“There Were Some Positives To Take From Limerick Loss” – Ralph

Derrick Lynch

Clare’s 2020 hurling championship season moves into the last chance saloon this weekend as they travel to Nowlan Park Kilkenny on Saturday afternoon to take on Laois in the opening round of the All Ireland qualifiers.

Both sides suffered disappointing defeats in the opening provincial ties, with Laois going down by 2-31 to 0-23 against Dublin, while Clare were beaten 0-36 to 1-13 by Limerick.

Clare were trailing Limerick by just a point after Ryan Taylor’s goal midway through the third quarter, but a storming finish from the Treatymen saw them advance. They since followed up that form with a stunning dismantling of All-Ireland champions Tipperary, and Clare selector Ken Ralph feels their performance on that day should be viewed in the context of the level that Limerick are currently operating at.

“There were plenty positives for us to take from the Limerick game. There are of course things we were not happy about and we have been working on them, but the good thing about it is that we all know what it is we have to work on, and that includes the players. We had a chat about it and we have been quietly working away on those things. You have to bear in mind that Limerick really are the yardstick and it was a tough game to start off with. This Limerick team is a serious juggernaut. Everyone has theories on how to beat them but it is better they are getting. I know they were beaten by Kilkenny last year but that really hurt them and they have gotten better since then. They are a serious outfit. You are always going to make mistakes and they will be amplified when you are facing teams like Limerick. We were trying to work on a few things and we didn’t get a whole lot of time to hone in on them so ultimately we came up short the last day” he noted.

Ralph also outlined that with such a short run in to championship this year, it meant that there was no real indicator of where the team were at until that Limerick showdown. He feels that there are plenty positives to take from the game which they will have worked on ahead of this weekend’s do or die clash.

“We were going into the unknown a bit, and I know it was the same for most teams but the lockdown caught us out a bit. It is no surprise to anyone that we didn’t really know what our best team was at that stage. We would have been hoping to finish off the league and see how we could have progressed in the latter stages before we got the run at championship but we obviously didn’t get that so it was a bit rushed for a finish. The fallout in the camp has not been too bad in that we were obviously disappointed, we know what we need to work on but there were positive elements too” he said.

It will be the second meeting of these two sides in 2020, having already clashed in the group stages of the National League. On a day when the four seasons swept across Ennis, Clare eventually pulled away in the final quarter to come out on top by 0-17 to 0-9. Ralph admits everyone knows what is on the line this time around.

“The weather was bad this weekend but I can still feel the cold from that game in Cusack Park. We beat them but to be honest at half-time we were worried that day. We were not really firing on all cylinders but we turned it around a bit in the second half. They are a tough team so whatever Laois team turns up on the day are going to be a tough proposition for us. We have been talking a bit about the shape of the team and at this time of the year you nearly have to go with horses for courses. If you lose now you are gone so that brings a whole new mindset to it. Everyone has to be on their toes, everyone has to arrive ready to go and anyone who is called on has to be ready to take that chance too. It is serious stuff from here and we have to treat it like that” he warned.

The Clarecastle clubman is involved for the first time at county level in management having served as part of Brian Lohan’s backroom team during his time in UL. He says dealing with such a unique year has provided plenty challenges but is hopeful there will be a positive conclusion.

“I have enjoyed it so far but obviously it has been all over the place with Covid-19. It has been stop start and it has been uncertain at times as to whether we were going to have a championship or not. It has been uncertain for us but I can only imagine how it has been for players because they would be so used to their routine and they put their lives on pause for their hurling careers. This has thrown up something totally different and even now, things are changing from week to week so it has been difficult and dragged out and there is no point in saying otherwise. We are in it now, it has started and hopefully it will finish. We will be hoping to get some bit of a run going and who knows what will happen after that” he said.