Minor chief hopes for major improvement against Laois

It promised to be a great occasion. The renewal of a rivalry that has seen few battles between these sides at this grade saw a well regarded Galway outfit and a Clare side hurting from Munster final anguish lock horns.

With a healthy crowd on an ideal afternoon for hurling the stage was set for a ferocious contest.

Considering this was just the fifth time Clare and Galway have met in the Minor Championship this century, all indications before throw-in was that this was going to be a rip-roaring battle between two counties with eyes on putting one foot in the knockout stages.

Instead, Clare struggled with all aspects of the game as they fired nine points and 15 wides during the hour of hurling. By contrast Galway notched 0-25 and just 10 wides as Fergal Healy’s side blitzed their opponents.

Aside from a 10 minute spell in the second quarter where Clare outscored their opponents by 0-6 to 0-3, the away side failed to fire a meaningful shot against an impressive Galway outfit.

When speaking to The Clare Champion after the game, Clare manager Brian O’Connell was disappointed and perplexed at his side’s display.

“We just didn’t get going at all. It just wasn’t us. We were struggling all over the field. What we prided ourselves on in all the previous games in terms of our workrate and turnovers and using the ball wisely, that didn’t happen at all for us. From a Galway point of view everything worked for them and it was an easy day out for them.”

With this being Clare’s sixth Championship outing of the year while Galway were only commencing their campaign, Brian O’Connell’s side would have been hopeful of catching their opponents off guard, especially in the early stages.

Their intensity and first touch have been impressive throughout the campaign but these components of the game were sorely lacking on the day.

The former Clare senior captain admits the contest felt like a challenge game in the closing stages as both sides emptied their respective benches with the outcome finalised long before the full time whistle.

“They got off to a flying start. We had talked about trying to not get them off to a flying start. It’s always an advantage when you are playing in your home patch to get off to a good one. They got a lot of scores in the first 15 minutes and we were chasing the game after that.”

“In the second half it pretty much petered out. It nearly felt like a challenge match at times. It just wasn’t happening at all.”

This Clare side didn’t become a bad team overnight. After a gripping Munster final just 10 days prior which ended in the cruellest manner possible with a penalty shootout defeat, there was no doubting that there would be a certain emotional baggage in the days following that contest.

A defeat like that can make or break a team. On occasions a team can use it as a motivational tool, or to ‘right the wrongs’ from the previous defeat. Unfortunately for Clare this didn’t occur as they were outgunned, outthought and outfought throughout the contest.

O’Connell refused to use the recent provincial final defeat as an excuse for their display on Saturday.

“The lads performed really well in the Munster final. They got a high in terms of their performance and obviously to lose it was a bit gutting for them. There is an emotional baggage that comes with that but you would imagine after the 10 days we should have really parked it.”

“We thought we had but today was just poor from us and hopefully we can address it in two weeks’ time against Laois.”

If any positives can be gleaned for Clare supporters leaving Kenny Park is that this talented side can still rescue their season.

They face Laois, who have former Waterford senior manager Derek McGrath as part of their backroom team, on Saturday week after the Leinster side host Galway this weekend.

Before that, O’Connell’s admits a full debrief will be needed to help ensure they reach the standard of performance that they are capable of.

“We are just going to have to chat it out a little bit. Just in terms of how they felt during the week and how they felt in the build up to it and see what we can address. But two weeks is a good break for us to be able to go again.”

“Hopefully we can put in a big performance against Laois because nobody gets to a Leinster final very easily. Laois are a good side and we’ve played them earlier in the year so we’ve seen that and we have to be at our best to beat them.”