Thatâs a bit of an unbalanced view of life.
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That was senior hurling today, not schoolboys.
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To be fair Hogan was put over to mind Gillane who had just got Cleary a yellow.
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Hogan should spend more time marking his man instead of talking shit and flapping his hands around.
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Hogan previously cleaned SOB when both players were talisman for their schools. Today they were both corner men and SOB was getting excellent service.
A Harty cup final is up there with any match in terms of importance.
Itâs 1-1 and theyâll continue to trade blows over the next decade.
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A Harty Cup final is the same as a Munster SHC final.
It is by God.
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You might get to play in 10 Munster Senior Finals but youâll likely only get one shot at a Harty Cup Final.
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https://x.com/tclansee/status/1799876179861909561?t=QXF6tH0Z2v7pbjJBS-JImg&s=19
Clare stuck in the doldrums.
Oh my.
You simply canât equate a schoolboy game played in the winter to a Munster Senior final.
To do so simply isnât logical.
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You just donât get it.
I absolutely donât.
Look, thatâs fine tooâŚ
The Bull OâBrien is the real deal. His ability to win his own ball is fantastic.
Six Munster championships in a row. Dreamland stuff. What a team.
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As for ourselves⌠6-in-a-row, itâs some achievement. A truly special team, no doubt about that.
There was a really good atmosphere at the game but the contest definitely wasnât what it was in the past two years and, to be honest, Iâm putting that down to Clare this time. They just werenât as good as they have been in previous years. They kept plugging away and never allowed us pull completely clear but they never ever looked like winning.
Nevertheless, I was really impressed with our performance. Definitely our best performance of the year so far which is all you can ask for really. The wind was a huge factor in the game, and we did really well playing against it. Even our striking from distance into the wind, the points from Byrnes, Hannon, Kyle were really good but we did really well to work the ball. This is something that I thought Clare got wrong though, they did not press high enough when they had the wind.
Iâve said it here already tonight but our movement on puckouts was so much better today than it has been. It was a pleasure to watch; dancing left & right, going towards Nickie, drifting into behind; it was constant and that is a nightmare to defend. Nickie was excellent today aswell, generally taking the right option every single time. Heâll be disappointed with the goal. He made a crucial stop, those balls bouncing like that with no touch are a fucking nightmare for keepers, he did very well to get the stop but will be disappointed that he just scooped it to Duggan. He probably didnât have much options, I said he should have put it out for a '65 but itâs hard to think like that in the moment. Duggan read it well and buried the chance to be fair to him but it was preventable.
I thought SOB could have done better with his first-half goal chance, he seemed to slow down as he was thinking about the strike and that got him hooked. But he grew into the game though, his first touch to retain possession under pressure. Thatâs what separates the best players from the rest and he has that.
Hegarty had a big first half; caught one puckout brilliantly, popped it straight to Hannon who came off the shoulder and put it over the bar. Sublime. Reidy was very good on the breaking ball in the first half too; these are little things that keep you in the game when under pressure. And Hannon had a hand in a lot of good stuff; again, Clare never really got in his face and I suppose thatâs the point weâre talking about Kelly. Is the trade-off worth it? Hannonâs pass to Kyle for Kyleâs score is one of those thatâs probably not ever going to be appreciated really but itâs not as easy as it looked. Kyle goes past Fitzgerald like heâs not there and throws it over.
I was a little worried about Mike Casey picking up a yellow card early on and SOD had beaten him to a couple of balls but Iâd say SOD didnât get a decent ball after that. Dan beat him to a couple of 50/50s but he didnât get service or support. Dan was a rock again. Nash very good apart from passing the ball straight into TKâs hand for a goal chance. Casey himself had a fairly easy time of it afterwards too, one great catch in the second half.
We should have gone in ahead at half-time but we were playing by far the better hurling and youâd always back us in the second half especially with that wind that was there. And we used that very cleverly, we ate Clare on their puckouts. Even when they won it, we were able to apply serious pressure. Quilligan will take some heat and I would question his decision-making at times but he wasnât been given many options either. Perfect scenario for Limerick really, you probably have to be brave and work from deep in that scenario but Limerick are so good in the tackle that they will punish you with turnovers too.
And if you donât have enough primary possession, you wonât beat Limerick. Cork managed it in PĂĄirc UĂ Chaoimh, Clare have managed it in the past especially with quick puckouts and running from deep. Limerick were so accurate today that there werenât many wides that could be restarted quickly. Itâs a little point but it is important, the reward for accuracy is not only that you get a score but you can also set up to put pressure on the opposition the next time aswell. And doubly-so when there is a wind.
Some people are saying Gillane is off-form but I thought he was much better today; he did an unselfish, almost Flanagan-esque role for the team. He just kept moving, he didnât get overly involved with Cleary and he won his frees and actually opened up space for SOB. He got one unbelievable score himself but actually sacrificed a bit of his game for the good of the team and you canât fault that. Cleary canât be as obvious as that.
Byrnesâ best performance of the year too. He was improved the last day and he was another bit better today. Still had a few wides from frees but the wind was hard to judge, youâll forgive that. Two big points from play and just way better attacking the ball. Hannon was immaculate alongside him, especially in the first half against the wind and Kyle is just a phenomenon. Heâs so sharp on the ball, he rarely makes a mistake, 0-2 from play and his diagonal deliveries are so good. His delivery led to the goal (but Gillane did a good job to let the ball run through) and well-finished by Hego.
Lynch was probably our quietest player today, maybe Cathal aswell but, also, look at the Clare midfield. Malone had one of his quietest ever game I would say, disappointing from him. And Lohan is a back playing midfield. He may have nullified Lynch to a degree but the pairing doesnât leave much room for scoring from distance and the midfield battle was won by WOD today. Even if Lynch beside him wasnât at his absolute best, we still won that battle.
Our subs didnât make as much of an impact today but they still moved. They made the runs, they made themselves available, they made themselves options. They mightnât have actually got the ball but they still brought a bit of freshness and energy late on. English got his point and maybe could have had more but even from him, it was probably his quietest cameo.
If there were a few areas of concern/things to work on, we gave Clare goal chances. Rodgers hit the post when he really had to score. A couple of other half-sniffs that I thought Nickie dealt with well. Clare also missed a few frees (as did we) that youâd expect them to score. Maybe the margin could have been tighter. But it felt in the crowd like it was more comfortable than the scoreline suggested for long periods, yet we were actually very accurate. So we didnât kill Clare off⌠goals would probably help with that. I thought we also gave up a few soft frees when we didnât need to, especially on puckout time when he did have them under pressure. I donât think there was any way we were losing today but against another team later down the line, you donât want to be leaving teams in games when you are on top. Bury them.
So: 6-in-a-row and we move onto an All Ireland semi-final, potentially against Cork. What an occasion that could be. But we still look hungry, both supporters & players. I thought our work rate today was really really impressive. And once thatâs on point, we canât ever complain as supporters.
Moment of the day by a mile was David Reidyâs turnover on David Fitz. Fitzgerald is a rocket and I donât think Reidy is exactly known for his pace. But Reidy just kept going, pure determination and work rate to get in over the ball. Fitzgerald fumbled his pick-up twice to be fair but thatâs why you never give up. It was a huge momentum boost for us. Itâs those little moments that win Munster titles.
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Mike Casey WOD Hego and the Bull were immense today Byrnes also getting back to his best Cian and Gillane have been quiet in Munster but onwards we go to Croker and go again
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Didnât they win a fitzgibbon together with Mary I?
It begs the question why Kiely didnât throw him into championship action last year. He had a fantastic league. I know he was only 18 at the time but he was more than good enough.
Ironically enough OâBrien had a sub-standard league this year and wasnât at his best for the 20s, yet here he is ripping it up in the Munster Champ.
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Some turnaround for Mike Casey despite all the niggles and knocks. He was roasted v tipp last year but heâs been really good ever since.
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He has taken to it unbelievably well since coming on for Flanagan against Waterford. First championship start yesterday then. Really impressive stuff.
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I thought Hannon deserved MOTM personally. He didnât put a foot wrong
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