Clare GAA discussion thread

BloodyBill

Clareman wrote: »

Most of the current crop of players have over a decade of slogging done for Clare at this stage, they started at under 16 development, got to an All Ireland Minor, then to the under 21s and straight to seniors, lots of them have never had a summer holiday.

I'd agree with all that. McInerney has had his injuries aswell. But the fear with the 2013 crop was that they were fast ,quick stepping smallish guys. People like Podge and McGrath, Tots and the like. Those 'types' peak earlier. We see now that the 3of those guys best days are behind them. The likes of Conlon who relies on strength and even Duggan can play into their mid 30s in my opinion. The problem with Clare is that new additions to the panel seem to take 3 years to come good. In Limerick they are ready to go quicker...same with Cork. Theres a lack of development between 17 and 20 and that's an issue.

Donald Trumped

A huge week for our respective Clare inter-county teams. The minor footballers take on their Tipp counterparts in the Munster Phase 1 final on Wednesday with a place in Phase 2 against Cork and Kerry, up for grabs for the winners. Throw in at the Gaelic Grounds is at 7 pm.

On Saturday, the Clare senior footballers, take on Waterford at 7 pm. In relation to this match, any word on whether Sean O'Donoghue and Dermot Coughlan will be involved in the match day panel come Saturday? Will David Tubridy be ready for action after his recent injury?

Then on Sunday its the big one as the Clare senior hurlers take on Waterford at Walsh Park at 2pm. The minor hurlers also take on the Deise men, with throw-in at that match at 12 noon.

Best of luck to all teams. An Clar Abu!!

Donald Trumped

The O'Gorman Cup has turned into a complete farce. All 6 O'Gorman Cup matches scheduled for this past weekend have been cancelled for one reason or another. The football tournament which is for non-county players, clearly is not getting the support it deserves. The county board should do so much more to promote the competition but has turned a blind eye on it, yet again another damning indictment on the CCB's lack promotion of football in the county.

We hear of club managers telling the public the narrative that "we need more games for our club players". But it appears there is a lack of appetite from both the county board and the clubs to back this what I would consider to be a very good competition, to blood new players and get more games into club players, that are not part of the respective county panels.

I feel most sorry for the organizers of the O'Gorman Cup, who have done wonders with this tournament being here in the first place, without any help of our failed county board. But clubs also have to take their own responsibility too, by ensuring that they do field teams that are of a competitive nature of course. Another sign of our neglect of club football in the Banner county. Sad really and no sign of changing our poor approach to improving standards in Clare club football, any time soon, judging by events or in this case the lack of this weekend.

LuckyGent88

Well out of the loop on all things Clare gaa the last few months. What’s the team that looks like taking the field on Sunday in Waterford??

Lots of so called experts either have us not getting out of Munster or else winning the all Ireland!!! Personally think we will do very well to get out of Munster.

letowski

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Well out of the loop on all things Clare gaa the last few months. What’s the team that looks like taking the field on Sunday in Waterford??

Lots of so called experts either have us not getting out of Munster or else winning the all Ireland!!! Personally think we will do very well to get out of Munster.

I'm hearing:

Touhy
Patch - DMac - Morey
Malone - Browne - Fitz
Galvin - Golden
Dugs - TK - Ryan
SOD - Conlon - Podge

I think we are maybe even stronger than what we were last year from 8-15 with Ryan and Golden for Malone and Reidy. But our back line is weaker and unsettled. If we do go with the full back line above, it's the same one that played in 2017 that was shipping big scores per game. 3 good stickmen but I prefer man markers. We don't have a good back line tbh and it lacks discipline and depth down the center. Cleary is a loss, while O'Brien will miss this game, he would be a good man marker to have back there with Browne moving out.

I think if we have any chance we obviously need our big guns up front (especially Duggan, Kelly and Conlon) to fire. But we really need Davy Mc to come to play and impose himself on Bennett. If those 4 lads go well we have a chance. Malone will be probably follow Aussie everywhere.

Waterford favorites for me, but we can win if we perform.

windy shepard henderson

letowski wrote: »

I'm hearing:

Touhy
Patch - DMac - Morey
Malone - Browne - Fitz
Galvin - Golden
Dugs - TK - Ryan
SOD - Conlon - Podge

I think we are maybe even stronger than what we were last year from 8-15 with Ryan and Golden for Malone and Reidy. But our back line is weaker and unsettled. If we do go with the full back line above, it's the same one that played in 2017 that was shipping big scores per game. 3 good stickmen but I prefer man markers. We don't have a good back line tbh and it lacks discipline and depth down the center. Cleary is a loss, while O'Brien will miss this game, he would be a good man marker to have back there with Browne moving out.

I think if we have any chance we obviously need our big guns up front (especially Duggan, Kelly and Conlon) to fire. But we really need Davy Mc to come to play and impose himself on Bennett. If those 4 lads go well we have a chance. Malone will be probably follow Aussie everywhere.

Waterford favorites for me, but we can win if we perform.

i have us down as the most consistent front 8 in the country , we were excellent in the league up front also , our discipline at the back killed us and in truth hid just how good we are going forward

i was told before the last game against waterford that the panel were just starting to work on a defensive system , down in waterford in the 1/4 final of the league we looked like a side that was trying a new system , something more akin to a challenge game then a full blown league knock out game and got slaughtered as a result

the one worry i had coming away that day as the pitch is very small , we struggled with our running off the shoulder game plan as waterford flooded the middle 3rd , they will have a lot of joy in this area of the pitch against both us and limerick at that venue

like cork last year in the first round if we lose it should be nothing to get excited about , limerick is our net away game which is home from home for us and we have an excellent record lately against them while i fancy our chances at home against an uneasy looking tipperary(they badly need a win in cork for confidence alone ) and i fancy us against cork in the last game , here's hoping it will see us through to the knock out rounds

LuckyGent88

letowski wrote: »

I'm hearing:

Touhy
Patch - DMac - Morey
Malone - Browne - Fitz
Galvin - Golden
Dugs - TK - Ryan
SOD - Conlon - Podge

I think we are maybe even stronger than what we were last year from 8-15 with Ryan and Golden for Malone and Reidy. But our back line is weaker and unsettled. If we do go with the full back line above, it's the same one that played in 2017 that was shipping big scores per game. 3 good stickmen but I prefer man markers. We don't have a good back line tbh and it lacks discipline and depth down the center. Cleary is a loss, while O'Brien will miss this game, he would be a good man marker to have back there with Browne moving out.

I think if we have any chance we obviously need our big guns up front (especially Duggan, Kelly and Conlon) to fire. But we really need Davy Mc to come to play and impose himself on Bennett. If those 4 lads go well we have a chance. Malone will be probably follow Aussie everywhere.

Waterford favorites for me, but we can win if we perform.

Not the worst team in the world but I’d imagine our bench isn’t the strongest now. Top 8 are excellent on paper at least but of course our backs are the issue. I like JB at center back actually. Been impressive for Ballyea in that position and with the pitch being quite narrow he might not be moved around as much.

Imagine it will be a very tight game and critical to both teams chances of progressing out of Munster. Might have to get GaaGo for this one as the Irish bar will have all the football on if day. Back to watch the Tipp game though.

Donald Trumped

The draws for the 2019 Clare GAA Club Championships will be made next Tuesday at Clareabbey at 8 pm.

Gael85

For Clare to win Sunday. Discipline and shooting needs to improve. Since 2013 tackling has been very poor and didn't improve during league. Composure in front of goal has been another issue for Clare in big games over last 5 years, need to take simple scores especially from placed balls. Tony Kelly needs to have more impact in games. Should be in his prime now and needs to start dominating games.

Clareman

The 2 main things for Clare to do to help them win is to cut down on the frees being given away and being missed, we're leaving 2/3 points off the board every game with misses or blocks and the disaster of our defence is well documented.

BloodyBill

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

i have us down as the most consistent front 8 in the country , we were excellent in the league up front also , our discipline at the back killed us and in truth hid just how good we are going forward

i was told before the last game against waterford that the panel were just starting to work on a defensive system , down in waterford in the 1/4 final of the league we looked like a side that was trying a new system , something more akin to a challenge game then a full blown league knock out game and got slaughtered as a result

the one worry i had coming away that day as the pitch is very small , we struggled with our running off the shoulder game plan as waterford flooded the middle 3rd , they will have a lot of joy in this area of the pitch against both us and limerick at that venue

like cork last year in the first round if we lose it should be nothing to get excited about , limerick is our net away game which is home from home for us and we have an excellent record lately against them while i fancy our chances at home against an uneasy looking tipperary(they badly need a win in cork for confidence alone ) and i fancy us against cork in the last game , here's hoping it will see us through to the knock out rounds

Good post and I understand where you are coming from. I disagree. If we lose in Waterford on Sunday it is panic time.
Clare have a good recent record against Limerick. Have we better players and teamwork? No we dont ,so something has to give. Our backs are not as good as Limericks. Mark my words , Limerick are due a big game against Clare and I sure as hell dont want to rely on having to beat Limerick in the Cauldron that is the Gaelic grounds. Remember 96. They will target this game.
Much better go into that game having points in the bag. I hate to say it but Clare havent delivered a trophy winning result since 2013. Couldn't beat a wavering Galway over two games....barely got over the line against Tipperary in Thurles..The usual result against Cork. Weve it all to do to get out of Munster. And this fortress Cusack Park rubbish. My God weve played one Championship season at home since 1993 and whilst winning both games it's hardly Galatasary.

Clareman

The way the Munster championship is any team who lose is under pressure straight away, the fact that we have a break week in week 2 means if we lose this weekend we will be bottom of the table by the time our next game comes around and we'll have to win 2 of the remaining games to get through, might even need to win 3 or at least draw the other 1.

Waterford away in the first game is probably the most difficult game we could have, it's so far away with a 2 throw in means the team has to go down the night before, Waterford have also being playing competitive games up to the last day of March and have a huge advantage in a new ground. Saying all that, if we are to challenge for the championship we have to be beating last years bottom of the table team who were also the only Munster team in division 1B this year, we beat them by 9 points last year (thanks to a fortunate red card in my opinion), with Tipp and Cork coming to Cusack Park and being away to Limerick we don't have any easy game, if we lose this we're in trouble straight away.

Clareman

In the weekend's other game, Clare should beat Waterford in Ennis on Saturday night, hopefully there will be a good crowd in for it, I for 1 am looking forward to it, it seems very early to have a championship weekend. You'd expect a division 2 team to beat a division 4 team easy enough but Keelan Sexton not being available is a huge loss to us.

BloodyBill

Clareman wrote: »

The way the Munster championship is any team who lose is under pressure straight away, the fact that we have a break week in week 2 means if we lose this weekend we will be bottom of the table by the time our next game comes around and we'll have to win 2 of the remaining games to get through, might even need to win 3 or at least draw the other 1.

Waterford away in the first game is probably the most difficult game we could have, it's so far away with a 2 throw in means the team has to go down the night before, Waterford have also being playing competitive games up to the last day of March and have a huge advantage in a new ground. Saying all that, if we are to challenge for the championship we have to be beating last years bottom of the table team who were also the only Munster team in division 1B this year, we beat them by 9 points last year (thanks to a fortunate red card in my opinion), with Tipp and Cork coming to Cusack Park and being away to Limerick we don't have any easy game, if we lose this we're in trouble straight away.

I agree. It's a must win game. The last 3 games are just so tough. But at the same time it's great to have a quality team. Clare are a quality team.
Just a minor thing but Limerick take the train everywhere. They are taking the train to Waterford the morning when they play them. It's about 2hrs 30 from Limerick and 3hrs from Ennis. It's the best way for a team to travel..you can walk around and no sudden braking. Might be better to stay in your own bed. I'm not a great hotel bed man myself. Feels good..but just cant relax as much as I would at home. You can stretch and have a wander on the Locomotive. I'm not sponsored by Iranrod Eireann by the way.

Clareman

3 games in 3 weeks will be extremely tough but 2 of them are at home, if you don't win your home games you don't have a hope unfortunately.

Donald Trumped

Brilliant win for the Clare minor footballers against Tipp this evening, to give the Banner lads a chance to contest a third consecutive Munster final, as they take on Cork and Kerry in phase 2 of the Munster minor football championship. Any day you win by 15 points is a good day and once again the defense really stood up extremely well, with Michael Garry and Tadgh Lillis to the fore. Cillian McGroary was immense also, chipping in with 2 points. Brendan Rouine (1-1 in total) was outstanding, along with fellow Ennistymon man Eoin Rouine in the middle.

In attack all the forwards stood up. Dara Nagle and Diarmuid Fahy all got a goal that their fine efforts deserved. Jamie Stack and Shane Meehan were very much to the fore also. In general Clare played this possession game really well, and used the ball intelligently and credit for that goes to manager Dermot Coughlan for implementing a great defensive structure too.

Cork next Wednesday then for the Clare minors. A winnable game no doubt, if we were to come out on top, we will qualify for our third consecutive Munster minor football final and a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals too. The Daryl Darcy cup will be with Clare tonight, but there is so much more possibilities where these impressive young men wearing saffron and blue could do. Roll on 7 days time. A good start to a big week for Clare GAA. HON THE BANNER!!!

sasol

Did Rory Hayes leave the panel ?

914

Sorry of this has been posted already. For anyone travelling from clare to waterford for the game sunday. Due to traffic and parking restrictions around Walah Park, Mount Sion GAA club which is less than a five minute walk to Walsh Park will have ample parking available.

914

Forgot to attach the photo

finbarrk

Good win for the minors tonight. Donald Trump has posted a good report. But realistically it will be next Wednesday to find out how good they are. But they played well in fairness.

Boots234

Clareman wrote: »

In the weekend's other game, Clare should beat Waterford in Ennis on Saturday night, hopefully there will be a good crowd in for it, I for 1 am looking forward to it, it seems very early to have a championship weekend. You'd expect a division 2 team to beat a division 4 team easy enough but Keelan Sexton not being available is a huge loss to us.

Should they beat Waterford the semi final against Kerry is scheduled for 7pm on the 1st of June, the same night as the Champions League final, be interesting to see if they move it to an earlier time or just leave it

funnyname

Boots234 wrote: »

Should they beat Waterford the semi final against Kerry is scheduled for 7pm on the 1st of June, the same night as the Champions League final, be interesting to see if they move it to an earlier time or just leave it

Why?

Boots234

Just thought they might move it as it might affect the attendance otherwise. Did the Ulster council move a match last year to avoid a clash with last years champions league final?

jv2000

Boots234 wrote: »

Should they beat Waterford the semi final against Kerry is scheduled for 7pm on the 1st of June, the same night as the Champions League final, be interesting to see if they move it to an earlier time or just leave it

Knowing the GAA they won't move it. Remember when Galway GAA asked FIFA to move the kick-off time for the world cup final? Hopefully we won't have to endure the embarrassment of a similar request to UEFA... Either way, we need to win against Waterford first.

shockframe

Boots234 wrote: »

Just thought they might move it as it might affect the attendance otherwise. Did the Ulster council move a match last year to avoid a clash with last years champions league final?

They had Down and Antrim playing the same night last year at the same time.

Foolish really. Did the same the night of the 2011 CL Final. Probably under the impression that its them v us with soccer. Most people follow both. Even as a big GAA fan the Champions League final is the big draw this time of year by a long way.

5 o clock start for these games is ideal. Give fans a chance to watch both is needs be.

Donald Trumped

Looks like Stephen Ryan from the Kilrush Shamrocks club could start in goal for tomorrow's Munster Football Championship clash against Waterford in Ennis. That's because Robert Eyres and Eamonn Tubridy are likely to miss out. Keelan Sexton and Pearse Lillis are gone travelling. While in a huge blow, David Tubridy is likely to miss out too. Could Cormac Murray from Miltown St. Josephs, who has been in brilliant form for his club, be included in Colm Collins' side as a result? The team is set to be announced tonight.

Clareman

https://twitter.com/clarechampion/status/1126815581091565569

Showing some real strength in depth

Donald Trumped

Clareman wrote: »

https://twitter.com/clarechampion/status/1126815581091565569

Showing some real strength in depth

Where is Sean O'Donoghue? That is the only surprise on that team. Great to see Gavin Cooney and Cormac Murray start though.

windy shepard henderson

Donald Trumped wrote: »

Where is Sean O'Donoghue? That is the only surprise on that team. Great to see Gavin Cooney and Cormac Murray start though.

carrying a knock , plus bohannon has been in the squad for ages now , deserves his start , aqquited himself well against cork before getting injured in that game in the league , realistically he would be very much 3rd choice behind brennan and o'connor but i reckon collins has him in to see if he can cut it at championship level from the start

in time i reckon cillian brennan will take over his brothers place in the middle , cillian has been excellent at full or center back since coming on board last year

stephan ryan is another excellent choice for the future , played in the mcgrath cup win over waterford , found himself outside the panel due to the number of players ahead of him on the pecking order but at the moment all 3 of robert eyres , pearse de loughry , eamon tubridy are injured , while killian Roche is off the panel and concentrating out field for his club

ryan is definitely one for the future in around the 19/20 age group and looked the part in kilrush's intermediate win last year and especially in the munster championship game against kilcumman where he pulled off some excellent stops that day too

cooney should be a consistent starter now , was excellent in the league and a real prospect , hoping to see cormac murray light up this level fantastic club player for miltown

letowski

https://twitter.com/ClareSenHurlers/status/1126939780544114689

Colm Galvin will have 6 on his back. Not sure he will play there though. The starting 15 personnel wise is as expected.

Niallers87

letowski wrote: »

https://twitter.com/ClareSenHurlers/status/1126939780544114689

Colm Galvin will have 6 on his back. Not sure he will play there though. The starting 15 personnel wise is as expected.

Would expect Malone to follow Gleeson to negate him, brown to centre back and galvin to midfield perhaps!!?

LuckyGent88

Strange seeing Galvin named at 6 but the way the game is now who knows where players end up.

Looking through the Waterford team, I think we are matched up fairly well. Getting good ball into the full forward line will be critical along with the basics of stopping giving away needless frees and taking our free chances.

Hopefully get the win in a very tight contest.

letowski

Niallers87 wrote: »

Would expect Malone to follow Gleeson to negate him, brown to centre back and galvin to midfield perhaps!!?

I think that's it, I wouldn't fancy Fitzgearld marking Gleeson as he isn't a proper back. Browne will need to be ready of Aussie goes to center forward too.

Fairly evenly matched teams. I hope this game isn't decided on our discipline or missed frees by Duggan.

funnyname

Would love to see the elder Brennan start at FF, I think he's not able for a full game at MF anymore but you'd get a full 70 from him at the edge of the square.

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

carrying a knock , plus bohannon has been in the squad for ages now , deserves his start , aqquited himself well against cork before getting injured in that game in the league , realistically he would be very much 3rd choice behind brennan and o'connor but i reckon collins has him in to see if he can cut it at championship level from the start

in time i reckon cillian brennan will take over his brothers place in the middle , cillian has been excellent at full or center back since coming on board last year

stephan ryan is another excellent choice for the future , played in the mcgrath cup win over waterford , found himself outside the panel due to the number of players ahead of him on the pecking order but at the moment all 3 of robert eyres , pearse de loughry , eamon tubridy are injured , while killian Roche is off the panel and concentrating out field for his club

ryan is definitely one for the future in around the 19/20 age group and looked the part in kilrush's intermediate win last year and especially in the munster championship game against kilcumman where he pulled off some excellent stops that day too

cooney should be a consistent starter now , was excellent in the league and a real prospect , hoping to see cormac murray light up this level fantastic club player for miltown

Gael85

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

carrying a knock , plus bohannon has been in the squad for ages now , deserves his start , aqquited himself well against cork before getting injured in that game in the league , realistically he would be very much 3rd choice behind brennan and o'connor but i reckon collins has him in to see if he can cut it at championship level from the start

in time i reckon cillian brennan will take over his brothers place in the middle , cillian has been excellent at full or center back since coming on board last year

stephan ryan is another excellent choice for the future , played in the mcgrath cup win over waterford , found himself outside the panel due to the number of players ahead of him on the pecking order but at the moment all 3 of robert eyres , pearse de loughry , eamon tubridy are injured , while killian Roche is off the panel and concentrating out field for his club

ryan is definitely one for the future in around the 19/20 age group and looked the part in kilrush's intermediate win last year and especially in the munster championship game against kilcumman where he pulled off some excellent stops that day too

cooney should be a consistent starter now , was excellent in the league and a real prospect , hoping to see cormac murray light up this level fantastic club player for miltown

How is Roche doing after the injury picked up last year? Who will be sub goalie tomorrow.

keeponhurling

sasol wrote: »

Did Rory Hayes leave the panel ?

Good question, anyone know what happened ?
He looked very good in the league.

Stationmaster

keeponhurling wrote: »

Good question, anyone know what happened ?
He looked very good in the league.

Think he announced he was going to the states for the summer.

windy shepard henderson

keeponhurling wrote: »

sasol wrote: »

Did Rory Hayes leave the panel ?

Good question, anyone know what happened ?
He looked very good in the league.

I believe he is still part of the panel but going travelling , dont know why he picked this summer though taught he was doing enough to stay in the hunt for a place

windy shepard henderson

funnyname wrote: »

Would love to see the elder Brennan start at FF, I think he's not able for a full game at MF anymore but you'd get a full 70 from him at the edge of the square.

Maybe if sean o'donohue and o Connor were available we could put him inside

In fairness to gary he had an excellent league , but like a few hurlers for a young man has huge milage up

It is very possible he would be on gerry and donals panel sunday had he not being such a gifted Footballer , had a serious championship with ballyea last year

windy shepard henderson

letowski wrote: »

https://twitter.com/ClareSenHurlers/status/1126939780544114689

Colm Galvin will have 6 on his back. Not sure he will play there though. The starting 15 personnel wise is as expected.

Thats a deacent bench to have too in fairness , its not much worse then what Waterford have , i dont see us wining espically if our running game gets exposed early ,

However there wont be much in it , as everyone says up here we have "3" home games after sunday so no excuse to get out of the group ,

windy shepard henderson

Boots234 wrote: »

Just thought they might move it as it might affect the attendance otherwise. Did the Ulster council move a match last year to avoid a clash with last years champions league final?

Kerry people wont care what is on , they will bring a sizable crowd up espically the season ticket holders

Hopfully it gets moved back to half five or something , create a bit of atmosphere in town after , ...........provided we win of course

Clareman

So league form doesn't matter and SoD goes straight into the team, nice to see that lads killing themselves during the winter being rewarded with a chance to shine in the championship.

Last year SoD wasn't good enough to keep his place (neither was Kelly in my opinion) but it's clear that your reputation is worth more than your performance.

windy shepard henderson

Clareman wrote: »

So league form doesn't matter and SoD goes straight into the team, nice to see that lads killing themselves during the winter being rewarded with a chance to shine in the championship.

Last year SoD wasn't good enough to keep his place (neither was Kelly in my opinion) but it's clear that your reputation is worth more than your performance.

There was no stand out performance by one player to say they could take his place over the league

Everyone knew he would be back for this game anyway , players had plenty of time to lay down markers

Clareman

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

There was no stand out performance by one player to say they could take his place over the league

Everyone knew he would be back for this game anyway , players had plenty of time to lay down markers

He wasn't good enough in a lot of games last year either but himself and Tony Kelly are undroppable because of what they might do rather than what they will do

Niallers87

Clareman wrote: »

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

There was no stand out performance by one player to say they could take his place over the league

Everyone knew he would be back for this game anyway , players had plenty of time to lay down markers

He wasn't good enough in a lot of games last year either but himself and Tony Kelly are undroppable because of what they might do rather than what they will do

I get what your saying; but who is good enough to start instead of o donnell? To me,our bench looks a bit light to be honest.

sasol

Niallers87 wrote: »

I get what your saying; but who is good enough to start instead of o donnell? To me,our bench looks a bit light to be honest.

Shanagher

Niallers87

sasol wrote: »

Niallers87 wrote: »

I get what your saying; but who is good enough to start instead of o donnell? To me,our bench looks a bit light to be honest.

Shanagher

I don't know if he really impressed that much during the league to be honest, I still think he has a massive part to play this year though and could be a starter by the end of it

Donald Trumped

Lads that was putrid stuff from the Banner county senior footballers. Waterford brought massive energy and workrate, that Clare did not match. Time after time when Clare got into the Waterford 22, they were smothered up by three or four Waterford lads who were immense today. They had plenty of men back and forced Clare to shoot from distance which we were terrible at. Our shooting was shocking, taking the right option that Colm Collins has installed to the lads was not there. Above all else Clare just lacked energy and a zip to our play. To score only 1 point in the entire second half says it all really. They conceded the last 6 points of the game too.

For Waterford that was their finest 70 minutes plus for a long while. They played with great structure and honesty of effort. That's all you could ask of any team, Benji Whelan has done trojan work with the Deise men. He is an outstanding coach and you could see that the team reflected what Whelan has brought to the group.

For Clare, I just feel that they are at a crossroads with what they are trying to achieve here. We don't have the players that can kick from distance, barring Eoin Cleary. So they play a running game but that gets easily swallowed up by a well coached defensive team. A lot to ponder but at worst we have avoided the 1st round of the qualifiers, regardless of the Kerry result, but it looks like a massacre is on the way against Kerry in 3 weeks time, I'm afraid.

windy shepard henderson

Clareman wrote: »

He wasn't good enough in a lot of games last year either but himself and Tony Kelly are undroppable because of what they might do rather than what they will do

to be fair to shane , he was excellent in the last 3 championship games against wexford and galway last year , i agree wit your stance on kelly , especially when we had david reidy and shanahan playing so wel,l we had more options to replace him then we probably do now


in defence of the bench , ryan taylors performances have been underrated by many i think , while adian mccarthy , cooney who looked lively but a bit inexperienced in the league cathal mcinerney has never let us down off the bench and shanagher is an excellent impact sub also , i dont se a replacement midfielder but we have plenty of impact subs in backs and forwards

LuckyGent88

Jaysus our footballers were very lucky. Sounds like we were absolutely rubbish. Only one point in the second half!!

Really thought we were continually improving but looks like we are going backwards.

I’ll take a one point win tomorrow though.