Iâd say youâd take the blue pill
Thereâll always be one team in Munster whoâll be weak in any given year and they shouldnât be subjected to the humiliation of fulfilling fixtures in Rounds 3 & 4. What Waterford went through in 2018 and 2019 wasnât right either.
When any team loses their first two games, they should be gone. Simple as.
Even in Leinster where score difference might come into play, it means Laois and Westmeath are going to be subjected to humiliation after humiliation.
Cahills team wouldnât have won in both Cork and Ennis in 2019. Then they wouldnât have been in the half of the draw that meant Laois, Wexford and KK route to a title
I donât think Waterford will be too disappointed with that game. Theyâll see lots of obvious scope type improvement immediately, especially if they have everyone fit. Theyâll have a better idea on their match ups, TDB will improve, Barron comes back in, can they hit Hutchinson with more ball, is FF the beat spot for bennett. The nagging doubt is they actually know their beat team yet. I think Limerick are still ahead but Waterford can look at that game and say theyâve closed the gap and can see scope to close it further. They should comfortably account for both cork and Clare if they need to, but might be quite happy to qualify third either.
1 Like
Why not? Thereâs absolutely nothing to suggest they wouldnât have been a good if not better. Thatâs completely specious reasoning.
Cahill would have horsed in a Billy Seymour or something when Bubbles turned up for training in xxl shorts. Weâd have struggled to get out of Munster that season.
1 Like
I donât even think Kennedy did all that good a job on Kelly, it was just one of those days where not much ball came their way. Clare seemed happy enough to go long when they got it rather than build through the lines for the most part. Kelly was probably on as much if not more ball than the other two members of the half forward line in OâDonnell and Fitzgerald and aside from one wide from over on the sideline half way through the second half he used the ball well like he did it set up the first goal and also a lovely cross field ball which started the move for Fitzgeraldâs point in the first half but wasnât all that prominent, similar to the other two.
I donât think it was a case of Kennedy blotting him out or spoiling him that kept him out of it, moreso just a matter of how the game panned out. i canât actually recall Kennedy doing anything of note yesterday. Would be interesting to see how many possessions he had.
You have to keep your structure/shape at the back. Detailing a defender to do a man marking job is a recipe for disaster as it will just create space (as you said) that allows teams to exploit. If detailing someone to do a man marking job, it really needs to be one of your half forwards.
Team sports is about creating space at one end and closing it down at the other.
1 Like
Iâd say Kennedy had 0 possessions but thatâs kinda my point. Youâre sacrificing a player (generally a player who is less skilful than the one heâs marking in fairness) almost completely.
Kelly had a few nice touches, the handpass for the goal was class but if I was a Clare supporter, Iâd definitely expect a little bit more from general play. Not sure I buy the âit didnât come his wayâ thing because, generally, if Clare are going through the lines, Kelly dropping deep and getting involved would be one of the main players involved. You go looking for work if youâre in the half-forward line or in a free role.
But players are less inclined to give you that pass if thereâs a fella up your hole for 70 minutes.
So Iâd say Kennedy probably did what he was asked to do. At the cost of his own game. And going into it, Tipp fans probably would have said if Kennedy does nothing himself but limits Kelly to a peripheral role, theyâd be happy enough. But heâs probably not any option as a short puckout if heâs focused on man marking, you lose him distributing the ball inside to the Tipp forwards, you also leave a big wide open space in behind him if heâs going for a run into the opposition half.
Oh you are going to take your medicine Sunday week.
6 Likes
i wouldnât be overly concerned. He played nominally as a right half forward in the first half and left half forward in the second half, the wind was blowing across the field and when we had the wind in the first half we by passed the half forward line with puckouts and when our half backs had it and more of the play was down on the old stand side where we worked two of our goals from and most of the puckouts in the second half were landed.
Second half we had a lead and the tactic was very much go long and battle for it rather than play out from the back with Duggan and Fitzgerald the main targets. Tippâs half backs got on top and tidied up a lot of this. It wasnât a case that Kennedy was blotting him out, more so just the way the game transpired that the half forward line as a unit didnât get on or have the opportunities to get on a lot of ball more so than kelly making runs and Kennedy cutting him off or taking him out of the game.
I wouldnât be concerned at all from a Clare point-of-view! The same as I wasnât worried about Lynch not doing a whole pile against Cork. I donât expect a fella to be as influential if he is being stuck to like glue but a clever player, like Lynch & Kelly, will take advantage of that for the benefit of the team by disrupting the shape of the opposition.
Although, I personally donât like Kelly as a traditional half-forward; I would actually love if he plays there against Limerick. The further away from goal he is, the better.
Yeah the narrative is that Clare are a one man team and i think it is borne out of the Limerick game in 2020 and the Cork game last year where he was outstanding. Truth of the matter is that lads like Malone, Diarmuid Ryan and Ryan Taylor have all become very solid players who probably get on as much if not more ball than Kelly on a given day and are consistent enough score getters too. Our forwards collectively played very well against Waterford and Wexford last year and for spells against Tipp too. Aidan McCarthy is a huge loss as well.
I think stopping Kelly shooting the lights out helps but it is more of outworking Clare in the middle third which has been our undoing because when we get the likes of Ryan, Malone and Taylor motoring we put up scores. With David Mc, OâDonnell and Duggan back and fit it adds plenty too, just a matter of whether they can find consistent runs of form.
2 Likes
Waterfordâs whole season rests on Clare beating Cork next wk.
Limerick lads are going full Homerâs Iliad
1 Like
Why? Waterford beat both Clare and Cork if they need to.
1 Like
Waterford are as good as out.
1 Like
Waterford dont beat Clare in that shithole that is Ennis. Clare have a habit of playing way above themselves at the sight of Waterford. Cork will beat the rabble that will be Tipp at that stage by whatever they need to get through on scoring difference.
This is a bold strategy from you.
1 Like
Till Homerâs ghost came whispering to my mind.
He said: I made the Iliad from such a local row.
Gods make their own importance.
3 Likes