I was wary of Clare possibly catching fire and going on a scoring spree here, but after seeing @Big_Dan_Campbell’s Clare team preview I’ve taken heart. I think our inside backs match up quite well with Clare’s full forwards eg English on O’Donnell and McCarthy on Shanagher, Casey or finn on reidy. Expect our wing backs to hold their own but Podge could do wreck and Clare have a huge advantage at midfield.
Clare look better at the back than recent years presuming Browne and Bugler don’t start but I think the likes of Nash and Casey will trouble them.
Shanagher is exactly the type of player who could destroy Richie! Big and mobile and well able to hurl aswell id be very worried there.I think we will be ok midfield if Browne is at his best and we get a good half out of jim bob with solid options to come in for him aswell.Look one thing you will always get from Clare is silly frees they are woefully indisciplined so for every Tony Kelly point on the run near the sideline wonder score you will normally always get a tap over free from their backs to reply.
You have to go back to 90/91 for the last time one of these two put two consecutive championship wins together against the other- over the last 12 games it’s 6 each - with Limerick losing the last one
Hard to see where a lot of our scores are coming from - He’s persisting with Dowling in the HF line which is a waste of everyones time. D Dempsey is very light and can be wasteful - Hegarty is not a forward.
Presume he’s gonna pick Dowling Lynch Hegarty as the half forward line. Casey and Nash will start so that leaves Hayes Dempsey Ronan Lynch or Mulcahy for the last spot. Hayes is the front runner for me. I think Dempsey will be more effective as an impact sub. Nash and Casey will do damage. Add in the million frees that Dowling will score and the million wides that Byrnes will score… There’s plenty of scores in them.
Nash and Casey are both good prospects . There is no real evidence as yet that either will do serious damage at IC level . They might well do . Lynch , Hegarty and Dowling all have question marks too . I would start David Dempsey as he makes things happen.
The C’ship games v Clare in 2015 and 2016 were sub standard TBH and it was obvious on both days both were going nowhere that year . There is slight evidence of green shoots on both teams but one would be wary putting a penny on this game . The winner will be underdogs in final .
