Michael Duignan
Nothing comes close to the roar from the Banner County
ALL year I’ve talked up the importance of home advantage to teams and the statistics that exist to back it up. I travelled everywhere as an Offaly hurler, all over the country. And I can safely say the place that was the most intimidating was Cusack Park in Ennis.
Clare beat us in the 1995 All-Ireland final, then came the famous trilogy of ’98. So the pot was bubbling all the time.
It must have been three or four years in a row we were drawn to play in Ennis. The passion of the home support – I’d compare it to Wexford in the way they can draw massive crowds when things are going well – is a huge boost to their team.
I’ll never forget running out onto the field at Croke Park in that ’95 final. We were out first when, as All-Ireland champions, we should have been out second. Whether that was another Ger Loughnane trick, I don’t know – but the roar that went up when Clare appeared on the field, shook me.
Now, I was never one to get caught up in the crowd or pay too much heed but this was different. The Clare roar is a reality, it’s not fantasy. I never experienced anything like it. It was as if all the suffering, anguish and heartbreak down the years came out.
So don’t think Limerick are going to get anything easy at Cusack Park this afternoon in the latest instalment of this brilliant, new roundrobin Championship.
Clare beating Tipperary last weekend was their most significant victory since winning the 2013 AllIreland. It was vital for the evolution of this team after a miserable recent record in Munster.
The fact that a place in the provincial final is at stake adds to the context of what is a massive local rivalry. Tickets were available online and are long since sold out. If there was extra capacity, you could probably double the numbers at Cusack Park.
Tipperary and Waterford, genuine contenders for the All-Ireland, are gone. As a Limerick or Clare player, you have to be thinking: ‘We could have a chance of winning, not just Munster, but the big one.’
This is a crucial contest with a guaranteed place in Munster final at stake and, also, in terms of the bigger picture.
I’ve a lot of time for this Clare team. They seemed to lose their way a bit after the 2013 All-Ireland when they played a thrilling brand of fast hurling. They went very short under Davy Fitzgerald and Dónal Óg Cusack, then went long last Sunday and got cleaned out at various stages. The unpredictability of their hurling won the game more than any specifically orchestrated gameplan.
Tipperary’s Jake Morris hit the post, the ball went down the other end and Clare’s Ian Galvin buried it in the net.
I’d still be concerned about their defence, though. Tipperary did what they do and let them back into the game when it should have been well over.
Podge Collins was electric when he came on, Shane O’Donnell has continued to lead the line in attack – which he has done for a long time – and Peter Duggan came up with those incredible scores.
But they meet a Limerick team who look strong in every line of the field.
If you break down the team, they are aggressive and tight-marking in the full-back line, imposing and physical in the half-back line, Cian Lynch is pulling all the strings at midfield and they can play it long or short up front where Séamus Flanagan has been an impressive target man. And they have the strongest squad in Ireland. Shane Dowling came in and hit 15 points – yet he is not sure of his place.
From the first round of the Allianz League, they have been on a mission. I remember talking to John Kiely in January – I was presenting minor medals in Garryspillane – and they were still winning matches without the Na Piarsaigh contingent or Fitzgibbon Cup-tied players.
When Tipp won the AllIreland in 2001 under Nicky English, they went the whole year unbeaten. Galway did it last year in all the competitions that mattered. Winning is a habit – and Limerick are on a roll.
A defeat wouldn’t be fatal – it would likely leave them third and into the All-Ireland series – but it would be a big setback.
I tipped them for Munster at the start of the Championship and I’m going to stick with them, though nothing is certain in this new format with all its different permutations. It’s hard not to feel for Waterford. Injuries and a combination of factors, including no home venue, meant their summer unravelled. They put in a great display against Tipp but were robbed of the victory by that phantom goal. Unless Cork completely take them for granted, the Rebels should win. After Damien Cahalane’s sending off in the All-Ireland semi-final and the way in which the game ran away from them, they owe Waterford. They haven’t ironed out all the problems at the back but it would be a fair statement to win back-to-back Munster titles with a young, coming team.
Limerick willl not get anything easy at Cusack Park this afternoon