‘We still have a lot to work on’

THERE was pressure on Clare to deliver on Saturday evening against Dublin but it was put on by themselves. “We wanted the pressure, we wanted a good game. We said after the Waterford game that this was a tough draw but we had to find out what we are about,” manager Davy Fitzgerald said after Saturday’s victory.
Clearly delighted with the result, the manager said, “We are not the finished article. We still have things to work on”.
Fitzgerald acknowledged, “You have to be patient with this team. They are trying to use their heads out there and do the right things. They have the spirit. We still have a lot to work on but we know there is character there. Wasn’t it fantastic to see that spirit out there? We didn’t fall away and I knew they wouldn’t. I knew they would keep fighting to the very end.
“The crowd was getting frustrated in the first half. I knew that but we said at half-time, they are there to support and if they are not happy, they will let us know. The short passes we did in the second half won us the game because Dublin tried to retreat back and pull back into their full-back line. We brought them out by getting the ball to Sean Collins and John Conlon and you see the scores we got from that. We definitely got a number of points from that,” the Sixmilebridge man said.
“Will it work every time? It definitely won’t but they had an extra man back so we had to be careful how we used the ball in the second half. It showed we are capable of doing certain things. Give them a chance,” he pleaded.
“A lot of those guys have got a lot of stick. It’s unjust. They are good lads. You saw when it really got rough and tough, boys stood up and fair play to them. I knew they would come good. I am emphasising that it is still a learning process and we are not the finished article and I am very concerned about the time between this and the next game. You have a team that has an extra week. We are on a high at the moment and we have to come back down after a game like that. We are going to get no training in this week,” he said.
“It’s a big ask to play again in six days. There were some amount of tackles out there. Dublin put in some tackles, they are a fair team. We put in the tackles too. They worked hard and we worked hard. We just came out on top at the end. I’ve said all the time, this is a good bunch, they just need a bit of time. It’s just a pity we are out again next week but we are delighted to have the opportunity.”
Asked about the decision to go for goal from a 20m free he replied, “We had decided if we got a free in front of goal, we were going for it. We were going for the jugular here today and that was it. It didn’t enter my mind for a second not to. It was a fair thing for a young fella in his first match to stand up and hit it and by God did he hit it.”
He added, “Seadna Morey and Colm Galvin are other young fellas in this set-up”.
He didn’t comment on the sending off of Nicky O’Connell but said, “We missed a great opportunity just before that. Our use of the ball out there was very good against a team like Dublin that would pressurise you. This team was going to keep fighting to the end, no matter what the story was. We had worked on the scenario that if we were down one what we would do and we went straight into that. Everyone knew what the story was. It worked tonight. It mightn’t work another night. We had a plan. We just tweaked one or two things and there was no panic. We knew what had to be done and that was it.”
According to Fitzgerald, “We have had a great year so far. There were people getting on our backs after the Waterford game and I think it’s a small bit unfair. I don’t know if we will win or lose the next day but we have had an unreal year so far. We gave everything and I am so proud to be part of it and we want to see more of that. We are still in the championship and we will see if we can go further. They are level headed. They won’t be going out tonight. They know the story,” he concluded.

l For more, see page 23.