team. It showed the will to win in this team when we were down to 13 men and it showed the savage hunger and level of fitness.

“We came at them and at them, ran at them and the numbers game of them having two more players and a few refereeing decisions caught at us in the end. That was the difference between winning and losing.

“Being two points up, the legs were getting very tired. There was an awful lot of work to be done. When you have 13 men against 15, even when you get a score you’re handing them possession back and they eventually used their extra men to effect and got the scores from it, but they got two frees near the end that I would question,” added McDermott as Clare’s campaign got off to the worst possible start.

Still, McDermott accentuated the positive as he looked forward to the remaining seven games.

“Nobody was promoted today,” he said.

“It was the first day and it was disappointing, but it leaves the trap door locked now and we have to win every one of seven remaining games. We know what we have to do and we have to believe that we can do it. More of the character we showed in the second half is what we’re looking for in the rest of the league.”

Waterford 2-19 – Clare 2-18 at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

IF experience has taught supporters anything about the Waterford Crystal competition, It’s that it is important to keep things in perspective. In a nutshell, with the new season only in its infancy, experimental sides being used and hardly ideal conditions to boot, it’s foolhardy to overcelebrate victories and equally also rash to over-analyse defeats such as Sunday’s.

In the end, it was Richie Foley’s injury-time free from close range that sealed the victory for Waterford in a game that could have gone either way but overall will be remembered for a remarkable second half turnaround by Waterford that Clare were unable to halt.

It was the proverbial game of two halves but without a wind of any description, major injuries or dismissals, it is difficult to comprehend how contrasting the halves actually turned out to be. After finding themselves 04 to 0-1 in arrears after 12 minutes, Clare upped the ante significantly to outscore their opponents by 2-11 to 0-3 in the remaining 23 minutes, inspired by goals from the impressive Cathal McInerney and Fergal Lynch to lead by 11 at the break.

However, it was a total reversal on the restart as it was a resurgent Waterford, led by the freetaking of Richie Foley and the influence of full-forward Seamus Prendergast, who blitzed the home side by 2-9 to 0-2 in the first 20 minutes of the half to force the issue by two points. Clare did come off the ropes to produce a late recovery but by that stage the damage had been done and it was Waterford who held their nerve to see out the win.

True, it was a thoroughly disappointing finish to what appeared to be an encouraging outing for Clare who at their best in the first half, were sharp, ruthless and hungry but also leaderless and naïve when put under immense pressure by the defending champions in the second period.

It is difficult to judge either county at this early stage of the season either as both were without large chunks of the teams that clashed in last year’s Munster championship semi-final in Thurles. Holders Waterford started with nine out of the 20 that played against the Banner in June while Clare had only seven survivors from that 0-22 to 1-15 defeat.

However, Clare’s inability to kill off games and a glaring lack of consistency, not just between games but also within the same game, indicates that their inexperienced squad still have some way to go before they can mature into a side worthy of competing for the top honours.

It was in similar circumstances that Clare exited last year’s competition as well as the same stage to the same opposition. Clare, off the back of a rousing victory over Tipperary in their own backyard, travelled down to Waterford only days later but failed to turn up for the game itself as Waterford pummeled them by 12 points. Similar inconsistencies raised their head in the league against Wexford (twice) as well as the championship when raising their game beyond expectations to push eventual Munster champions Waterford all the way before slumping to a disappointing defeat against Anthony Daly’s Dublin only weeks later in the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Still, with captain Paddy Vaughan, Conor Cooney, Brendan Bugler, Patrick Donnellan Sean Collins, Jonathan Clancy, Darach Honan and Sunday’s substitutes Gerry Quinn, Cormac O’Donovan, Donal Tuohy and Caimin Morey to come into the mix for the league, Ger O’Loughlin can draw a line in the sand on this collapse and vow to learn from it in the coming months.

With Nicky O’Connell, and Cratloe newcomers Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath to the fore in the first half on Sunday, Clare produced their best hurling of the year so far after a slow start that saw them trail by 0-4 to 0-1 after 12 minutes.

An inspirational burst from defence by Cian Dillon and subsequent pass for Nicky O’Connell to point from halfway started the fightback and were quickly followed by points from McInerney, John Conlon and an O’Connell ’65 before Clare got their first goal in the 21st minute.

A clearance by Frank McGrath was partially intercepted by Diarmuid McMahon, Domhnall O’Donovan gathered possession and sent a pass over the top for Cathal McInerney to field and knock past Clinton Hennessy from close range. Sandwiching an opportunist point from Conor McGrath, Fergal Lynch smashed a second goal in the 26th minute when finishing off a move that again involved O’Donovan and McInerney.

It was the catalyst for a further six points from the home side who overran their opponents for the remainder, epitomised by Diarmuid McMahon’s superb solo point in the 28th minute when fielding a Waterford puck-out at halfway before taking on the defence and tapping over from 30 metres.

2-12 to 0-07 up at half-time, nothing but a Clare win could be forseen at that stage but crucially for the second week in succession, the home side failed to react to opposition manager Davy Fitzgerald’s tactic of placing a strong target man at the edge of the square and withdrawing the rest of the forwards to give him space. The previous weekend it was Willie Hyland who fulfilled that role for LIT and on Sunday, it was Seamus Prendergast that caused Clare untold problems.

That allied with the unerring freetaking of Richie Foley and Clare’s inability to gather the breaking ball around halfway and supply the po- tentially threatening inside line of Cathal McInerney, Conor McGrath and Colin Ryan caused a major shift in proceedings. Waterford’s fortunes altered with Richie Foley’s 20 metre free that was driven low to the net in the 40th minute and gathering momentum, they added a further 1-9 to Clare’s 0-2 in the opening 20 minutes of the half, with the second goal coming from the lively Shane Casey in the 56th minute to push his side two points clear at 2-16 to 2-14.

Clare rang the changes, bringing Colin Ryan back as a third midfielder and switching centre-back James McInerney and full-back Cian Dillon, just as they had done to good effect the previous week.

However, while Clare did recover fully by the 70th minute through a James McInerney penalty that flew over the crossbar, a Nicky O’Connell free and a point from Colin Ryan to lead by the minimum at 2-18 to 2-17, it was Waterford who had the final say when Richie Foley converted two late frees to advance to their second consecutive final.

It was a frustrating end to an otherwise beneficial pre-season tournament for Clare, with plenty of pluses and minuses for Ger O’Loughlin and his management team to consider ahead of what is a crucial league campaign for the county, starting with neighbours Limerick on Sunday week.

IT was an exceptionally busy weekend for Liam McHale when attempting to balance the two loves of his sporting life, gaelic football and basketball. As the leading pundit for the National Cup finals in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, the Mayo native had a packed schedule but was also determined to get the best out of Clare on Saturday when taking on the might of Kerry in a game that he concluded even before a ball was kicked was ‘more about the performance than the result.’

Overall, McHale is an advocate of the two sports complementing each other as he outlined on Friday’s RTE radio show Sport At Seven when previewing the basketball finals.

“I know because of the GAA ban in November and December, there are a lot of teams doing conditioning work vis-á-vis lifting weights and they are also playing basketball two nights a week in a gym. So I know there are a lot of teams that are trying to do two months of that type of training and we in Clare have looked into doing a bit of it as well. It can be tiring at times and it can take a little bit out of you but as regards becoming a very good footballer, I would recommend that most young boys and girls play basketball as their secondary sport to improve their evasive skills, to improve their passing and to improve their defensive qualities because they are the things you work on on the basketball court with your coach.”

While Clare failed to upset Kerry on Saturday, there will be no tears shed as priorities for 2011 centre around gaining promotion from Division 4 of the National League, hardly a slam dunk either when assessing the fixture list, according to McHale who also spoke exclusively to The Clare People at the weekend.

“It’s going to be very difficult and because the way things have played out, it’s going to be even harder for us this year. We have the Connacht champions Roscommon coming down to Division 4 as well as Fermanagh who were in an All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo in 2004 and should have beaten us. A lot of players that would have played that day and have being playing for the last four or five years are still involved so they are obviously a very quality outfit. We also have the likes of Wicklow and teams like that away from home. It was laid out better for us last year in terms of fixtures but we’d like to think we are better this year and better equipped with more strength in depth to get on with it and do well.

“However, in saying that, the Leitrim game is massive for us and I know being a Connacht man how difficult Leitrim are to beat in Carrick-on-Shannon. So if we can come out of that game with a victory, I think that will bode well for us for the season. Obviously if we lose that in the competitive league that we are in, you are going to be playing catch up from the get go and you don’t want that.”

So after a year’s experience in Clare football, how does the former AllStar rate the current county squad?

“We are better than we were last year. We have more strength in depth with some new guys along with Timmy [Ryan] and Rory [Donnelly] back in the fold so we are delighted with that. There are also some younger guys pushing hard like Cathal O’Connor, Conor Ryan, Shane Brennan, Michael Foran and David O’Brien so we feel that stronger squad-wise but at the same time, we are not entirely happy with what were are doing when we get the ball to the middle of the field.

“Some of our decision making is poor and we are not scoring as much as we’d like. We’ve done an awful lot of work, this year and last, on scoring goals when we get the opportunity. My philosophy is if you get four goal chances and you score two, you are better off than scoring four points. I’d like them to be aggressive and I’d like them to get their decision making right and stick those goals. We haven’t been scoring as many goals as we had last year but I’m hoping that will come with the more work we do.”

In addition, much of the talk from outside the camp surrounds the introduction of three players from other counties on the GAA’s parentage rule but again McHale pulls no punches when putting the onus of responsibility on the newcomers’ shoulders.

“Niall [Browne] played on Saturday and he’s obviously a big addition; David O’Connor missed the game with a pulled hamstring and Adrian [Cahill] has a lot of work to do and obviously is not fit enough for intercounty football yet and it is entirely up to themselves how they will fare.

“If a footballer of average athletic ability and average talent applies himself correctly and gives it one hundred per cent, he can play intercounty football. He might not be as good as the Gary Brennan’s, the Rory Donnellys, the Alan Clohessys or the David Tubridys of this world but he can get himself in great shape if he has the right work ethic and has the right attitude. He can play some sort of part on an inter-county team, be it a Clare team or a Kerry team or a Mayo team or whatever.

“So everyone is going to get a fair crack of the whip and we will be hoping that these fellas can apply themselves well and work hard as they are currently doing in fairness. If the three new guys can do that, they will get their opportunities and when you get your opportunities at this level, you’ve got to take them because there are not too many second chances.”

So while last year’s promise of Division 4 success evaporated and this year’s McGrath Cup honours have eluded Clare, is garnering silverware essential for the county in 2011 or is the priority simply about continuing to climb the footballing ladder a few more rungs?

“I spoke to the County Board last year and I liked the approach they had. They were very realistic and they said that their aspiration for the moment was to get out of Division 4. They weren’t talking about winning Munster titles and beating the powers of the game in Cork and Kerry so I thought that that was realistic.

“It’s a difficult challenge but it’s a realistic challenge so if we can do that, be it first or second and obviously I’d love to come first but whether as champions or runners-up I would say that it was a successful year. If we can achieve that and circle the wagons, and take a deep breath, then it’s all guns blazing for Cork away from home. Right now we want to concentrate on the league and that means heading for Carrick-on-Shannon in good shape both mentally and physically.”

In basketball parlance, the opening trip to Leitrim is definitely more of a three pointer than the two that are actually at stake.

IT was strange really. Leaving aside the grotesque part of GUBU, it was certainly unusual, bizarre and unbelievable.

Not that Kerry beat Clare in the McGrath Cup, but that afterwards that a small forest of reporters, local to Kerry from the print and radio media, and national hacks too, tagged along with The Cla re People and The Cla re Cha mpion representatives as they got the few quotes from Banner boss Micheál McDermott.

Kerry boss Jack O’Connor, captain Tomás Ó Sé et al were left behind on the Lewis Road pitch – Clare were the story, maybe because they felt they’d get no story from Jack and his lads because McGrath Cup football in January doesn’t exactly get their pulse for football up and running.

Yeah, Kerry wanted to win, simply because they don’t do losing too often, but Clare really wanted it because the chance of squaring off against Kerry in a final doesn’t come around too often. McDermott admitted as much afterwards, while at the same looking at the much bigger picture of the upcoming National League campaign.

“When you get to the final you want to win it and we’re disappointed we didn’t win today,” he revealed, “but it’s about more than that. As a management team, we’ve learned a lot from the McGrath Cup. For the players, they’ve learned a lot from the campaign too.

“We have learned an awful lot from today’s game and learned a lot from playing Kerry. Sometimes you learn more from losses than from victory. We have to improve on areas of our game and it will make us a better team.”

That their best wasn’t good enough, said McDermott was down to mistakes and a midfield wipe-out where David Moran and Seamus Scanlan ruled the skies.

“We made a lot of mistakes. We lost out big-time in the middle of the field. It was an area they dominating and missing Gary Brennan today was a huge loss for us in that sector. We were missing Gary Brennan and Ger Quinlan, who are a big fulcrum of our midfield area. It was the area we had trouble with. The platform for their victory came from that area. They won a lot of clean, first time ball and it put us on the back foot.

“It was disappointing today with the frees we missed, because the last three days most of those were going over. It was just a bad day at the office for our free takers today. We hope that when we go up to Carrick-on-Shannon next weekend that it won’t be the case.

“We learned a lot of lessons out of the game. The encouraging side of it is that although we missed a couple of easy frees that could have equalised that game up. In the last five to ten minutes we were still willing to chase the game and still trying to go for a victory and a draw. That’s good for the character of the team.

“Our defence has been good in the campaign to date. We have been very tight marking. The quality of the ball that Kerry sent in meant that they got some really good scores. There are a lot of new players in on the team this year. There is a lot of work for ourselves to do. It’s the month of January and we learn from our experience today and move on. This is the basis of the panel we’re going to be working with for the National League,” added McDermott. MCGRATH FOOTBALL CUP FINAL