Short game leads Clare on fast track to nowhere

UNLESS Clare turn their season around in the qualifiers and defeat a top-tier county, 2013 will go down as the year in which the progress of this group of players, under the current management, irrevocably stalled.
At a minimum, they will have to reach the All-Ireland quarter-final and at the very least perform in it or it will be time to look to Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor or possibly an outside manager in the shape of Liam Sheedy.
It cost thousands of Clare supporters €25 to get into the Gaelic Grounds last Sunday. Any more of this calibre of performance from their county and the clamour for change will be impossible for even the county board to ignore. Davy Fitzgerald won’t go easily as manager but for the good of Clare hurling he will have to, unless management change their tactical tune and up their game for the qualifier series.
With respect to early season physical preparation, this management team did an excellent job but tactically they imploded between 4.45pm and 5.20pm in Limerick last Sunday. Ironically, Clare’s insistence on playing it short was ideally suited to the storm into which they had to hurl after half-time. Hitting a clearance from the full or even half-back line would have resulted in it reaching the Clare half-forward line at best. So working possession outfield seemed like a sensible option. The only, rather basic problem, is that the short game simply does not suit this group of players. It goes against their natural instinct to trust themselves and hurl with a degree of abandon. They regularly run into traffic and get turned over when trying to off-load possession.
When the current management team was put in place last year, they clearly felt this tactic would get the best from their panel. That’s the primary task of a management team. Yet most of these players were among the most talented, free-spirited hurlers in the country at minor and U-21 level. Their game was based upon speed of movement, thought, self belief and the knowledge that their underage management teams allowed them to, within reason, play the game that they were reared with.
Unquestionably there is a mammoth difference between the physicality levels at U-21 and senior level. With this in mind, Davy Fitzgerald and his management decided that keeping it short, out of defence, was the way forward. Management were at least trying to come up with a system they felt was compatible with their players. However, they should have realised before last Sunday that their players are patently uncomfortable having this system foisted upon them.
Domhnall O’Donovan and Seadna Morey were among the Clare players who spilled possession in such circumstances, leading to Cork scores, in the second half. Cork regularly used the hand pass to play their way out of trouble in the first half but seemed to know when to mix the direct with the possession game. Their half-forwards also showed their ball-winning capability when ball landed on them in that opening half.
Playing it short wasn’t Clare’s only issue, of course. If a defender glanced downfield, he regularly spotted Darach Honan on his own in the full-forward line for most of the second half. On the off chance that Clare worked the ball in his direction, it was difficult to envisage where the support runners were going to come from if he managed to hold off Stephen McDonnell. Honan had the run on his man, particularly in the first half, when Pat Kelly’s puck-outs reached the full forward line, such was the wind’s force in the Gaelic Grounds. Management can, with some justification, point to the three first-half goal chances, none of which Podge Collins, Tony Kelly from a free or Conor McGrath finished. Even though Clare were comprehensively outhurled during the second 35 minutes, Honan had a goal effort saved by Anthony Nash, while McGrath hit the side netting, when a goal looked on.
All talk of the failings of the short game would have been negated had a couple of those chances nestled in the patch of grass behind Nash. While Colm Galvin, when attacking from midfield and Podge Collins, who clipped over five points from play, both excelled and Honan, Cian Dillon and Domhnall O’Donovan were generally solid and looking confident, elsewhere Clare lacked leadership.
Undoubtedly, the loss of John Conlon was a mammoth setback. The Clonara man would have been the perfect target for second-half puck outs, while his point-scoring ability was badly needed. His loss, after a William Egan tackle, left Clare having to hurl without their attacking leader.
Yet several others, whom Clare needed to step up, looked listless and simply didn’t deliver. The game bypassed Tony Kelly, who was man-marked by Brian Murphy, while Colin Ryan and Nicky O’Connell were not the influences Clare expected. The Clare half-back line had trouble containing Seamus Harnedy, with Patrick Horgan a constant threat at full-forward.
None of the Clare substitutes made a significant impact. Nobody could question their effort or desire but Aaron Cunningham, Fergal Lynch or Seadna Morey just couldn’t play their way into the game.
Why Cathal McInerney is being ignored is not easy to fathom. He is a proven goal scorer, who might give the impression of being a bit relaxed onfield, until he gets within sight of goal. Clare needed a poacher against Cork but management left him on the sideline.  Last spring, Clare beat Limerick twice in the Division 1 B league. Last summer, Limerick did the business when it really counted. They knocked Clare out of the championship in Semple Stadium. Early season fitness helped Clare to beat Cork all of three times this spring. Come mid-summer Cork left Limerick with a Munster final in the bag and Clare’s provincial season in tatters. Spot the trend?
Management clearly are not learning year on year.
Cork didn’t have to play fantastically well to beat Clare. What would they have done had Pa Cronin, Lorcan McLoughlin or Paudie O’Sullivan not been out injured? The most disappointing aspect was Clare’s lack of fight when the game was going against them. People might carp about Clare’s tactical approach but that should not mask the fact that the players did not give their last drop. They didn’t fight on their backs, even if management’s tactical approach is not helping. Afterwards, Davy Fitzgerald made it clear that he still believes in his players. If he does, he should let them play their natural game and see where it takes Clare. Otherwise, their belief in him will dissipate over the championship horizon.