Moloney: ‘We had a lot to fix and discuss at half-time’
AT half-time in extra-time, the song ‘Raindrops keep falling on my head’ rang out over Croke Park. Save for the fact that it was raining, it was totally incongruous with the scene.
That gentle ditty didn’t belong with the epic, operatic drama that had unfolded before us.
At that point Clare had never led but they also weren’t beaten. Even at nine points down, when they had managed just a single score of their own, joint manager Donal Moloney was adamant they’d recover.
There were too many moments of magic to recount them all here. In the same game, Clare somehow looked both dead-and-buried and home-and-hosed, while Galway looked Kilkenny-like in their early dominance as well as vulnerable when they fell behind.
For Clare, it was a return to old values that rescued the day. When they were shipping water Colm Galvin dropped back to sweep, a tactic that had served them so well in their 2013 All-Ireland run. And when they needed a late point, they went short through the hands to work the equaliser.
But most of all, they relied on their own survival instincts.
“There is definitely a lot of talent there and a lot of heart,” Podge Collins said afterwards.
“Galway started like they did against Kilkenny, just absolutely dominated us for the first 15-20 minutes. Physically they were throwing us around the place. They were by far the better side and then Galvin dropped back and changed the game a good bit.
“He took control and freed up a few lads around the middle and we started to work the ball around a bit more. Thankfully that worked out well and we started getting the ball in a bit deeper and made a game of it because we were in big trouble early on.”
Early in the second half of extra time, there was a break in the sky. The blanket of ominous dark cloud broke momentarily and Croke Park was bathed in a golden light, as if the gods had checked in to have a look.
They tuned in just in time to see Aron Shanagher gather a long delivery and fire past James Skehill. Clare led for the first time and Croke Park erupted. For the Wolfe Tones man, that score held extra significance. This was his first appearance since injuring his cruciate back in November. Even within the story, there was a story.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Moloney said of Shanagher’s recovery. “As cruciate ligament recuperations go, it’s incredible. That was one of his trademarks in terms of that catch and turn and bang. He’s a very, very driven young man.”
Moloney was admirably measured in his post-match media work. His side, he acknowledged, could have both won and lost the game.
By the time the interval arrived, Clare trailed by four. They were late out for the second half, and returned to a chorus of boos. As Moloney explained, Clare were ironing kinks out in their side that would keep their season alive.
“To be honest, when you go nine points down to Galway at half-time you have a lot of stuff to fix. And the players wanted to discuss things. You only get one shot at this and look, if we caused anyone any offence we are sorry, but we’ve had it both ways. To be honest, we lost track of time but we were trying to sort a lot of stuff.”
CHANCES
As normal time drew to a close, Colm Galvin stole possession from Jason Flynn just as he looked set to secure the game. Clare would have a chance to win it too but Cathal Mannion’s intervention brought us to extra-time on a day when both sides missed chances during their purple patches. Galway hit 12 wides in the first half. Clare were particularly guilty of wastefulness in the first half of extra time.
“That might have been our fault as well because we felt the likes of Seadna (Morey) and Fitzy (David Fitzgerald) had scores in them. Maybe they took us a little bit literally and they were too far out on the sideline and maybe if they fed a few of them in it maybe would have been a different result.
“But Galway missed scores as well. When they were on top they missed a lot of scores in that first-half. I think there was swings and roundabouts today.”
Clare had the final say. Despite being gone beyond the allotted three minutes of injury time, Donal Tuohy went short with his puckout to Colm Galvin. From there, Morey, Conor Cleary and Fitzgerald would all get their hands on the ball to work Jason McCarthy into a scoring position..
After a quiet first-half, John Conlon stormed into the game in the second period. And he agreed that both sides were happy to get another bite at the cherry in Thurles next Sunday (throw-in 2pm).
“We never gave up, but neither did Galway,” Conlon said. “Look, it was fantastic stuff, it was exhilarating. At the end, James Skehill and myself were in around the square with a minute to go and we just said no-one deserves to lose this.
“Thankfully Jason got that great score at the end. It had similarities to Domhnall’s score (in the 2013 drawn All-Ireland final). Lads were working it up the field, it just shows the subs who came on, I think David Fitzgerald was involved as well. Just to have that composure and leadership from them to go on and do that in the last puck of the ball meant a lot to us.”
The pity was that it had to come to an end. The good news is we get to do it all again. And after going into Saturday’s game as clear underdogs, Clare can bounce into that game with renewed belief.
“I’m sure Galway will have huge belief as well,” Moloney said. “They actually hung in there when momentum shifted against them. Our boys have taken a lot of criticism over the years which we have always deemed very unfair. They are the most professional group of young men I have ever seen. It is a privilege to be associated with them.”