League final is a huge game – and I think Clare will edge it
DON’T be shocked but I actually think the Allianz Hurling League final between Clare and Kilkenny next Saturday evening in Thurles is a huge match. Clare have only won the title once since the 1977-78 competition, and that was back in 2016. Kilkenny haven’t won the league outright since 2018 – the Covidaffected title of 2021 was shared with Galway – and haven’t won the All-Ireland since 2015.
So this has to matter.
Add in the fact that Brian Lohan is five years with Clare and hasn’t won any silverware, for all the sense of progress being made and some of the big performances they have put together. They also have to be hurting from the consecutive all-Ireland semi-final defeats handed to them by the same opposition.
There was a time when Kilkenny were sweeping all before them – winning league titles, Leinster titles and All-Irelands, and maybe that league medal lost a little bit of value. But I can tell you from my own playing career how much it is valued. Offaly are very proud to have won four All-Irelands ever – in my time as a senior player, I was lucky enough to win five Leinsters, two All-Irelands and the county’s sole National League in 1991. And I’m very proud of that league medal.
Only a handful of the Clare players have one.
For me, that’s the starting point for this game. It’s time to take it on its merits, even if Championship is 15 days away for both teams. So yes, I believe this is huge. Kilkenny have an easier route in Leinster with a first game in the round-robin at home to an Antrim side who have been struggling. It’s certainly easier compared to Munster, which is so cut-throat. Clare host All-Ireland champions Limerick knowing that you’re in trouble straight away if you lose the opening game.
But imagine the bounce in confidence and momentum and belief a win for Clare would give them going into that game. The same goes for Kilkenny after they have already knocked out Limerick in the semi-final. This is very much Derek Lyng’s team. It has changed quite significantly in the two seasons he has been in charge since taking over from Brian Cody. There has been a lot of change to starting line-ups, particularly with the O’Loughlin Gaels players coming back in after club duty. This should give a fair indication of the starting Kilkenny team come championship. Both managers would like to think they’ll have 12 or 13 positions nailed down after this.
Clare have key men still to come back in Tony Kelly, Shane O’Donnell and David McInerney. So I really do think this is massive. For Kilkenny,
the win over Limerick the last day was about laying down a marker, gaining that psychological boost.
With Limerick, there was a bit of fake news about the late substitutions. With Gearóid Hegarty, Cian lynch and Aaron Gillane all taken off late, it was as if they didn’t really care. Which was pushing it a bit.
Now I don’t think they particularly wanted to be in a league final. They looked like a team that had trained really, really hard during the week, were very leggy. One player I look for direction on that is Diarmaid Byrnes. He was unbelievable against Galway when he came on, looked so sharp. Last Sunday, he was hardly able to waddle about the place. Cian Lynch also went on a few solo runs and was turned over. That’s not like him.
No surprise then that I heard afterwards they had a few really, really tough training sessions in the build-up.
I still really enjoyed Kilkenny’s
performance, their honesty of effort. I loved the goal they got when Paddy Deegan launched the ball in. He has spent all winter scoring four and five points a game from centre-back with O’Loughlin Gaels. This time though, rather than shooting, when he gets the ball he looks up and sees the mismatch inside, between TJ Reid and Aaron Costello. Once the ball was in the air, all you could think was goal.
TJ is 37 in November but he continues to amaze. I met him at the Kilkenny-Offaly league match. He wasn’t playing, said he had a bit of a hamstring twinge – but then added that he’d be back for the last two rounds, and the semi-final and final. I love that mindset! He’s modest, down to earth, but that’s the mindset of an elite player – think in terms of making the final.
Whatever about what went wrong with Limerick, I’m not sure why Tipperary were so off it in their semi-final against Clare. They missed a load of frees. Jason Forde is one of the best in the business
but they ended up with four different takers. Clare looked way ahead of them athletically.
Clare have been impressive during the league and I do think they can win this one. David Fitzgerald has been such a big player for them. His movement, his power, his scoring ability – he has really taken his game to another level.
And while other forwards like David Reidy or Ian Galvin aren’t big, they have a great first touch, can do damage. Athletically, they might have the edge right now.
They are playing a nice brand of hurling, are able to mix a short and long game. Like TJ, John Conlon is still going strong, goes for every ball like it means the world.
I’d never write off Kilkenny but I said from the start that this would be a big league for Brian Lohan and Clare. Darragh Lohan has been a real find in the middle of the field and I’m expecting a Clare win.
I just hope there are no soft yellow cards handed out like we saw last weekend. Eoin Cody’s second yellow was a free, nothing more.
The Jake Morris second yellow card too was so soft. A Clare man went up to catch a ball and he didn’t cover his hand. Morris went to flick on the ball. You can’t be training five days a week for this sort of craic – if the ball is there you’re entitled to go for it.
So I hope the league final is refereed accordingly and there’s a bit of blood and thunder to set the tone for championship.