McMahon for Walsh not a straight swap anyway 
The following email has been received from Michael Gallagher, Treasurer of Clare Co. Board GAA:
"Paddy, A Chara
In response to your letter re. my comments directed at Niall OâConnor at last Monday nights (24/05) Co Board Meeting, I would like to say, on reflection, I can see how my comments were hurtful and embarrassing to Niall and, I wish to offer my apologies directly to Niall for those comments.
I donât intend to try to explain or offer excuses for making those comments, because I donât think that would be helpful either.
As you know, I have enjoyed a long and friendly relationship with your Club, for nearly 20 years, through our joint promotion of an underage football tournament (which is dear to my heart). I donât wish to see anything divert us from maintaining and furthering those friendships.
Regards
Michael"
Ăire Ăg Statement on behalf of Niall OâConnor
Niall Oâ Connor welcomes the apology from Michael Gallagher and accepts it in a spirit of reconciliation and for the greater good of Clare GAA. Niall also wishes to acknowledge that, in hindsight, it would have been appropriate that the Co. Treasurer was involved in any fundraising initiatives.
In view of the above, we now consider this matter closed and we wish to move on in a spirit of harmony, for the betterment of Clare GAA.
Disappointing result in the end for Clare today. But a lot of positives to take from the league campaign so far. At times we havenât played that well but the fight and character in the team can never be questioned and we seem to be more of a scoring threat this year as we are definitely moving the ball better and our forward play is better.
The issue seems to be at midfield and regarding kickouts we struggled at times today and it put us on the back foot. If we can resolve that issue we definitely could put it up to Mayo. In fairness to the men around the middle they played well in particular I thought Darragh Bohannonâs second half performance was his best in a Clare jersey so far.
Aaron Griffin I thought made a massive impact and was instrumental in the two late points first of all winning a free and then kicking a point, so itâs good to see that we are getting a bit more of an impact off the bench.
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Ryanâs puckouts are a massive problem, they give way too much time to the opposition to get under and attack the ball. Thought our midfield and bohannon did excellent considering the supply. The winning score was given way too soft disappointingly.
Thatâs where yer footballers might have an issue alright
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Any sign of your man Meehan coming through? The red lad at underage - he was quality
I thought they might have done more to isolate Bohannon for our kickouts when he was the only one with an obvious advantage, OâKeeffe is usually very good in that regard. It was a game we could have won, but I think they were well aware of the two point cushion needed to guarantee the play-off spot. Is it a balls-out effort vs Mayo now ahead of the championship?
Gone with the senior hurlers
No way. He was unreal - some balance and quality off either foot
Better footballer in my book but the die is cast now
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If heâs as good a hurler fair enough but he was like a young Declan browne. Thought Clare footballers progressing under Collins would be a good pull
Has to be, even the most optimistic if them canât believe we have a real chance in killarney.
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Pull of the hurlers is still huge. Lost Aaron fitz to them this year too , and heâs probably not county standard hurler. But heâs a big loss to footballers.
Iâve never seen him play football so canât compare, but heâs a brilliant hurler.
Came on early v Wexford and scored a point. Was unavailable for the laois game but would have figured otherwise. Likely to make the championship 26 Iâd say
He probably might struggle with the physicality of inter county football even if he was in the football panel, looking at Joe McGann he has the talent and the skill but is probably lacking the strength to take on his opponent and have the strength to break the tackle.
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Was just reading that. The clare boys are on a roll. Iâd say it was meant to embarrass them. And rightly so
Clare v mayo confirmed in Ennis
Tubs getting a bit of the recognition he deserves
Counties must beware of David Tubridy - the floating butterfly lurking on the Clare â45â
![Clareâs David Tubridy is fouled by Daniel
Thereâs an old compilation video on YouTube of the Brazilian Ronaldo doing the same thing over and over again.
Heâd line up one doomed defender after the next, step over the ball one or three times before shifting it to his left, powering past the defender, and heâd drill it to the net before anyone would even have time to react to his change of direction.
After two minutes of being entranced by this - stepover, shift to left, goal - a bit of text appears on screen. It reads: âEveryone knows Ronaldo goes to his leftâŚâ before proceeding to show us three more quickfire examples. Bang, bang, bang. âEveryone knows Ronaldo goes to his left⌠but no-one can stop him.â
If someone were to make an amateur, copyright-infringing YouTube video from the weekend and call it David Tubridy vs Cork 2021 | Skills and Assists | Full HD, the first 30 seconds of the montage music at the start would be overlaid with Tubridy lurking harmlessly around the middle of the field, looking like butter wouldnât melt. Like he wouldnât absolutely kill you as soon as Clare turned the ball over.
And you can tell any defender in the world, âby the way, watch out for Ronaldo taking the ball past youâ, but howâs that going to actually help the poor b*****ds? Everyone knows David Tubridy is a player you canât just leave to his own devices. Everyone knows heâs danger personified. But when heâs standing on his own 45â waiting for a counter-attack, how can you do anything about it?
Because, like all of the deadliest predators operating on grasslands, if you see David Tubridy on the ball, itâs already too late.
In 14 minutes, he had already wounded Cork with a vicious 1-3. Heâd kick another point before anyone else got in on the action and, even then, it was assisted from the boot of David Tubridy.
It wasnât until the 30th minute did Clare register a score that didnât go directly through their timeless number 14 and he did all that from his own half of the pitch. Well, to start with at least.
When Cork were in possession, Colm Collinsâ outfit sat deep. They got numbers back, they clogged the central channel where Corkâs runners can cause so much damage, and they worked hard as a unit off the ball.
Tubridy was part of that and, whilst he might not have been working just as hard to win it back, he was always there at the edge of the area ready to collect when they did get it
Mattie Taylor was half keeping an eye on him but some of the most lethal attackers are at their most dangerous when the other team has the ball. When boys like Mattie Taylor are thinking of ways to impact the play, Tubridy is thinking of ways to counter.
And, sure enough, his first score began with him drifting innocently between the lines from his own 45â into the Cork half. So innocent, in fact, that it was left to big Paul Walsh to mind him but, with CiarĂĄn Russell and Eoin Cleary driving at red jerseys in a different vicinity, attention got diverted.
So the Cork defenders are drawn to the immediate problem, taking their eyes off the biggest problem - David Tubridy in space.
Eoin Cleary is strong to hold possession and he throws it to Tubridy who has just walked into the scoring zone with time and space to shift it onto his laces before anyone can do anything about it
A difficult kick for a layman off his weaker foot. David Tubridy is no layman and David Tubridy has no weaker foot.
And he starts in his own half for Clareâs only goal too, biding his time until he can strike. When thereâs an opening, he doesnât miss.
Whereas his first score was punishing sloppy defending, he won the penalty with hard, direct running and you donât need to be the fastest player to hurt the opposition with off-the-ball running. You just need to be able to read the game and time your run.
As soon as Daniel Walsh kicked long into the Clare full forward line, Tubridy was gone.
Gavin Cooney executes a gorgeous palmed lay-off in the air, something that seems to go wrong for 98 percent of other players, and Tubridy is in behind with Daniel OâMahony having no other choice but to foul him for the penalty.
Clare mightâve had a lot of numbers committed to defending but they never left anyone like Cooney hanging out to dry. The support runners always arrived and, usually, it was Tubridy timing it best.
His second point from play was another victory for off-the-ball running but also pure work rate too. He starts the move on the left wing on his own 45â, picking up a Cork attacker until Eoin Cleary (11) nips in to turn the ball over at midfield.
Cleary turns on the afterburners and disappears up the field.
When Cleary eventually runs out of road and has to turn back - bang. David Tubridy is right there with him, right at the right moment yet again.
By this stage, youâre thinking something has to be done, right? Somebody needs to get a hand on that man.
Itâs criminal to leave him off like theyâre doing. And then he starts even deeper for the next move - a move which, once again, starts with Cork players on the ball. How do you stop that? Detail someone to mark Tubridy 35 metres from the Clare goal whilst Cork are attacking inside the Clare 45â?
A drilled high ball is attempted to the back post but Clare have an extra body back there and, as soon as they pick up the break, Tubridy is lurking in space at the edge of the area.
Now, then, someone will have to get over to him. No. Itâs too late.
Itâs one solo and itâs one defence-splitting pass onto a runner and Cooney is striking over a beautiful score of his own.
Tubridy only needs seconds to make an impact. Defences need longer to deal with it
After the game, he spoke with reporters about his form.
âThe boys are giving me a bit of freedom out around the middle,â he said. âI donât have the pace off the mark inside in the full forward line.â
And he doesnât need that pace to be the main threat, he just needs the ball in his hands and he can go anywhere on the pitch to get it.
His next assist starts with Tubridy actually taking the ball off the 'keeper before popping it to a team mate and coming through the lines to receive again in a better position.
He gets it, Cork have men closer this time. They have a wall set up to stop any more advances. Tubridy just kicks over the wall, past the sweeper, with the outside of his boot onto the run of Joe McGann. And Tubridy takes the resulting free himself on his way to 1-8.
âI love getting on the ball and passing the ball and just getting on the end of scores. Itâs great.â
He sounds like a wide-eyed teenager still, utterly besotted with the game of football. He makes it sound so simple and he makes it look even simpler. All these years later, David Tubridy is still terrorising top-level defences and heâs doing it now in the sort of positions, with the sort of time limits that are making him unmarkable.
All these years later, five to be exact, Clare are still plying their trade in Division Two and, now, theyâre one big match from the top tier.
Paul Galvin once said on The GAA Hour that he always felt it was important to beat Clare. In Kerry, he said, they always wanted to make sure they defeated them, to keep them down. He spoke of their confidence as a county and their potential and obviously he thought of them in the middle of a five-time All-Ireland-winning career. If they werenât kept down, they could become a serious force some day.
It feels like no-one is keeping them down now. It feels like one day - if not today - they could realise Galvinâs fears.
And maybe one day, someone might even figure out a way to stop David Tubridy. Your time would be better spent trying to stop Ronaldo though.
Lovely footballer for years. Chatted with his father a few times years ago. A decent footballer in his days too by all accounts