Clare must shackle Canning

An All-Ireland semi-final spot is the prize for the winner on Sunday. Sports Editor Seamus Hayes looks at Clare’s chances of prevailing over Galway

 

 

Excitement and tensions are heightening this week as the senior hurlers of Clare and Galway put the finishing touches to their preparations ahead of their meeting in the quarter final of the All-Ireland qualifier at Thurles on Sunday.
The winners will progress to the All-Ireland semi-final against either Dublin or Limerick.

Neither team will be named until later in the week and even then its doubtful if what will be announced by either management will be what will start come 4pm on Sunday.
As they put the finishing touches to their preparations, Clare have concerns about the fitness of forwards Darach Honan and Tony Kelly. Honan missed the win over Wexford due to a leg injury and he has only taken a light part in training in the past week.

Kelly suffered a facial injury in the early stages of last week’s Munster U-21 final and this necessitated a visit to hospital. He didn’t train at the weekend and remains a doubtful starter but hopes are high that he will play some part in the game.
Galway don’t have any injury worries, team manager Anthony Cunningham told The Clare Champion. That said, changes both in personnel and positional, are expected to be made by Cunningham. Problems were evident in a number of sectors in their games against both Laois and Dublin in the Leinster championship.

Since then, they have experimented with a number of positions and one change could see Cyril Donnellan switch from the attack to centre back. There is a belief that Galway need to change personnel in the central defensive positions.
Joseph Cooney, better known as a half-forward, has been operating in defence in recent outings. He may return to the attack for Sunday’s game. Portumna’s Andy Smith is expected to be in the starting line-up following his impressive showing when he was introduced against Dublin while his clubmate Damian Hayes is another who is expected to be in from the start this week.

The debate rages on as to where is the best position to play Joe Canning. Should he be positioned at full forward where he would be expected to cause most problems.
Personnel wise, Clare Are expected to be along similar lines to what started against Wexford. If Honan is fit, the management team must decide if he will start and if so, who will lose out. Equally, they must decide whether or not to include Cathal McInerney. The Cratloe man hit 2-1 in the first period of extra time to steer Clare past the Wexford challenge two weeks ago.

The defence and midfield is expected to be unchanged but there could be some positional switches. It remains to be seen if Davy Fitzgerald will delegate anyone in particular to mark Joe Canning. The Clare boss will be well aware of Canning’s ability having had him as a key member of the Limerick IT team, which he led to victory in the Fitzgibbon cup as few years back.
David Burke from All-Ireland club champions, St Thomas, is another Galway forward that will take watching. James Skehill, Fergal Moore, David Collins, Iarla Tannian James Regan and Gort’s Aidan Harte are others that will be expected to cause problems for Clare on Sunday.

While Clare have struggled at times this season, its fair to say that, overall, they have produced more consistent performances than their neighbours. Having come so close to winning the All-Ireland title in 2012, Galway fans approached this season with high hopes that the Liam McCarthy cup would travel West of the Shannon for the first time since 1988.

They are fortunate to be still in the competition as they struggled to overcome Laois in the Leinster semi-final in Portlaoise before being well beaten by Dublin.
There are no second chances from here on and the big question right now is whether or not Clare will be at the receiving end of a Galway backlash. Recent meetings of the sides have gone Clare’s way but that will count for nothing on Sunday.

Galway look to have an edge in experience but the fact remains that Clare have created a huge amount of chances in each of their games this season. Their scoring race has been improving with each game and if they can show further progress in this area on Sunday, then they have a great chance of getting through to what will, most likely, be a meeting with Anthony Daly’s Dublin.

For that to happen, however, Clare will have to dominate in the key areas and make sure that Joe Canning isn’t allowed dictate matters. It really has all the ingredients of a fascinating contest and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the sides were level at the final whistle.