Clare face an unknown quantity

Kilkenny may be barred from selecting players from senior clubs but it hasn’t prevented them from dominating the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship in recent years.
That won’t have been lost on the Clare management team headed by Kevin Kennedy as they complete preparations for this Saturday’s final with the Noresiders, who are seeking to retain the crown and capture their third title in four years.
Last season’s win means the Leinster champions had to field a completely new team this year, as those who helped to beat Cork last year are not eligible.
That said, Kilkenny won the crown in 2008 and while those players had to drop out for the 2009 campaign, many of them have come back into this year’s squad. They have had just one outing en route and this saw them beat their great rivals Wexford in the Leinster decider.
Ulster don’t have any representatives in the intermediate grade so Kilkenny went straight from their Leinster final win to the All-Ireland final.
Clare boss Kevin Kennedy has no doubt but that Kilkenny will pose a very stern test for his charges.
“Irrespective of what people say, the fact is we are playing Kilkenny and it’s never easy to beat Kilkenny, whatever the grade,” Clare boss Kevin Kennedy said this week.
The Clare team for this week’s final will be along the same lines as that which beat Galway in Cusack Park two weeks ago. Parteen’s Joe O’Connor is pressing strongly for a place in the starting line up. He came into the action midway through the second half last time out and scored Clare’s second goal.
Daire Keane remains a doubtful starter having missed the semi-final win because of a broken wrist suffered in a club game with Kilmaley.
While the full-back line struggled in the first half against Galway, there was a huge improvement in the sector when Mark Earley moved to full-back with Patrick Kelly switching to the corner.
Kelly is expected to be named at full-back for the final with Earley and Crusheen’s Alan Brigdale as his flankers. Whitegate’s Andrew Fahy will continue between the posts.
John Fennessy, Shane Golden and Niall Gilligan were all in flying form for Sixmilebridge last week. Ronan Keane is having a great season with both Éire Óg and Clare while Broadford’s Padraig Hickey was outstanding against Galway and Clare fans will be looking to him to pick off the vital scores on Saturday evening.
Kilkenny’s best known player is Willie O’Dwyer who played with the county’s senior side in 2009 and 2010. He is a lively forward and is sure to cause problems for the Banner County’s defence.
There has been some speculation in Kilkenny that veteran DJ Casey who returned to the playing fields with his club’s junior string this year, might get a call up but it’s unlikely to happen.
Given the fact that Kilkenny have had just one game, its understandable that there is little known about them. However, appearing in the final of this grade for the fourth year in succession clearly shows the strength of the game in the county. It will take a big effort from Clare to stop them from retaining the title but the fact that Clare have had three outings to get to the final should stand to them and should see them bring home the silverware.