“Quarter Final Should Be Clare’s Minimum Target Every Year”

Derrick Lynch

Conor Dolan is no stranger to big camogie occasions, having tasted the biggest day of all during his time involved with Galway.

The Meelick man is now very firmly in the Clare camp as coach, and has played a key role in helping the Banner back into the knockout stages for the first time since 2014.

With so much uncertainty having surrounded the 2020 campaign due to the outbreak of Covid-19, it meant teams were left in limbo for large parts of the year before the decision was taken to commence the championship.

Dolan outlined that while he was initially wary about the dangers involved, everyone has been making a huge effort to ensure that everything passes off as safely as possible.

“It is great to be back playing. I was as cagey as anyone else about going back without a vaccine but everyone is really towing the line and making sure that they are looking after themselves. It is just a joy to be able to go out playing these games. The girls are extremely intelligent and they look after themselves not just from a camogie point of view but also for themselves in a professional sense. They know what it takes and they know they need to be on the ball” he said.

Clare reached the quarter-finals thanks to an impressive victory over Dublin in the group stages. Ger O’Connell’s charges were part of a three team group along with the Dubs and Tipperary, and lost out to the Premier in the opening round. Dolan admits that while the defeat that day was disappointing, there was always a plan to bounce back as the panel depth grew. He also feels that no one should be resting on their laurels at the achievement of reaching this stage, with the quarter-finals being something Clare should be aiming for as a baseline every year.

“For a county like Clare, reaching a quarter-final should be a minimum requirement every year. This is nothing against previous management but it is more a psychological thing for the players to get that monkey off their backs and push on. This stage of the competition is the minimum that should be expected from any Clare team and after that, you are looking forward to try and better yourself the whole time. It is great to be there and this is where you want to be. Clare will be in the big stadium on live TV and we said to the girls during the week that the only downside to it is that their families won’t be there to see them. They are in the big time now and this is what it is all about. We are fully focused now on just getting to an All-Ireland semi-final” he said.

Standing between Clare and the last four are a Cork side bidding for a third title in the last four seasons. Dolan stated that while the Rebels are going to provide a huge test, there is no reason why Clare should not be aiming to pass it with flying colours.

“Cork were the favourites at the start of the championship to win it out and they are a very good team. They are always going to be up there and we have a serious battle on our hands. At the end of the day, it is 15 v 15 and the question I have is what makes Cork any better than Clare? There is no difference and I know deep down that they will not be fearing us, but we will not fear them either. We will have our homework done on them and hopefully the girls play to their potential. We will respect them but not too much all the same. If we go out and stick to what we have been doing, stick to our gameplan, we will be in the mix-up. We have a very young panel with most of them between 19 and 22 years old. They have 10-12 years left at that level and this is the start of their career going forward. This is the stage that they should be expecting to play on every year, and once they get a feel for it on Saturday afternoon hopefully they can kick on and we will have another day out in 2020 for a semi-final” he concluded.