Sports

IF Cian Dillon is named at full-back for Sunday’s All-Ireland final, it will represent the first time that the NUIG graduate will have started a game for Clare.The 21-year-old Crusheen man could conceivably pick up an All-Ireland medal after just an hour’s competitive hurling.

HISTORY has a habit of repeating itself when it comes to near misses involving Clare hurling teams in Munster senior and U-21 hurling finals. The banner has almost been hoisted to full mast when teams were on the verge of making the long-awaited breakthrough only to be cruelly denied by the concession of a late goal or a flurry of points. Bishop Willie Walsh has experienced the heartbreak of losing a provincial decider by  literally a puck of a ball as a mentor and supporter when victory looked certain for the Banner men. On Thursday, July 30 last, Ciarán O’Doherty and company eased the pain and frustration of narrow defeats in 12 finals with a tremendous display of guts, determination and silken skills to defeat Waterford for a historic first Munster final success.Die-hard Clare supporters who made the journey to Dungarvan felt it was a fitting reward for nine survivors of the team who suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Tipperary …

Kevin Phelan came to work as a bank official in Clare a little over 30 years ago, firstly in Shannon before later moving to Ennis. He set up home in the county capital and has lived there since.Working in a bank provided opportunities to meet people and this led to the formation of many friendships. Equally helpful was the fact that he is a lover of hurling, which isn’t surprising given that he comes from Kilkenny. One of his many friends is former Clare hurler John Callinan, a solicitor based in Ennis. Scarcely a Monday goes by that they don’t meet at lunchtime.While the state of the economy generally comes into their Monday discussion, the majority of the lunchtime discussion is about hurling, the previous weekend’s matches and the upcoming fixtures.In recent weeks, Sunday’s U-21 hurling decider between Kilkenny and Clare has been discussed on quite a few occasions. Not alone is Kevin a staunch Kilkenny supporter well versed in …

FOR Broadford’s Cathal Chaplin, it has literally been a case of blood, sweat and tears. For months, he indulged in the hard graft in Ballyline, went through the ritual of doing the drills, making the sacrifices and never complained. Never once. He was content to bide his time patiently on the wings, hoping that some day the window of opportunity would present itself.

IN his superb memoir Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby detailed the personal strains and triumphs of 20 odd years following a top-flight London soccer club. The book has become regarded as the ultimate account of fandom and while its author may know little of Clare hurling, Hornby would surely empathise with Fr Enda Glynn’s passion for it. The county’s hardcore support isn’t particularly big, as has been proven on occasions like the Clare-Tipperary game this summer but there are people like Fr Glynn who try to get the most obscure of fixtures and who have taken particular delight in this year’s U-21 odyssey.

LEARNING by losing can harden a team trying desperately to win. As long as they don’t keep losing, never turning the hurt of it all into championship winning armour, it can be the making of a group of eventual winners. Clare’s heroic men of ’95 and ’97 were the whipping boys of ’93 and ’94 before they swapped the dank silence of a beaten dressing room for the back-slapping on offer down the corridor. On the evening of July 31, 2008 several of the Clare U-21s that will sprint onto Croke Park next Sunday, had a Munster medal snapped from their palm. The injustice of it all could have finished them yet maybe it has helped make those who are eligible again this year. “A small bit of adversity is good test of character but I suppose, the difficulty of playing U-21 is some guys don’t get a second chance,” Clare U-21 coach Cyril Lyons reflected. “There were six lads …

THE great success enjoyed by Clonlara GAA Club over the past two years, in particular, together with the march of the Clare U-21s to the All-Ireland final has turned the spotlight very much on the South-East Clare club. While the club has, over the years, provided some great players for county sides, they have never had as many on a county team at the one time.

PLAYING Kilkenny in an All-Ireland hurling final is where every hurler wants to be. That’s the view of Clare’s star forward, Darach Honan, chosen as the man of the match in each of Clare’s last two games in this campaign.