Mark my words, overdoing those celebrations will come back to bite one of these teams.
A fairly poor afternoon at HQ. Nothing really went right for us on the day. Players looked fairly relaxed in the mini-puckaround they had before extra time in the minor match, but after throw-in things started to go wrong fairly lively and from there it was difficult to build up any head of steam. SĆ©amus Hickey going off early shouldnāt be underestimated as he would have covered a fair amount of ground in the area Clare did most of their scoring. Hannon, unfortunately, had a shocker and every missed free sapped at the confidence. After 20 mins we seemed to have had the lionās share of possession but comically little to show for it. I would always go for Dowling as freetaker if he is on the field as he is proven on the big occasions, 6 from 6 I think yesterday and the monster he got against Tipperary when the game was in the balance.
Clare on the other hand gave a master class in shooting. They couldnāt hit the ball wide. They had one goal chance on a fullback line that was otherwise solid and essentially got in for a pushover try. What Clare were going to do was fairly well signposted but it didnāt look like we had a Plan B, despite all the talk about covering all the possible scenarios before the game. Clare have been gradually improving all summer since they had their own howler against Cork. At this stage I would tip them to go all the way.
A semi-final is worse than a final to loseā¦ :rolleyes: Jesus fucking Christ!
Not saying they donāt employ any tactics. I suppose I should be clearer and say structures. Clare are more structured.
I would certainly prefer to be in a final, but I would say a Final loss is alot harder to take.
You must remember you are dealing with armchair hurlers here. They donāt even make it to the ditch.
[quote=āKinvaraās Passion, post: 819917, member: 686ā]Thats an excellent point. I raised something similar on another forum earlierā¦
In our case Cunningham set Galway out to bring down KK and almost did but the show has moved on and even though the current Clare style would be closer to our natural game its difficult to get the current crop to readapt now.
All the more reason that Davey and Co deserve all the plaudits for developing a system that suited his panel and sticking to it. Stubbornness can be a valuable asset at times.[/quote]
I feel used
Tune in tomorrow, when Sid predicts that one of these teams will win the All Ireland Final.
Neither of whom are Dublin
Mark Foley @marc_o_foghlu
Clareās approach an example how to prepare for a big game. We did not give them ammunition. We gave them a war chest.
[quote=āMark Renton, post: 820100, member: 1796ā]Mark Foley @marc_o_foghlu
Clareās approach an example how to prepare for a big game. We did not give them ammunition. We gave them a war chest.[/quote]
we didnt win a munster final so it was easier to keep a lid on it. The test comes the next day after three weeks of hype. having said that no one got even remotely enthused by the 21s win v tipp which might suggest we wont go balubas. it also helps that our fans will feel that cork might just have a chance of winning which seemed to escape the notice of you lot pre sunday
Donegal gave Mayo a war chest of ammunition last year.
Mind you, they gave them a whole arsenal this year.
jesus christā¦of course it isā¦getting to a final is a huge thing psychologically for the development of a teamā¦you get to the last match of the yearā¦experience the build up and how to deal with the occasionā¦losing a semi final you are left with nothingā¦
Clare fans must be practically expecting to win the u21 every second year at this stage, itās senior success theyāre after now.
What does losing a final leave you with?? joy?!! have you played in and lost/won finals in any kind of sport?
Probably more often than not itās an advantage to have been in a final before but it can certainly work the other way too.
You certainly donāt have to lose one to win one.
Iād agree though that losing a final is of more long run benefit than losing a semi-final.
@chewylewy
Good article about Honan and your pals in Clonlara in Saturdays irish times
[quote=ādancarter, post: 820401, member: 122ā]@chewylewy
Good article about Honan and your pals in Clonlara in Saturdays irish times[/quote]
Saw that, was more about PJ Fitz and John Minogue than anyone else
Wasnāt gushing about Honan by any means!
Are Tom and Donal (or however he spells it) twins?
Yes