This article is from page 70 of the 2011-01-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 70 JPG
THE frosty conditions were thawed out by an encouraging display as Clare advanced to the last four of the Waterford Crystal Cup for the third successive year on Saturday.
The uncertainty of the fixture due to sub zero ground frost was best summed up by Clare manager Ger O’Loughlin afterwards who joked that “we are all up from around seven o’clock this morning waiting for this one. It was off, ‘twas on, ‘twas off, ‘twas on, so it was great to finally come down and play.”
And in keeping with the respective managers’ competitive instincts despite the arctic conditions, both sides came out to win in what turned out to be as keenly contested, evenly matched encounter.
In the end, it was Clare’s superior ability to take their goal opportunities that separated the sides, with Diarmuid McMahon (2) and Adrian Donovan scoring three opportunist goals in the final 20 minutes while at the other end, goalkeeper Philip Brennan was in defiant form to keep out goalbound efforts from fellow county men Bernard Gaffney and Martin Duggan.
It may have been a county versus a college side but with 12 of the 17 Clare players used having played at minor and/or under 21 levels in the last three years, it certainly wasn’t lopsided in terms of experience. However, while both Ger O’Loughlin and Davy Fitzgerald will be happy to have got such a competitive game under their belts ahead of more significant competitions ahead, undoubtedly the Sparrow will be the happier of the two.
After all, in total he got to view 24 Clare natives over the 70 minutes including encouraging county senior competitive debuts for Liam Markham, Conor McGrath, Cathal McInerney and Adrian Donovan as well as an outstanding defensive display from LIT’s Patrick Donnellan. In addition, he saw his side improve immeasurably from their ring-rusty first outing against IT Tralee and more importantly, bulked out his op- tions further for the year ahead.
The Cratloe trio in particular added a fresh dimension to the team, corner-back Mark Earley has certainly grasped his opportunity with both hands with another fine display and overall Clare’s winter gym program saw them more than match LIT in the physical stakes.
The Sparrow won’t be getting carried away just yet however as LIT were without Joe Canning and Seamus Callanan as well as Clare duo Sean Collins and James McInerney who in fact was given permission to play with the county in this year’s Waterford Crystal competition.
More than anything else, it was an honest display from both sides with Clare’s added experience from the likes of Diarmuid McMahon, Fergal Lynch, Philip Brennan and James McInerney getting them through, even though the final eight point winning margin is flattering.
If there is one major criticism of Clare at the moment, it’s the inaccuracy from placed balls that has taken some of the sheen from their opening