Weight is off Clare but now the proper business begins
PAT O’CONNOR lingered on the Semple Stadium pitch for some time on Sunday evening. His first Championship game as Clare captain had ended with a rare victory in the Munster SHC. First win in the province for four years. No wonder the Banner players felt like they had just been released from a long and unjust prison sentence,
‘I said to one of the lads, there were enough times in a Munster game when the final whistle went and you just wanted the ground to swallow you up,’ O’Connor said. ‘So I can throw out the usual clichés about head down and looking forward to a Munster final, but we are going to enjoy this too, a Munster Championship win is something we get to experience very seldom.’
O’Connor conceded that it wasn’t the most polished performance. Clare only played in flashes but in those flashes, they showed the depth of their attacking wealth. Shane O’Donnell’s two early goals and Conor McGrath’s opportunistic strike in the second half hinted at a team that could do some real damage if they return to Croke Park.
They haven’t been to HQ since claiming the All-Ireland title in such thrilling fashion back in 2013 but a first Munster title in 19 years will guarantee safe passage to Croker in August.
However, there is plenty to work on ahead of their first Munster final in nine years. Tony Kelly, their resident genius, looked a player who was feeling the effects of his long club campaign with Ballyea on Sunday, failing to score in a Championship game for the first time in his Clare career. Podge Collins also produced the sort of sluggish performance which, if he was still serving a dual mandate, would be used as evidence of football impeding his hurling.
And yet, with two of their most creative players off form, they still nailed 3-17 and that was even with hitting a number of poor wides in the second half. Having finally won a game in the province, Clare may perform with a bit more freedom later on in the Championship, as Sunday was simply about settling frayed nerves.
‘It’s human nature to be pentup and nervous with how it would go. And it was like the pattern of the League, we played in flashes. But when we played, we tended to be kind of devastating. But we will have to string together a more complete performance in the Munster final, regardless of the opponents.’
O’Connor grew up in the 1990s and his childhood was defined by going to Munster finals to cheer on Anthony Daly, Jamesie O’Connor and Brian Lohan. He feels that it is important to furnish this generation of Clare youngsters with similar dreams.
‘We were all children of the golden era of Clare hurling in the 1990s but as the years go on, these young fellas that come into the
The 90s teams did it when it mattered
squad know less and less what you are talking about when you talk about the 90s,’ O’Connor explained.
‘Those of us who grew up then all idolised those lads, and still idolise them. But this is where they did the business, on Munster final days. We are aspiring to get to that same level, we are not there yet. After we enjoy this for a couple of days, we will look at that performance. We know there is loads to work on and that will preoccupy us going into the Munster final.’
Seadna Morey was part of a Clare full-back line who looked solid, despite having to adapt to life without the security blanket of a sweeper. Morey felt that he has benefited from joint-managers Donal Maloney and Gerry O’Connor keeping him in one position, rather than moving him around the defence.
‘I have just been able to focus on one position rather than being moved around in different positions,’ Morey said. ‘It was nice to get a run of games in the League in the corner because you need to learn the position and get used to playing there. And I have been able to do that.’
Like O’Connor, Morey maintained that there was a sense of relief at finally getting to a Munster final. ‘We have heard all the talk that we can’t win a game in Munster and we have carried that with us as a team every year. We set out every year to win and always fell at the first hurdle. So from the start of the year, all we had our eyes on was Limerick. We can start looking at a Munster final now.’
Given the huge weight lifted from the shoulders of these Clare players on Sunday evening, there’s a sense that this is a team that could thrill us all again this summer — just like they did in 2013.