It’s about time this Clare team kicked on.
It’s hard to believe it’s five years since their fresh faced assassins lifted Liam MacCarthy in 2013. That year, they romped home, coasting past everything they faced with an emphasis on short passing, speed, skill and stamina.
They were a small team. But they caught all of their opponents off guard with their ability to play a near perfect game of wristy stick passing and constant movement.
The youthful Banner boys eventually hammered Antrim in the Under-21 All-Ireland final after being taken to a draw by the Saffrons initially. The good times were set to roll for the men of the west.
They had evolved the game with this style, and the importance of their sweeper in this style. In 2014, they tried the same thing – Other teams had caught up, and they were disappointingly dumped out in the qualifier stages by Liam Dunne’s Wexford.
The Clooney-Quin sniper has two goals pinged in after ten minutes against Cork today https://t.co/fDtatuHd90
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 7, 2018
Summer 2015 came and passed, as did 2016 and 2017.
Clare didn’t change much. They were still relying on the same style. Other teams knew how to play against them – and they’ve only won once in Munster since that landmark September 2013 Sunday. In fact, they haven’t made it back to Croke Park since.
They need to change something, and it looks they’re finally doing that.
Take Tony Kelly, take Podge Collins, take Colm Galvin, take Conor McGrath, Take David Reidy, Ian Galvin, Cathal ‘Tots’ O’ Connell. None of these players are big men.
It’s a new year, and Clare’s forward line now lines up as a much bigger, more physical unit.
Clare SH team to play Cork tomorrow in Cusack Park @2p.m. pic.twitter.com/twvEyzZtzJ
— Clare Gaa (@GaaClare) January 6, 2018
Peter Duggan is a giant of a man. But the Clooney-Quin behemoth is also one of the finest stick men in the county. He racked up some almighty totals for his club in their march to the county decider this year. He went to town in the Fenway Classic on Galway and Tipperary defences.
He was at it again on Sunday. Lining up at full forward, he wasn’t in the mood for sparing the Cork defence. He cut loose and scored two goals in the first ten minutes of the game.
He’s a target man. A player Clare can rain high balls in on top of, and he’ll be hard to contain for any number three.
Niall Deasy was arguably Ballyea’s most instrumental player on their run to the 2017 All-Ireland club final. The big, tall, strong half forward is a beast in the air, but he’s also well able to take a score.
He’ll be a willing outlet for puck-outs, as will their rangy centre forward, Cathal Malone, who was the scorer of their second goal on Sunday.
The Banner crowd in Cusack Park will have went home happy, as Donal Maloney and Gerry O’Connor’s men dispatched easily of the Rebel challenge, eventually winning out by 4-17 to 0-18, albeit against an experimental Cork outfit.
Coopsuperstores Munster Hurling League
Full Time Clare: 4-17(29)
Cork: 0-18(18)— Clare Gaa (@GaaClare) January 7, 2018
They’ll have went home with hope that this team have turned a corner, that they’re big enough and physical enough. That their forwards will be able to win their own ball, that they can realise the unlimited potential they have.
God knows they’ve lots of it.
