Clare won’t be kitten around against The Cats in Croker

There’s a notable surge of excitement as well as apprehension ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate stage clash with Kilkenny at GAA headquarters (5.30pm).

Much of that is based on the old adage that ‘what’s rare is wonderful’, a novelty factor that not only extends to being only Clare’s third All-ireland Semi-Final appearance in the past 16 years but also a dearth of championship clashes with Kilkenny in the same period.

The thing is though that being only the eighth ever championship encounter between Clare and Kilkenny, seven of those have involved Brian Lohan as the Cats always provided a major stumbling block to the Banner’s ambitions during they golden era.

“They were always tough, tight games and difficult opponents to play against,” recalled Lohan this week.

“They were the type of opponent that didn’t need a huge amount of possession in that they could get a very good return on the amount of possession they had. Invariably they had quality scorers up front which meant that you could have 60% of possession but still end up losing the game.

“They had exceptionally hard working and intelligent players so they were always a very difficult opponent whether it was league or championship.”

Lohan’s championship relationship with Kilkenny did start brightly as having already taken down traditional powers Cork and Tipperary in 1997, seeing off the Leinster superpowers at the All-Ireland Semi-Final stage completed a historic treble that heralded Clare’s second All-Ireland success as surpassing their breakthrough first.

“We had won in ’95 and in ’96 there was no backdoor and we had been comfortable against Limerick and were a couple of points up but they got four in a row to beat us by a point and knock us out of the championship. So we came back in ’97 and beat everyone in front of us and that included Kilkenny in the semi-final.

“We had been used to beating teams and getting on top of teams by that stage and we knew that we had a good team, no matter who we faced.

“We felt that we were in good shape. We had played Tipp in the Munster Final and played well, with good quality all over the field. Now Kilkenny had good quality as well but we would have been confident going in against them without being cocky or anything like that.”

That 1-17 to 1-13 win would be Clare’s sole championship triumph over the Cats who under the new watch of a young go-getter named Brian Cody, managed to get the better of the Banner from an inaugural semi-final in 1999.

There were some memorable meetings though including the All-Ireland decider of 2002, the quarter-final series of 2004 and finally the All-Ireland Semi-Final reverse of 2006.

That 2-21 to 1-16 reverse was not only the counties’ last championship encounter but the end of an era for Clare with the retirements of Lohan, Seanie McMahon as well as being Anthony Daly’s last match as manager.

“I was very disappointed at the time.”reflected Lohan.

“I mean when you get to a semi-final and lose it, it’s hugely deflating, especially off the back of the previous year as well where we had been in the driving seat against Cork at the same stage but they came back and pipped us at the very end.

“So when we were beaten by Kilkenny the following year in 2006, it was kind of a double hit really. When you put so much into preparing yourself and trying to get yourself right and then you get that far and are beaten, it’s crushing, especially on a personal level as it was the end for me.

“There was never any doubt about that, that was it, I was gone and as it turned out, Seanie [McMahon] was gone as well after that so that was a tough enough defeat for us to take but that’s hurling.”

Neither Clare nor Lohan have clashed with Cody or Kilkenny at senior championship level since so it’s fitting that the renewal of acquaintances comes back in Croke Park at the last four stage once more.

The majority of Clare’s current players have been at this lofty stage before back in 2018 but any suggestion that previous missed opportunities will sharpen the focus further for Saturday are largely dismissed by the four-time All-Star.

“There’s no real emotion in sport. You have to compete hard and if you’re good enough, you generally get there and if you’re not good enough, then you’re generally beaten and you’re gone.

“So for our lads, just because they were beaten in 2018 is not going to have any effect on what happens the next day just as in our playing days that just because we were unlucky to be beaten in the semi-final of ’05 didn’t have any relevance to a team coming up against you in 2006, there just isn’t that emotion there.

“The bottom line is that everyone wants to get to that All-Ireland Final and it’s only the best teams that get there.”

Will differing approaches have any bearing on the outcome in terms of Kilkenny having a month’s break since the Leinster Final whereas Clare have the momentum of overcoming Wexford a fortnight ago?

“There’s the argument that there’s so much analysis done on teams, the more times you play, the more you can be analysed and the more that opponents can pick holes in how you play and target certain individuals.”

“Against that, there’s the fact that Kilkenny haven’t been out since the Leinster Final whereas we got a win in-between. Now we were lucky to get the win and it wasn’t a good performance for us but still it was a win so it was good from that perspective to get the hangover from the Munster Final out of the way.

“So we’re going into Saturday’s game, not at the same level as them as they have a trophy behind them and a championship won already but still we’re coming in on the back of a victory which is important.”

Clare’s bank of provincial experience, understanding and winning know-how must count for something though heading into Saturday’s showdown as demonstrated in that dramatic character-filled crescendo against Wexford last time out?

“The players have worked exceptionally hard. They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do as regards preparation and have been really diligent in their preparation but the trouble is that every other team at this stage of the championship is like that as well.

“There’s an awful lot of strong competition so we’ve got good players but the problem is that other teams have good players as well.

“It’s so competitive currently and when you get to this stage, the last four in the country, there’s quality in all four teams and the margins are so tight.

“We’re hoping that it will be really competitive on Saturday and we’ll see how we go but we certainly do also understand the major task that is facing us.”

Just as it has been for the past 24 years for Kilkenny under Brian Cody.