I think there has been a seismic improvement in Clare, the big question is where are the other teams who are left. I would think Clare are likely to run Limerick very close in the Munster Final and a win would not surprise me, Limerick have not hit top form and injuries to key players is not helping, a full hand to play from and Limerick win, i donāt think we will have everyone available and I believe Clare have a great chance.
I was at the Cork-Tipp game so didnāt see Clare vs Waterford. Was going to watch it back but when it was such a hammering, hardly seems worth it. But I really thought Waterford would win, just because Clare were resting fellas. Absolute disaster of a season from them. But even against Limerick, I thought they were alright. I was a little disappointed with them but at least they werenāt completely flat which they seem to have been in the two matches that really mattered. I thought they could learn from that and at least qualify from Munster but theyāve just been way off it.
I like Cahill & Bevans, I think they seriously improved Waterford from 2019 to 2020 & 2021 but questions have to be asked now. You would think they have enough credit in the bank to get another go but if theyāve lost the dressing room, hard to recover from that (I have no idea if thatās true).
As for Tipp vs Cork; the crowd thought we were going to have a cracker on our hands after the opening 10-15 minutes. Tipp came flying out of the blocks, it looked like they had the Cork full-back line in bother and were working very hard. Easy to say in hindsight but why wasnāt Forde taking the penalty? For Cork to go down and score a goal straight away, it just meant the game ended as a contest a lot earlier than you would have hoped as Tipp heads seem to drop.
If they had been 6/7 points up, they might have asked a few psychological questions of Cork but I donāt think they were ever winning that match, they were just so poorly set up. Time and time again weāve said, the way to stop Cork is to stop them at source. You donāt stand 10 yards off Conor Lehane when heās receiving a second ball. I know his movement was good but Tipp were all over the shop at the back. And then hitting aimless ball into the forwards when it looked like Morris & Kehoe had them for pace with space in the corners.
Tipp did come with work rate early on and tried to get in Corkās faces but you need to actually stay tight to their forwards and not allow any easy out ball. They were pulled & dragged all over the place. Looked like a poorly-coached team, but maybe just lacking in confidence.
Kelly and how Limerick handle him will be an interesting one. The last day out and the 2020 encounter when he hit 8 from play, Limerick seemed content enough to let him wander and keep their defensive shape/structure in place rather than detail someone to man mark him.
Iād expect that the same will happen again in two weeks. It was obvious enough watching back last weeks match that Limerick put a huge emphasis on swarming on Taylor, OāDonnell and Malone every time they gathered the ball to stop them running in order to try and stop Kelly playing off their shoulder while they seemed to be content enough to leave David Fitz have the run of the right wing as they obviously felt he wasnāt as much of a threat. Clare will be wiser for that but how do you counteract it when Limerickās swarm is is working to full effect?
Limerick did a very good job spoiling Duggan and you would feel that if they do the same again next day out it will go a long way to curtailing us. On the plus side for us was that we more a less played with 13 as Jason McCarthy and Mounseyās contributions amounted to zero on the day and you would think that two of Galvin/Reidy/Meehan starting in their stead will add a bit more composure on the ball and industry off it. WOD utterly ran the midfield first half and cleaned McCarthy, he wasnāt as prominent second half when Taylor moved to midfield and gave him something to do rather than traipsing after him.
Similar to the draw I would imagine with Galvin/Meehan operating close to Duggan rather than Mounsey. At times they will play three inside and push Kelly or Reidy inside. Fitzgerald and OāDonnell on the 40, OāDonnell seemed to play 11 v Limerick the last day but I think they will push him to left half forward and try and get him in that pocket of space in front of Byrnes initially.
I was surprised to see SOD so far from goal and Duggan mostly inside. I would have thought Duggan more effective at half forward and SOD more effective inside.
