This article is from page 103 of the 2008-03-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 103 JPG
FRANK Doherty answered some questions outside the Clare dressing room shortly after the game on Sun- day, standing on the same spot that Paidi O Sé occupied when Waterford knocked Clare out of the champion- ship last May.
Same result for Clare and though the questions haven’t changed for the entirety of this league — essentially it’s been: Where was the game lost, Frank? — Doherty at least saw some progress in the performance.
“I think there was improvement, in fairness. There was a bit more bite and character. At the start of the game we went four one up playing competitive football, and that was pleasing to see. The movement was good, the forwards were good. The younger lads are kind of stepping up to a degree and it’s the older lads who have to step up now. I’ve seen it in some games obviously. But today was an improvement from the An- trim game.”
That’s where the good news story ends, though. Shortly after Clare scored four, Waterford slowly crept back into the game and the manager recognised a handful of key episodes that led to the demise. The missed opportunity before the break and the penalty at the end contributed, he said, but Doherty believed the inju- ries picked up by Gordon Kelly and Daragh Kelly were crucial.
“At the end of the day we have a small pool of players and to lose
Daragh Kelly and Gordon Kelly was a big blow.
You’re talking about two key play- ers. When Daragh was in the team for the McGrath Cup, we didn’t lose a game. When he went out of the team we haven’t won a game.
“And Gordon, of course, is a fine bit of stuff. His loss took two big players out of six in our back line. It was a big turning point in the game.
“T’ve been hoping to move Gordon out to centre back for most of the year and unfortunately I can’t because my hands are tied to a degree in relation to where I can play lads. Daragh was doing reasonably well at centre back until he received that injured and Gordon obviously is himself. He’ll always give you everything.”
The missed goal opportunity?
“Stephen Hickey’s goal chance was like Rory Donnelly’s against An- trim. How many chances do you get in a game? How many times do you need these chance to put them away? You’ve got to take them when the goal is in front of you and that was there again today.
“I don’t know if Stephen tried to take the net out with that shot. It would have been better to side foot it into the back of the net and a goal then would have put us in the as- cendency. We would have been in the driving seat. It was a game that would have taken a different aspect in the second half.”
The penalty?
“I think Joe jumped into the for- ward more than he tried to claim the
ball. Then [just before the penalty] David Connole was unlucky. He ran into the back of a player and that was a silly free to give away in a danger- ous position. For a while we were in the game and the lads that came onto the team tried their best, but we are where we are.’
Again, Doherty came back to the positives of the performance and with Kilkenny on the horizon, the first two points of the season are surely within grasp.
“There was more determination overall. Still, the cuteness that will win you games wasn’t there and some of the lads took the wrong de- cisions at times.
“Sean Collins drove on and hit men twice his size and he was a contender for man of the match. There’s still a lot of work to do and hopefully we’ ll get guys back off the treatment table and we’ll be that bit stronger and that bit more street-wise the next time.”