Conlon chasing first Munster championship win

When John Conlon lines out in the saffron and blue of Clare on Sunday, it will mark the start of his fifth successive Munster Senior Championship season.
He made his debut against Tipperary in 2009, the season in which he helped Clare to a first Munster and All-Ireland U-21 success.
The Clonlara man, who has just completed his studies at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, has yet to experience a win in the provincial showpiece.
“We are good enough to have won a Munster championship game. This year, everything has pushed towards achieving just that. One of the big aims is to get that hoodoo off our backs. Sunday’s game has been the focus since the start of the season. We have lost to them three or four times in recent years,” Conlon told The Clare Champion this week.
“We won the Munster U-21 final against them in Dungarvan a few years ago. There was only a puck of a ball in it. They could have won that game.
“There is nothing between the teams. Both sides have good players. They have just as good young lads coming through.
“They also have experience in their squad. It will be a dogfight again on Sunday and it’s whoever wants it the most will win through. They won’t be afraid of us,” the South-East Clare man said.
The Clare forward added, “The odds being quoted for Clare are crazy. Yes, we have good players coming through but I have been hearing about young lads coming through since I started. It’s up to us to deliver now.”
Conlon is happy with the  preparations for Sunday’s game. “Everyone has put in a big effort and all in the panel are pushing for places in the starting team.
“I would not like to have the job of picking the team, as there is fierce competition for places.
“The training matches have been as competitive as any match we have played. No one can say they haven’t got a chance to impress as a lot of lads gained a lot of experience at this level this season. Any of the 38 on the bench can make this team.” .
Conlon was, understandably, happy with Clare’s league campaign. “We could have topped the group had we not lost the last game.
“That’s how close the league was. The play-off game against Cork was good. It was do or die. It would have been a massive blow to go back down,” he conceded.
“Getting over Cork in the run-in to the championship was a great result.
“It would certainly have been a downer if we had got relegated. We showed a bit of inexperience during the league but we learned a lot from the campaign. We have really trained hard since then and it is all systems go now for Sunday,” Conlon said.
He has hurled with and against a number of the Waterford squad in third-level college competitions in recent  years.
“I have been playing with a few of them in Mary I during the year but friendships will go out the window for the duration of the game on Sunday.
“Waterford have great hurlers. They have been in Munster finals and have won them, whereas we haven’t. It is up to us to get to that level. We have been unlucky but we have to get over the line soon and, hopefully, it will happen on Sunday,” he concluded.