Clare GAA Discussion - 2024 All Ireland Hurling Champions

supernova5

lucky lucky boys, if anything comes out of this I really hope it will act as a big wake up call for both of them especially Duggan who's being playing on the edge since first day of Championship. has been extremely fortunate to stay on the field of play in one or 2 games

Evil_Clown

Stand tickets for Sat on ticketmaster now

keeponhurling

I wonder what team will start on Saturday, same 15 as started the Munster final ?

Given that Mark Rogers is now back, maybe we could consider him ahead of Galvin.

Good that Aidan McCarthy is back but hard to see him coming straight back into the starting team.

Clare bow out of the All Ireland minor hurling series after a 4 point loss to Offaly. Guilty of overplaying the ball at the back and the lack of direct ball of our forwards that were starved of possession, forcing them to drop deep where they were less of a threat.

Still a very positive year for Clare underage hurling.

letowski

Yeah better team won on the day, but I think there would be some frustrations there too for Clare. Complete systems malfunction on the puckouts lead to a huge amount of scores. Offaly's more direct approach worked better for them, we had guys like Scanlon and Neylon that were causing problems inside, but just didn't get enough good ball in.

I think overall, it was an excellent year for the minors, especially considering where we were last year. They played 8 good games these past few months and really improved and developed each week. Most of all, there are definitely a couple of lads there that can make good seniors for Clare. 6 of the starting team there again next year. Hopefully BOC will stay with them.

letowski

Clare v Wexford: Quilligan; Nolan, Cleary, Flanagan; Ryan, Conlon, McInerney; D Fitzgerald, Reidy; Malone, Kelly, O’Donnell; Galvin, Rodgers, Taylor

I'm assuming there'll be some late changes, thinking of two certain individuals in particular lol.

windy shepard henderson

Would you believe I would almost leave it as it is , jack O'Connor hit Rory hayes for 2-3 in the league in the space of like 10 minutes

He gave up 0-7 points from play to Flanagan in the Munster final , it's a brave change to make, Rory has been fantastic but stats are slightly worrying

Rodgers won't start ahead of duggan , but if Meehan was fit he probably should,

windy shepard henderson

Great to see Offaly back, huge support of down there tonight they won't be Joe mcdonagh or Christy ring for too much longer

Our own lads exceeded all expectations, we have some serious talent on the way our best days are yet to come

windy shepard henderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119217444#Comment_119217444

an amazing year for clare gaa in total , camogie , hurling underage hurling and even football , every aspect of clare gaa has exceeded expectation , hurlers in a really good position heading into the all ireland series , with the return of rodgers and aidan mccarthy too

keeponhurling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119218230#Comment_119218230

That would be a big call.

But wound Cian Nolan do any better against the likes of Rory O’Connor ? It would be harsh to just throw him in the deep end like that.

Treble double

I'm no hurling expert but watching the minor last night I was taken by Offaly. I know it's u 17 and strength and conditioning wouldn't have a major impact at that age, Clare did look the better conditioned team. Offaly looked like a team that have gone for more naturally talented hurlers as opposed to size. They appeared on tv to be a light stringy side with a few notable exceptions like the no 11 but they play with a refreshing style and freedom. The small nippy corner forward was a joy to watch and his finish for the goal was class. Both goals were beautifully finished. I could be totally wrong here but they look like a throwback to years gone by relying on hurling skill as opposed to strength and are a change to the norm of the more systematic hurling that most teams play now.

supernova5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119218818#Comment_119218818

yea that Offaly side have apparently been a stand out since the under 12/13 grade, that corner forward is Adam Screeney [has a brother on the under 20 team] its like watching a very young version of Lar Corbett. there are names on that team that are very synonymous with Offaly hurling, Furlong , Kelly, Martin, Rigney, Connolly

Clare really stifled themselves with their game plan, way too much playing through the lines and running into traffic, the forward were crying out for good early ball in which mostly never arrived so we never really gave ourselves a chance to create any clear cut goal chances. it was our undoing. Offaly created 2 chances and tucked them away with minimum fuss.

disappointing end to campaign as I though Clare could regroup and maybe win out the whole thing..

supernova5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119218253#Comment_119218253

amazing year? hmm perhaps, but if they cant pick up some silverware along the way it wont count for a whole lot

Emotional stuff watching the game from home. I can’t imagine what it was like for the thousands of Clare fans that made their way to Thurles today. The players and management deserve massive credit today, despite being no where near their Munster final best.

I am quite literally shaking but Brian Lohan, what a man, what a gent. After all the sh1t he put down from our CB doing their utmost not to give him the Clare job back in late 2019, he has United the county with the teams never say die spirit and determination that is so fitting of the man when he wore that famous red helmet and Clare jersey.

So so proud as a Clareman today. We are back in Croke Park in two weeks time!! HON THE BANNER!!!!

windy shepard henderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119219412#Comment_119219412

so you foresaw all this happening at the start of the year while the rest of the county were just happy to get out of the group , epically with all the injuries we have had to contend with , perspective is badly needed here

any genuine clare supporter would take your hands off at the start of the year if you offered them this

SophieLockhart

LOL Fitz must have a thing for Smiley O'Donnell no way was he MOTM

windy shepard henderson

great comeback in the end , but my fears were confirmed early in the game as the battle with limerick had us drained , we were way off the pace for the first 45 50 minutes , it looked like we were goosed with 15 minutes to go , up to that point key players like kelly , ryan taylor cathal malone , david mc were just so far out of the game it looked like we were done .

wexford were clever , once cleary was on a yellow they lumped high balls in on top of him knowing any infraction would see him in real trouble , int he last 15 however wexford just didnt have the fire power to kick on and see it out we did , and found a second wind from no where ,once they got tired we punished

while the shanagher goal was a bit of a fluke , the tide had turned at that point and wexford were on the ropes , you could sense it with less then 10 minutes to go

i feel sorry for them they gave it everything , mathew o'hannlon , shane reck liam og were excellent i taught , o keefe caused us huge problems as sweeper in the first half , they also had two other great goal chances one early in the first half , and a lee chiin effort that sailed over the bar from 20 yards out

the fight back was impressive , the most pleasing part was the 1-4 off the bench in the last 7 minutes its what we have talked about all year having a good bench to pull us out of these types of situations , i felt both odonnell and espically diarmuid ryan were head and sholders above everyone else in a clare jersey , taught cian nolan did well when he came on was lucky not to get black carded in the end , flanagan had a super game again at corner back

windy shepard henderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119221009#Comment_119221009

he won him an all ireland in 2013 , which led to several cash cows like irelands fittest family and the wexford hurling job , to be fair o'donnell had a really good game but diarmuid ryan was the only one taking the fight to wexford when everyone else was asleep he chipped in with two or 3 great points as well

supernova5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119220993#Comment_119220993

Windy, perhaps you misunderstood my statement, I agree, of course its been a fantastic late Spring and Summer for Clare Gaa and nobody could really see it pan out this way to date. We all appreciate the massive entertainment and uplift the teams have given us since April. What I meant is that its all very well fine having pride back in the jersey and being competitive but the objective is to win trophies. Every player in Gaa or any sporting code gets involved to ultimately win the top prize on offer in whatever competition they enter. quarter, semi, or even finalists are very soon forgotten, you are only judged on winning top honours. We only know this too well in Clare as our trophy cabinet is so sparse and making hay while the sun shines is imperative to a county of our long history.

windy shepard henderson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119221370#Comment_119221370

i totally agree , and yes i did misunderstand what you were saying , huge ask still ahead to put a trophy in the cabinet though , hopefully it can be done

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