Tactical triumph

 

Clare 1-23   Galway 2-14

A sharper and fitter Clare side comfortably won the tactical battle and booked an All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Limerick on August 18 when they accounted for Galway at Semple Stadium in Thurles on Sunday.

From an early stage Clare looked the better team and Galway were never able to cope with the positioning of Clare captain Pat Donnellan in the role of sweeper, playing in front of the full-back line. The O’Callaghan’s Mills man revelled in the role and his distribution to his attack led to many of his team’s scores.

There were a couple of moments in the second half when Galway closed the gap with goals but, on both occasions, Clare’s response was magnificent. There is some concern in the Banner side’s camp over the manner in which they conceded both Galway goals.

There had been much speculation all week as to the likely Clare line-up for this one and few followers got it right.

Conor Ryan, outstanding in last season’s U-21 All-Ireland success, was a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up but he was one of the key players on the day. He was at wing-forward for the throw-in but immediately went to centre-back, releasing Pat Donnellan for his sweeper role. Darach Honan, who missed the Wexford game, was at full-forward in in place of Shane O’Donnell.

Galway took the lead inside the opening minute when Damian Hayes pointed. They doubled their advantage when Joe Canning converted a free in the second minute. Another minute went by before Colin Ryan landed a free for Clare’s first score.

Points were swapped three times in the next five minutes before a John Conlon effort in the 10th minute tied up the scores at 0-5 each. They were level at 0-6 each after 15 minutes, Paudge Collins having got his first following an excellent cross-field pass from Darach Honan.

Collins, outstanding throughout, put Clare in front in the 21st minute and he doubled Clare’s advantage within a minute before Clare struck a major blow with the game’s first goal. Conor McGrath won possession from a Tony Kelly delivery and he quickly rounded his marker and fired past Colm Callinan in the Galway goal.
The goal helped Clare to a 0-7 lead at the break when the score was 1-12 to 0-8.

One of the big talking points at the break was Galway’s failure to change their tactic of pumping in high-ball to Canning, given that Clare captain Donnellan was cleaning up.

Clearly realising that they needed a huge improvement, Galway made three changes in personnel and a number of positional switches for the second half.

Iarla Tannian, Joseph Cooney and Davy Glennon were on in place of Andy Smith, Johnnie Coen and Conor Cooney. Before the third quarter was concluded they had made a further change with the introduction of Cyril Donnellan, who replaced Niall Burke. Jason Grealish was handed the role of sweeper for the second half and it must be said that Galway’s performance improved but Clare continued to hole the upperhand in the vital areas.

Each side had added a point before Jonathan Glynn gave Galway followers a huge boost with their opening goal. Glynn got inside his marker Cian Dillon, who slipped and the Galway man went on to find the net from an acute angle. Five minutes later, the margin was down to three, 1-14 to 1-11.

Crucially for the Tribesmen, they missed a few great scoring chances around this time, with Canning failing to find the target from three placed balls.

Clare’s response was emphatic, four points without reply in as many minutes from Colin Ryan (0-2f) Brendan Bugler and Tony Kelly to go seven clear with 15 minutes to go.

Ten minutes from time Galway made their fifth substitution when they sent in Niall Healy in place of Aidan Harte and, within a minute of his arrival on the pitch, Healy blasted to the net after a mis-directed Domhnaill O’Donovan handpass created the opening.

A Joseph Cooney point followed and Clare’s lead was down to two points (1-18 to 2-13) with eight minutes remaining.

Clare’s response was impressive with three unanswered points from Paudge Collins and substitutes Fergal Lynch and Nicky O’Connell putting them five clear with just a minute of normal time remaining.

Clare dominated most areas and won the tactical battle hands down. The half-back trio of Brendan Bugler, Conor Ryan and Patrick O’Connor ruled throughout, while Donnellan excelled in his role of sweeper.

Others to stand out were Cian Dillon, Colin Ryan, Colin Ryan, Conor McGrath and, especially, Paudge Collins who excelled.

Aidan Harte started well but faded. His fellow Gort clubmate, Jason Grealish, had his moments when he played the sweeper role early in the second half. Shane Kavanagh and Damian Hayes tried hard throughout.

Clare: Patrick Kelly; Domhnaill O’Donovan, Cian Dillon, David McInerney; Brendan Buglar, Pat Donnellan (capt), Patrick O’Connor; Colm Galvin, Colin Ryan; John Conlon, Tony Kelly, Conor Ryan; Conor McGrath, Darach Honan, Paudge Collins.
Subs: Fergal Lynch for Conlon (54 minutes); Nicky O’Connell for Kelly (63 minutes); Shane O’Donnell for Honan (64 minutes) Cathal McInerney for McGrath (67 minutes); Seadna Morey for Galvin (71 minutes).
Scorers: Colin Ryan (0-10, 8f); Conor McGrath (1-2); Paudge Collins (0-4); Brendan Bugler, Patrick O’Connor, John Conlon, Tony Kelly, Darach Honan, Fergal Lynch, Nicky O’Connell (0-1 each).
Frees for: 15   wides: 10.
Bookings: Patrick O’Connor (56 minutes);
Galway: Colm Callinan; Kevin Hynes, Fergal Moore, Jason Grealish; Shane Kavanagh, Johnny Coen, David Collins; Aidan Harte, Andrew Smith; David Burke, Jonathan Glynn, Conor Cooney; Damian Hayes, Joe Canning, Niall Burke.
Subs: Iarla Tannian for Smith (half-time); Joseph Cooney for Coen (half-time); Davy Gleeeon for C Cooney (half-time); Cyril Donnellan for N Burke (47 minutes); Niall Healy for Harte (60 minutes).
Scorers: Joe Canning (0-7, 5f, 1 ’65); Damian Hayes (0-3); Jonathan Glynn, Niall Healy (1-0 each); Aidan Harte, David Burke, Joseph Cooney, Cyril Donnellan (0-1 each).
Frees for: 14   wides: 9   65s: 2.
Bookings: Kevin Hynes (24 minutes).
Referee: Brian Gavin, Offaly.