Clare GAA Discussion - 2024 All Ireland Hurling Champions

keeponhurling

The big question is what was the story behind the Rory Hayes substitution.

Lohan said : "I suppose we just made a call. Cian Nolan had been performing very well in training and had performed very well for us in the matches that he’s played so it was just a switch we made.”

but within the first 10 minutes ?

Clareman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119221504#Comment_119221504

It's always nice to get a piece of silverware but the way the game is gone now it's all about performance in the All Ireland series now. For the hurlers, a bare minimum for us is the AI quarter-finals, a good year would be a semi final, a great year would be anything more than that. For the footballers, with the way the championship is it's hard to know what is the bare minimum but an AI quarter final is a good year.

PeggyShippen

Hayes deserved to be 'hooked'. He attempted a suicidal manoeuvre which was enough for a guy like lohan. You do not double back across your own goal. Good call Lohan.

In the cold light of day Clare played abot above themselves in the Munster final. The whole county was wired and Clare rode that emotional wave like a surfer in Lahinch. They couldn't go to that well again. In my opinion they ll struggle against kilkenny but could still beat them . They won't beat Limerick if Limerick get to the final. Limerick will improve again. If they get Cian Lynch back it could be another cake walk. Galway really have alot of room for improvement but will they? Nah they rarely perform when expected to. Another 5 mins today and Cork would have won. I know that's 'ifs ands and buts' . Kilkenny would give Limerick plenty of it but Limerick have a bone to pick with them too.

PeggyShippen

Duggan is poor from general play. Stops the ball but no finish. He just kills it to the ground. Lucky to stay on for the 70. O Donnell should have been taken off before the last 15mins. Hs came good.

Can we discuss Quilligan? Hes a liability wrapped up in a disaster. Is he the best in Clare. How would Amy fullback line have confidence with a calamity like him behind them

supernova5

Lohan takes no prisoners, Hayes made big boo boo which almost cost us a second goal inside the first 5/6 minutes when McDonald shot inches wide, great players when attacking ball and getting into thick of action but is liable to concede lots of scores to his opponent

windy shepard henderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119221599#Comment_119221599

quilligan is a great shot stopper and probably our best keeper for puck outs , god knows we have struggled in this department in years gone by , but yes under a high ball he is a lability

i wanted rodgers to start ahead of duggan today , but if duggan didnt start we probably would have lost , his frees kept us ticking over until the turnaround

in the limerick game every ball played into him was turned over , when meehan and rodgers came on all of a sudden it started to stick up front , i have no doubt them two lads will be great for years to come but maybe a bit too early for them , shanagher is the only other option and he has been plagued with injuries to hold down a regular place

windy shepard henderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119221587#Comment_119221587

any limerick supporter i meet they say the same thing though , who's the one team ye dont want to meet ,they always say the cats , even though they have yet to beat clare over a competitive 70 mins all season kilkenny are still the big danger

i reckon we will kick in from today and make the final , it wont be easy in any shape or form but i just think today was always going to be tough , last week in football all 4 provincial losers lost in round 4 , its so hard sometimes to pick yourself up after a defeat in a final , but that munster hurling final was a sensational game it was one of the best games i ever saw , we still had question marks over players going in to today from it in terms of knocks

we were flat and leggy for most of the game today , we spent most of the first half 3 yards off our men , we were only a shadow of a team that toped the group in munster ,

going into the game against kilkenny on the back of a win , no matter what kind makes us dangerous in my opinion

letowski

I taught the team should great character and steel to get the win today. It was always going to be a really tough game, Wexford were coming in good form and we had a tough recovery from the Munster final to bounce back from. People expecting Clare to just rock up in an All Ireland Quarter Final and win handily are deluded. It's hard going out most weekends and maintaining a high level of performance each game.

From being at the game, Wexford did some very clever things to stifle us and have a nuanced defensive shape that is tough to play against. They put their extra defender (DOK) to the right of the backline while the backs on the other side defend left sided to the forwards. It makes it very difficult to play down the wings and you could see the indecision we had in working the ball up the field. Also bringing Devitt out the field to lockdown Taylor was a smart move. Make no mistake, they're a very tough team to play against and getting a win today was a good result.

I also think it was great to see an impact from out bench today, contributing 1-4 (I think) towards the end. We have some good options now in the likes Shanagher, Meehan, Rodgers that can keep the scoreboard ticking over for us late on. It would have been an area we need to improve on since the Munster final and it was good to see progress being made here. Shanagher we know can be a real weapon off the bench.

It's absolutely super to be in the semi final now against Kilkenny in Croke Park. Another great occasion to look forward to, in what has been a trilling season following the senior hurlers. And I'd give us a good chance against Kilkenny. It will be a completely different challenge, different game, but you sort of know more or less what to expect from Kilkenny. I think Clare will find it easier to rise to the occasion than today.

letowski

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119221602#Comment_119221602

Yeah he is a ball watcher through and through. Great if he is outside with his forward and can attack the ball coming in. But inside, he really struggles off breaking ball in around the square. Needs to learn but I think he will in time. Big decision if to start him next game.

windy shepard henderson

dead right we were totally lost without taylor , he was our most important player in the run in ,

but i had several arguments at work all week with lads saying , i wont go to thurles but i will go the semi final , it was crazy talk that game against limerick still has us rattled even tonight , we have never properly recovered from that game , you cant just turn on and off intensity any so called clare supporter can hang there heads for not being there today

wexford a fine side , hade a really good league , unlucky to lose rory o'connor early in the game , but also lucky enough to have the likes of shane reck , leam og , paul morris d'okeefe and lee chin to bounce back with next year and a really good man on the line to drive them on , they will be back

Greasy Paw

WSH

You are spot on about Dr. It is often amazing how people, who carry the can, when all around them are leaking, are often ignored. Make no mistake about it but Ryan played a huge part for Clare in that game, when other usually more prominent players were struggling. But like Darren O'Donovan in '18 against Cork, when he was the man who was here, there and everywhere putting out fires, when the Rebels were on top and before the subs came on, but yet his efforts was almost totally ignored, by so called analysts afterwards.

PeggyShippen

This talk about Limerick not beating Clare over '70 mins' is absolutely silly stuff . They won that munster final and will get better and Clare have it all to do still. Clare played above themselves in that munster final and will struggle to reach the heights again. Yes Limerick are wary of Clare but we might not even get to play Limerick again if Kilkenny turn us over.

Yesterday burst the balloon abit yesterday and that is no bad thing in itself . They did well to steady the ship and they finished very strongly. Diarmuid Ryan scored 3 important points but by God he's as slow as a snail. And both him,McInerney and Hayes behind them need a lesson. They all want to play too much ball.. John Conlon for all the plaudits goes awol and offers zero protection for the fullbacks. Poor auld Cleary is usually on his own with 15 yards of space between him and his mates.

Thats the end of Tony Kelly on the frees . As we go deeper into the All Ireland series misses hurt more. You can't miss 3 in a row. And Duggan is only a 75% er aswell. But I'd leave Duggan on them if he starts . He holds up the ball but is no goal threat..ends up getting surrounded and drops the ball. He could do with a stint out on the wing I think just to give him room to breathe. While both himself and David Fitzgerald are big men it suits neither to get overly aggressive. They end up losing concentration and being narky with the ref. Limericks Flanagan and Hegarty are naturally aggressive. They thrive on it and play better. Fitzgerald and Duggan aren't the same types of men at all. Stick to being ball players. A vastly improved performance will be needed against the cats but as for meeting and beating Limerick again. It's pie in the sky going on yesterday's performance. We'd be pasted

mcw100

Aron Shanagher & Rory Hayes both playing for Wolfe Tones today, Aron scoring a hat trick. Aidan McCarthy playing with Inagh-Kilnamona today and scored too. Great to hear

windy shepard henderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119224490#Comment_119224490

yeah i heard mccarthy is not far away , cant really see him start against kilkenny but you never know he might feature ,

good that players are playing club games , last week i was at the football , the ,mayo crowed were raving about fergal boland who was on the bench , he had scored 7 points from play the week before in a club game and was not starting , he came on after 30 minutes and kicked 3 or 4 great scores from play

players from inter county should always be allowed play for the club no matter what time of year

windy shepard henderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119222644#Comment_119222644

its a straw i am willing to clutch at at the moment , given just how ruthless limerick have been over the last 4 years especially , yeah the scary thing is limerick have yet to reach the heights of that fantastic all ireland performance last year against cork , its the hope that kills in sport i suppose

letowski

Yeah I agree, its good to see these players coming back. I think Aron Shanagher can be a potential match winner for us off the bench if he is back on form. He has made huge impacts off the bench for us in the past.

In many ways, I think it suits him more being an bench player than a starter. Last year, with him being the lone out ball for us, teams would zone in on him and make sure they were they were picking up the breaks, taking him out of the game. I think him coming as a sub takes the attention off him as the opposition mostly focuses on Peter Duggan. It was similar in 2018 with him coming in alongside John Conlon, Shanagher was able to get those 1v1 opportunities in around the house. He has a great paw and the size/athleticism to cause teams problems like yesterday.

keeponhurling

Key topics to fix ahead of the semi final:

• Free taker. Try TK again or start with Duggan ? I guess if Reidy is starting he can also take them. Realistically we wont get away with missing os many frees v Kilkenny.
• Goal threat. We're not really creating many goal chances, this is an issue
• Our full back line. Hayes or Nolan to start ? We coughed up three goals to Wexford, so you'd worry v Kilkenny.
• Goalie. Not much we can do really, but I'd worry that Quilligan's confidence is low.

letowski

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119225575#Comment_119225575

Good points, I suppose these would be my views:

• Freetaking: I think Duggan will take them. He is usually pretty good, but of course, its not ideal changing the freetaker at this time of the year. Duggan is the type of character that wouldn't feel pressure too much either, he comes across as quite a confident individual. In 2018 Duggan was shooting at about 85%, I'd probably take that in a fortnight. But there is no doubt, Kilkenny have an advantage, if not a match winning one.
• Goal threat: Yeah it hasn't been there in the last two games, but with subs like Shanagher and Meehan to come on, so we have some potential dangerous in this department going into the last 10 minutes.
• Full back line: Funnily enough, I think Lohan will start Hayes against Kilkenny. I think with Hayes these past 3 games, it's more concentration and focus that's leading to this drop in form. He is a class player when tuned in, we've seen that both this year and in past years for Clare. Hayes needs to show character now, and come back a better player. I think he will, but obviously that will be Lohan's call to make. With regards to the full back line defending in general, it looks exposed in the way there is alot of space in front. But it's the way we setup and play. John Conlon plays very much from the Ken McGrath school of centre back play, he pushes up on the centre forward and wants to dominate that position. Maybe Lohan may want John Conlon to drop off a bit to provide more cover to the full back line, but to be honest I don't see us changing tac now at this stage. I think it will be more the full back line will be working better on covering their men on the breaks and spoiling the ball out of danger.
• Goalie: Nothing we can do at this stage. Just hope he doesn't let in another howler. He has been reasonably solid in 4 of the 6 matches, so 66% chance lol. Not good enough but all we can do is hope he doesn't cost us the game.

cnoc

But there is no doubt, Kilkenny have an advantage, if not a match winning one.

Yeah, right. How have KK an advantage. Should Clare give a W/O....

Sands81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119231568#Comment_119231568

I believe the statement is about the free taking advantage. If it is a game with lots of frees, TJ scores a high percentage of his. If we are changing between free takers, it could easily cost us 3-4 points which could cost Clare the game.

cnoc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119231626#Comment_119231626

Do you think TK will not "recover" from last Saturdays game, regarding free taking.

Clareman

TK isn't the best free taker for his club so I always struggle to figure out why he's on them for Clare, the biggest reason I can think of is when he's full forward it allows him get away from his marker and drift around the pitch. Duggan is a better free taker but he's not perfect either, he's prone to missing 1 or 2 scorable ones in every game.

letowski

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119231568#Comment_119231568

How have Kilkenny an advantage? They have a better freetaker lad.

I would have Clare slight favourites for this game, like the bookies. But I think it’s a 50/50, one score game.

Figerty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119231896#Comment_119231896

It's not unknown for Kelly to have an off day on frees. When he's on, he's fully on and he bounces back.

lim4ev

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119222644#Comment_119222644

ah come on the dogs in the street knew clare could struggle v wexford esp after the munster final. the way you're going on you'd swear clare were average , they're not! lohan has done a marvellous job.

I do agree with you on duggan though I as a limerick man would be more nervous if Rodgers was at 14 but duggan can't be dropped now cos he's a free taking option.

I'd expect ye to beat kk but there's no guarantees no different to us v galway

keeponhurling

True on Kelly, that when he's "on" with the frees, he could land 100%. But you can't ignore that he missed some easy ones and was moved off them in the last two games now.

As noted, he doesn't take frees for the club and I don't think he did on the underage teams either. Whereas Duggan has generally always taken frees whatever team he's one. David Reid also a back-up option.

We even had David McInerney taking one long range free v Wexford, which went wide. Kilkenny have TJ Reid and Limerick have Gillane and Byrnes, who very rarely miss.

If Duggan wasn't needed for the frees, I think there might be talk about his place in the team. His markers have found a way to shackle him, and we did have Shanagher, Meehan and Rodgers all scoring off the bench the last day. I think Huw Lawlor would be well suited for Duggan, whereas he might struggle more against the likes of Meehan. Another option being to switch Shane O'Donnell with Duggan, but really I like how SOD is doing at half forward.

Ahead of the Wexford match I was wondering if Rodgers might be an option to start ahead of Galvin (Galvin being a great sub to bring in). But Galvin did score two massive points, and a time when we were really struggling.

And Shane Meehan's potential is just massive, plus his goal scoring ability (we struggle to score goals). The mind wanders back to the shock decision to start O'Donnell last minute in the 2013 All-Ireland, and the chaos it created

Gael85

Pat Fitz is retiring as Clare secretary in July.

Sterling Archer

IMG-20220622-WA0008.jpg

Pat Fitz has announced he intends to retire from his position on July 18th

https://twitter.com/ClareFM/status/1539632368897622016?t=SmzB5SLB3hYhIrPyPeSE4g&s=19

The clubs must stand United now after this bombshell announcement by Pat Fitz. No doubt there will be attempts by the hierarchy in Clare CB to appoint a “county board crony and stooge” loyal to the Fitzgeralds. Hope that Croke park will have a major role in appointing the new man or woman to the position.

Clubs have to take a stand here. This could be a very turbulent period for Clare and vital that clubs and their delegates get this appointment right for the greater good of Clare GAA.

keeponhurling

Well, the most important question is: do we need to change the title of this thread ?

PeggyShippen

I'd be happy if a totally external person took over. They just need to be a proper executive . No need for any GAA background whatsoever. They just need to be a capable professional person preferably not from Clare really.

PeggyShippen

What's the Clare away kit look like? If they lose the coin toss they've to change kit

roashter

Is there a coin toss to change jerseys?

Don't remember a Clare v Kilkenny game before where one team had to change colours

Sterling Archer

The Clare away kit is all blue,

But neither game would need Clare to change jerseys as they don't clash..

Very much agreed the narrative around the successor to the Don needs to be a fresh face and not a Fitz puppet..

PeggyShippen

Kilkenny play in in Yellow and Clare in Saffron. I think they do need to change. Cork and Galway did a coin toss last week

caddy16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119240390#Comment_119240390

Surely even as a Limerick man you've watched Clare and Kilkenny on TV at some stage over the years.....in any event what in sweet Jesus are you raving on about.

PeggyShippen

Read back the thread you simpleton.

Clareman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119240390#Comment_119240390

Cork and Galway often changed, 2 colours are very similar, I never remember Clare and Kilkenny changing, there is a huge difference between amber and saffron

supernova5

Amber and saffron are different shades first of all, half of Kk jersey is black, their shorts are white, Clare shorts are blue and good percentage of jersey is blue, these 2 county colours don't even remotely clash, this conversation is ridiculous

Billy Ocean

Teams didn't change for league in 2021 don't think either has changed their kit drastically since.

http://www.sportsfile.com/more-images/2106066/

on that note it was unusual Cork and Limerick wore their normal kits for the game on Easter Sunday but in the football encounter 2 weeks ago Limerick were in their away kit.

supernova5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119241705#Comment_119241705

why would it be unusual? one jersey is green the other is red, they've being doing it since their present jerseys were adapted way back in the early part of the 20th century, unless one is 100% colour blind one can form a distinction so why use an alternative strip

Billy Ocean

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119242023#Comment_119242023

What i meant was unusual is they wore their normal kit in 1 game and not in the other against the same county.

caddy16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119240808#Comment_119240808

I've read it and I'm certainly not the simpleton! You talk some nonsense.

Clareman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119241705#Comment_119241705

Red green colourblindness is 1 of the most common colourblindnesses (sp.) there is, Ireland Wales for example can be next to impossible for some people to watch, you'll notice more and more teams changing because of this (Spain Portugal did it in soccer I think), back in the day it was because of black and white TVs.

Outside of the joke that was 94 I can't remember the hurlers having to change jerseys for anyone except Antrim but I could be wrong. The footballers have to change regularly enough.

17togo

I thought the clare/wexford jerseys were very similar and could've done with changing! Although I was watching it on my ould lads tiny TV so probably didn't help.

limerickabroad

One of the Limerick footballers has red/green colour blindness, hence the Jersey change for the Cork game (and two games v Louth in the NFL). Doesn't affect any of the hurlers, so no need for change of kit in the hurling

Billy Ocean

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119246164#Comment_119246164

Wexford Clare games from 2009-2013 always had a jersey change as the Wexford jersey at that time had alot of yellow in it, purple has been the more prominent colour in recent times.

Billy Ocean

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119246344#Comment_119246344

Ah thanks for that.

Treble double

Cillian Brennan back great news, has the makings of a dour cagey battle, important to try and edge in front early and drag Derry out and not let them dictate the way the game is played.

Tough, tough task ahead against the Ulster champions. Best of luck lads, imagine how glorious it would be if they managed to make an All Ireland semi final.

blackcard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119246344#Comment_119246344

Spectators can have colour blindness too