This article is from page 71 of the 2011-02-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 71 JPG
Waterford 2-19 – Clare 2-18 at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge
IF experience has taught supporters anything about the Waterford Crystal competition, It’s that it is important to keep things in perspective. In a nutshell, with the new season only in its infancy, experimental sides being used and hardly ideal conditions to boot, it’s foolhardy to overcelebrate victories and equally also rash to over-analyse defeats such as Sunday’s.
In the end, it was Richie Foley’s injury-time free from close range that sealed the victory for Waterford in a game that could have gone either way but overall will be remembered for a remarkable second half turnaround by Waterford that Clare were unable to halt.
It was the proverbial game of two halves but without a wind of any description, major injuries or dismissals, it is difficult to comprehend how contrasting the halves actually turned out to be. After finding themselves 04 to 0-1 in arrears after 12 minutes, Clare upped the ante significantly to outscore their opponents by 2-11 to 0-3 in the remaining 23 minutes, inspired by goals from the impressive Cathal McInerney and Fergal Lynch to lead by 11 at the break.
However, it was a total reversal on the restart as it was a resurgent Waterford, led by the freetaking of Richie Foley and the influence of full-forward Seamus Prendergast, who blitzed the home side by 2-9 to 0-2 in the first 20 minutes of the half to force the issue by two points. Clare did come off the ropes to produce a late recovery but by that stage the damage had been done and it was Waterford who held their nerve to see out the win.
True, it was a thoroughly disappointing finish to what appeared to be an encouraging outing for Clare who at their best in the first half, were sharp, ruthless and hungry but also leaderless and naïve when put under immense pressure by the defending champions in the second period.
It is difficult to judge either county at this early stage of the season either as both were without large chunks of the teams that clashed in last year’s Munster championship semi-final in Thurles. Holders Waterford started with nine out of the 20 that played against the Banner in June while Clare had only seven survivors from that 0-22 to 1-15 defeat.
However, Clare’s inability to kill off games and a glaring lack of consistency, not just between games but also within the same game, indicates that their inexperienced squad still have some way to go before they can mature into a side worthy of competing for the top honours.
It was in similar circumstances that Clare exited last year’s competition as well as the same stage to the same opposition. Clare, off the back of a rousing victory over Tipperary in their own backyard, travelled down to Waterford only days later but failed to turn up for the game itself as Waterford pummeled them by 12 points. Similar inconsistencies raised their head in the league against Wexford (twice) as well as the championship when raising their game beyond expectations to push eventual Munster champions Waterford all the way before slumping to a disappointing defeat against Anthony Daly’s Dublin only weeks later in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Still, with captain Paddy Vaughan, Conor Cooney, Brendan Bugler, Patrick Donnellan Sean Collins, Jonathan Clancy, Darach Honan and Sunday’s substitutes Gerry Quinn, Cormac O’Donovan, Donal Tuohy and Caimin Morey to come into the mix for the league, Ger O’Loughlin can draw a line in the sand on this collapse and vow to learn from it in the coming months.
With Nicky O’Connell, and Cratloe newcomers Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath to the fore in the first half on Sunday, Clare produced their best hurling of the year so far after a slow start that saw them trail by 0-4 to 0-1 after 12 minutes.
An inspirational burst from defence by Cian Dillon and subsequent pass for Nicky O’Connell to point from halfway started the fightback and were quickly followed by points from McInerney, John Conlon and an O’Connell ’65 before Clare got their first goal in the 21st minute.
A clearance by Frank McGrath was partially intercepted by Diarmuid McMahon, Domhnall O’Donovan gathered possession and sent a pass over the top for Cathal McInerney to field and knock past Clinton Hennessy from close range. Sandwiching an opportunist point from Conor McGrath, Fergal Lynch smashed a second goal in the 26th minute when finishing off a move that again involved O’Donovan and McInerney.
It was the catalyst for a further six points from the home side who overran their opponents for the remainder, epitomised by Diarmuid McMahon’s superb solo point in the 28th minute when fielding a Waterford puck-out at halfway before taking on the defence and tapping over from 30 metres.
2-12 to 0-07 up at half-time, nothing but a Clare win could be forseen at that stage but crucially for the second week in succession, the home side failed to react to opposition manager Davy Fitzgerald’s tactic of placing a strong target man at the edge of the square and withdrawing the rest of the forwards to give him space. The previous weekend it was Willie Hyland who fulfilled that role for LIT and on Sunday, it was Seamus Prendergast that caused Clare untold problems.
That allied with the unerring freetaking of Richie Foley and Clare’s inability to gather the breaking ball around halfway and supply the po- tentially threatening inside line of Cathal McInerney, Conor McGrath and Colin Ryan caused a major shift in proceedings. Waterford’s fortunes altered with Richie Foley’s 20 metre free that was driven low to the net in the 40th minute and gathering momentum, they added a further 1-9 to Clare’s 0-2 in the opening 20 minutes of the half, with the second goal coming from the lively Shane Casey in the 56th minute to push his side two points clear at 2-16 to 2-14.
Clare rang the changes, bringing Colin Ryan back as a third midfielder and switching centre-back James McInerney and full-back Cian Dillon, just as they had done to good effect the previous week.
However, while Clare did recover fully by the 70th minute through a James McInerney penalty that flew over the crossbar, a Nicky O’Connell free and a point from Colin Ryan to lead by the minimum at 2-18 to 2-17, it was Waterford who had the final say when Richie Foley converted two late frees to advance to their second consecutive final.
It was a frustrating end to an otherwise beneficial pre-season tournament for Clare, with plenty of pluses and minuses for Ger O’Loughlin and his management team to consider ahead of what is a crucial league campaign for the county, starting with neighbours Limerick on Sunday week.