“We Are A Work In Progress But The Squad Is Building Nicely” – O’Halloran

Derrick Lynch

Clare will be hoping to make the most of home comforts on Sunday when they host Meath in Doonbeg in their National Ladies Football League Division Two encounter.

It has been a difficult opening to the campaign for Clare, with three games against senior Ulster opposition resulting in three defeats. Sunday is Clare’s first time back in Doonbeg since the opening round and their Leinster opponents are a fellow intermediate side.

Clare selector Enda O’Halloran says while results have not gone their way, they have been more focused on tracking progression of performances.

“It has been a really tough start. We have had three hard games with Armagh at home and then two away games in Ulster. We have looked to improve in all three games and we are confident that has happened. We have reviewed what we have done so far and maybe on the scoring front we need to improve a bit more and create a few more chances up front. I would be the first to say that anyone who is involved in Clare Ladies football is looking for positive results and we are the same. We are going out to try and win these games but it is also about getting the girls to improve each day and working on different game plans. We have to consider the big break we have coming up between the league and championship so training is geared toward that also” he noted.

The concession of goals at key stages in games has been a factor for Clare in the campaign to date, with 10 goals conceded in the three games. O’Halloran admits it is something they need to work on, but also feels putting pressure on at the other end of the field will help relieve the defence.

He said: “We are trying to get the girls to defend as a team and when we have possession then it is about getting them to attack as a team but that takes work on the training field. It is a work in progress at the moment and we have gotten to about 70% maybe on the defensive side so we need to concentrate on the attacking element. Some of the goals we have conceded have been soft enough so we need to brush up on that too”.

Clare have plenty recent history to draw on with Meath having met in the latter stages of the championship over the past few years. The Royals hold the whip hand from those encounters, but with home advantage to come, O’Halloran is confident they can get points on the board.

“We have Meath coming up at the weekend, who are also an intermediate team, and then we have Wexford, Cavan and Kerry to round off the campaign. Every day we go out, we just want to improve on different aspects. We want to win games too obviously but the performances are the key things at this time of year. From a defensive point of view, we felt we were quite open at the back on the first day against Armagh. When they went long, we probably weren’t as tight as we should be. We have worked a lot on that over the last few weeks and it takes time. There is a lot of communication and positioning required for that so that is taking time to go through, but we happy with how things are going at the moment. We are looking forward to this challenge because Meath are motoring well at the moment. They have two All-Ireland finals lost in the last few years and when that happens, you have two choices. You can either lie down or bounce back, and they seem to be coming back stronger because of it. They are determined to get it right this year and are probably the form team at the moment. They are coming to Doonbeg and it is going to be tough but our girls are looking forward to it” he concluded.