Both sides will relish this contest in Cusack Park

CAN you get too much of a good thing the old question goes?

Summer 2016 seemed determined to test the theory to destruction for both Kerry and Clare. One meeting between the two was interesting, intriguing even given the way it panned out. Lessons learned on both sides, goodwill too.

Come the All Ireland quarter-final, however, the last thing either side wanted to do was face off against the other, not again, not so soon. For Kerry with an All Ireland semi-final with Dublin coming down the tracks they could have done with a different challenge.

As for Clare, well Clare were playing their first championship game in headquarters since the famous 1992 season and would have much preferred an opponent other than Kerry.

Sure it’s important to test yourself against the very best, but by then Clare had been there, done that, they wanted a fresh challenge, an opponent they could possibly stand a chance against – similar to what Tipperary got in Galway.

Against Kerry there was no chance of coming in as the unknown underdog and catching them on the hop. Eamonn Fitzmaurice is too clever a manager for that, too tactically astute.

Colm Collins did his best to learn his lessons too and kept it tight at the back to ensure no repeat of the two early goals his side conceded in Fitzgerald Stadium. Kerry being Kerry the chances and the goal eventually arrived nevertheless.

It was one of the more flat occasions we’ve ever experienced in Croke Park. To repeat, not what either team would have wanted. Even so there’s a sense that this weekend’s game, a third championship meeting in twelve months, is exactly what both teams want.

After two months out the Kingdom are hungry for a game, any game and Clare having spent a season plying their trade in Division 2 – famously beating Peadar Healy’s Cork along the way – will feel better prepared for this game than for either of last year’s two jousts.

The Banner already have seventy minutes of championship football behind them, even if it was far from a vintage performance from the Banner men that’s got to stand to them.

“On the day [against Limerick] a few things let us down,” Collins said this week.

“Shooting efficiency was the main one. I felt that we let the pace go. We started to play at a more pedestrian pace towards the end of the game and made some really silly errors. In particular our shooting efficiency is going to have to be an awful lot sharper against Kerry.

“It thought we retained possession quite well the last day, bar a few silly ones we didn’t give away the ball cheaply and that’s vital. You move the ball quickly, you keep the ball and then when you get your opportunity you make sure the guy in the best position gets the score, and not be shooting from all sorts of crazy places. “It doesn’t matter who you

are playing against. These are the things you have to get right if you’re going to put in a really good performance. We know the what we did the last day won’t come anyway near Kerry, but it’s a game we’re looking forward to and hopefully if we can get our own game together and get it right we can do really well.

“When it’s upped we have to respond to them score for score. I think there’s a big performance in this group and when they play I think they’re a match for anybody. Hopefully that performance comes on Sunday.”

The last time Kerry travelled to Cusack Park they were given a right test. At the time it seemed to portend a difficult championship season to come. In hindsight a foolish lesson to draw, Kerry ended the season as All Ireland champions.

It’s quite possible that Clare will again put it up to Kerry in a major way this weekend. There have been occasions during Fitzmaurice’s tenure as Kerry manager when the opening game proved more difficult than anticipated.

If something similar happens this weekend – very possible – we should be very wary to read too much into it. If anything Kerry folk should hope for a real test of their side. No doubt the Kerry management team do – to a point obviously, the last thing they want is a defeat.

So what to expect on Sunday? Without wanting to sound trite, the usual. Clare will be competitive for forty five to sixty minutes and in the end Kerry will push on for victory.

At this stage we’re not sure what kind of a team Fitzmaurice will select. It’s a good bet to assume he’ll go with a good number of those who won that National League final for him, but by the same token this is a manager who picks on form in training.

With nobody outside the inner sanctum having been privy to that, it’s probably unwise to speculate too much. Save to say that Fitzmaurice has been known to go with something unexpected every

now and again.