Mind games
Sorry thought you were referring to SOD from Clare. Misread your post
Realistically, I donât think SOB or DOD2 were ever going to jump all the way to starters this year, considering they werenât even on the matchday panel last year. Both talented but both still have to work on flaws in their game; Adam is that bit closer having got Championship gametime last year and seeming to have kicked on another bit in last yearâs club championship and the league.
I did think SOB might make the bench alright, I would say we have more back cover than usual on the bench.
I think it will be
WOD - Reidy
Hego -CON- Tom
Gillane - Flanagan - Mulcahy
Hopefully Cian is back for Tipp.
Shut up you steamer
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Stop being a muppet
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The measure of these guys that they will play through the pain 
Good win today but you have to commend Clare on 3 in a row champions of the âwe put it up to Limerickâ trophy.
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It definitely felt like Championship was back today. A sun-drenched Ennis, stadium packed to the rafters, plenty of colour around the town and an interesting contest.
I donât think the atmosphere was as feral as it was 2 years ago but it was still good. Was the game itself a classic? Probably not as high quality as the Munster finals between these two sides but it was still a good contest, to-and-fro and certainly exciting.
I thought we started well; we were well on top in the first 15 minutes but that didnât reflect on the scoreboard. Even for the rest of the half, Iâd say we created more chances over the courses of the 35 minutes than Clare but our shooting was woeful. Flanagan, Hegarty, Morrissey, Reidy all missed chances that I would expect them to score 9 times out of 10 and Byrnes missed both his frees- they werenât handy ones but they are ones that he does get a lot of the time.
And we gave away some silly frees. I did think some of them were very soft, ones that we were not getting in the first half but did get in the second half. But in general were letting Clare have some handy shots at goal without them actually having to work very hard to create chances. And thatâs an absolute killer. Shane OâDonnell was a big threat for them and their quick puckout to McInerney in particular was causing us awful bother. When we were set on their puckout, we generally did okay but that quick one, as it always has against Clare, killed us. And the goal came from that. Reidy hit a bad wide, Quilligan gets it back in play to McInerney, down the line into space for OâDonnell who has got huge separation from Dan and he cleverly plays it to McCarthy, who finishes well.
We had two goal chances early on: I thought Cleary was very lucky to get away without a yellow for what was a very cynical foul on Gillane with the first attack. The second one, Gillane bearing down on goal with Flanagan inside him; shoots early & tamely and Cleary gets the block in. Gillane just needs to execute that better, he could have drawn Cleary and popped the pass or carried it further and just buried it. He did neither and was a wasted opportunity. Clare did have goal chances of their own, Quaid made a good save from Rodgers (although I think Kyle may have done enough to get a slight hook in) and a brilliant save from Reidy, and Lynch got a great tackle in on the recycled chance.
I wasnât overly worried at half-time, I thought we were well in contention but obviously there were a few issues: needed to cut out the frees, needed to make sure of our own shooting, needed to do something about the breaks on our long puckouts and to do something to stop their quick puckout. The long puckouts were a concern and probably where we missed the Casey/Mulcahy role most, Clare outnumbered us on the breaks. And we didnât really go short at all in the first half, I think it was on a little more than we tried tbh. Reidy got on a load of ball in the first 20 minutes, thought he was our best player in the first half, and was causing problems but Clare switched Hogan & Hayes and that seemed to benefit both their backs. Hogan did well on Flanagan and Hayes did better on Reidy.
I would have taken Flanagan off at half-time and brought on English. There was loads of space in front of our full-forward line and the ball going in was alright, and I just didnât think Sham was making the most of it. Thought it English would have made hay, especially with Hogan on a yellow card. And then Flanagan got a yellow card himself with the first ball that went in in the second half.
I thought we started the second half okay too but we just werenât putting anything on the scoreboard. CON hit a bad wide, we were starting to hit bad ball inside, and we couldnât get into our rhythm. WOD was anonymous, the likes of Nash, Hannon, Lynch, our playmakers, werenât getting on enough ball. Tom looked leggy. It looked like we missed the player playing between the lines like Casey or Mul. We were still defending well, I thought, Clare werenât exactly creating loads of chances but we hit a definite lull and, slowly but surely, they were starting to pull clear.
We did wake up though. Weirdly, it happened around the time they brought Kelly on; we brought on Boylan & Donnacha. The first goal was definitely important but the shift had actually happened before then. We created two sniffs of goal opportunities, one of which definitely should have been taken. CON found DOD and he just didnât collect, and he only came away with the point. Boylan & Kyle linked up a couple of times and they won a free each. And we were starting to eat the Clare long puckout, which hadnât been happening. We were reading the breaks better: we werenât trying to compete with Duggan, just get it to ground. Finn cleaned up a few at the back of the break, Lynch was dominant at the front and, suddenly, we were starting to motor.
Finn had a huge last 15, Dan was strong, Nash was finally getting on ball and bursting forward, Hannon was slick, Kyle was driving at Clare, Lynch was sensational in the last 15 too. And Adam English, what an impact he made. I still maintain he would have caused havoc inside and he should have been on much earlier but he was unbelievable around the middle. Just so sharp getting the ball into his hand and driving forward. He delivered some lovely balls inside. And when that threat was there, Clare probably tired a little too. They had outworked us in the first 20 minutes of the second half in scorching heat and that probably took its toll. The momentum shifted and itâs hard to get it to shift again.
Gillane actually finished the first goal brilliantly, I thought initially it had travelled all the way in. English was introduced just after that but, from there, it didnât look like we would lose. The second goal was definitely fortunate. ĂâDĂĄlaighâs touch definitely is still off the highest level but hopefully that will give him confidence. He missed the initial pickup, underhit the pass to Hegarty, who returned it fantastically, missed his pickup again before eventually getting it but there was no power in the shot. For me, Quilligan has to save that, it trickled through his legs. At least it was low, ĂâDĂĄlaigh did what he had to do but Quaid saves that every day of the week. DOD just looked a little nervous for his first game but still came away with 1-1 and youâd hope heâll be flying next day out. Boylan got through a mountain of work aswell. Hegarty did well to find the space for the third and the ruthlessness to put the head down and go for it, Gillane sharp to finish.
Once Clare knew they had to get a goal and were launching high balls on top of the likes of Dan & Nash, you would be confident enough. Their subs didnât really make an impact, Kelly got a point but not many possessions. None of them made as much of an impact as any of ours. Clare did do a lot of things right and Limerick rode their luck at points but when Limerick started to win those second balls coming out of defence, they didnât really have an answer and seemed to resort to lumping the ball rather than that ball into space which had served them well earlier.
Could take a toll emotionally and mentally on Clare but I still think they are a better team than Cork and Kelly probably should be starting next week?
For ourselves, I would start English for Flanagan next week myself. I donât think Kiely will though. I would also be more comfortable with our previous setup of a third inside forward and play Casey. A lot of our players grew into the game, a few of them need much bigger performances the next day. Hegarty was probably the best over the course of the 70 alright. But a lot of improving to do if we want to go all the way.
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Great post as always.
Echo thoughts on Adam English - he was excellent.
Boylan did well too. Donât think Iâve ever seen Tom as quiet.
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Boylan brings a great balance at wing forward. Team has plenty of shooters.
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Tom was poor v Clare x 2 last year also.
Morrissey legs look gone. Boylan deserves a start.
Fuckin hell, lads here are very quick to write off one of our greats in Tom Morrissey.
Diarmuid Ryan was nullified as an attacking threat from his RHB position, so maybe that had a part to play in Tomâs poor game. This time last year Hegarty was being written off in a similar fashion.
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Definitely donât think you can make a call on whether this legs are gone based on one game. He looked leggy alright but that has happened before.
The only ones who can make that call are the ones who are seeing his numbers in training but I feel like he had a decent league and he had a phenomenal 2023.
And even if Tom did drop out, thereâs no way itâd be Boylan in. Itâd be Casey starting and CON or Reidy at HF. Reidy, most likely.
I agree with your thoughts on English over Seamie above, though Adam seems to be reveling in the role around the middle. Could he fall into the category of being too flexible and not tie down one position on the team. Hope Kiely doesnât get too bogged down in loyalty to certain players and plays guys in form.
I donât think it has necessarily hurt Kyle or Reidy but itâs probably harder for a non-starter alright.
I think he can do both but inside forward is probably the hardest role at senior intercounty level and I think he can do it. And he has a hunger for goals which you canât buy.
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The timing fell lovely for English when he came on yesterday. The play had gone very loose, Lynch was starting to snaffle up the breaks in a way he hadnât been and Clare were headless. Iâve seen very little of the game back but he was superb and did so much right. I thought OâDailaigh had the right idea too in that he ran the Clare inside men. Gillane and Flanagan made it too easy for the backs by staying in around the goals and being pre-occupied with wrestling, DOD II kept them a lot busier by moving them about, especially when they were on cards.
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Yeah, Gillane is class and I do think Cleary is a good spoiler, he loves pulling & dragging. But Gillane gets way too drawn into that, trying to make it a wrestling match but heâd be much better off trying to create separation. And then at least if the ball is played in, itâll be obvious that he is being dragged back (particularly after the yellow card). Gillane gets too bogged down in it.
Even when AOC came on, he was picked up by Cleary and beat him easily to a ball in the corner. He put it wide but easily won the race to the ball.
Tbf to Gillane, his movement is normally excellent, I just think he gets drawn into that type of battle too easily.
Now, he still finished with 2 goals from play.
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Flanaganâs touch and decision making just not good enough⌠His runs have dried up. He was the perfect foil for Gillane making space but if weâre not at that thereâs better options.
Darragh O Donovan was the big winner yesterday. A vital cog.