Clare GAA discussion thread

windy shepard henderson

very good win with so many out , going to reserve judgement until i see the deferred coverage on tg4 , sounded the likes of david reidy jack browne connor cleary and david macinerney were our best . very good win giving the circumstances

letowski

Yeah I would agree it was a good result all things considered, injuries, weather, away game, etc.

I still kind of find it hard to know where Clare are right now, it doesnt really feel we are playing any better than our previous leagues under Davy. I couple of things I got from todays game.

Reidy was excellent today, maybe our best player. He was all over the place and go a cruical late score But if we are going to go with him and Galvin at mf, would they be a little light weight against more physical opposing players such as thd likes of Fennelly/Fogarty, Kevin Moran, David Burke, Aidan Walsh, the Limerick pair. I guess we will find out, it would likely mean Peter Duggan is in line to start half forward.

Theres still issues as always with this system. For a start, we all love Sod up top for his workrate and effort, but the reality is, he is, and has been, totally unsuited to the role he is playing. Sod is best when he is 1v1 on his man in space, not 3v1 trying to dig out slow ball. We need a Maurice Shanahan type 14. I dont like saying it, but I would possibly be looking at not starting him for a more suitable player, even though he is our best full forward.
Our short game was very sloppy today and theres alot of indecision from our backs/mf whether to release the ball long or keep carrying it. Wexford tackled well today but we are very much a work in progress, which is frustrating as weve been playing this short game for 4 years. Waterford last night for example knew exactly what they were at.

I dont mean to be too negative all in all, there are a good few positives in the perfomances of Poc a corner back, Cleary and DMac and Browne in half back and the likes of Reidy and Bobby Duggan too. Peter Duggan is in good form as well this year. Theres a big competitive panel there no doubt, like we had 5 fowards out today and still had Cunningham and Duggan benching. I guess Im still left unconvinced Davy can get the best out of the group.

Clareman

Today was division 2 hurling, today's performance isn't going to win much, even though Clare are missing a few players as well, Wexford only getting their players from Oulart the Ballagh this week would be a bigger difference.

The main negative from today is we never looked like scoring a goal or getting a player in a goal scoring position. Other negatives would include our lack of physicality, we never looked like getting past our direct opponent even though they constantly tried to go for the weak shoulder. The penalty we gave away was a shocker, why risk giving away a penalty in such situations? Finally, yet again a ref feels the need to talk to Davy, even if everyone is out to get him surely he should know at this stage to keep his mouth shut? Going after the forth official was just idiotic. Even thought e have great forwards we have a very poor half forward line, we are completely reliant on Colin Ryan and if anything happens to him I think we're in big trouble.

windy shepard henderson

watched the game back , probably played our best hurling in a long time in the last 20 minutes, some super scores from jack browne , colin ryan and bobby duggen . we were there for the taking at the start of the day giving the injury list was in double figure territory , great to finally see the fringe players get there chance and take it by the scruff, david reidy was outstanding in colm galvins absence , while gudige and arron shanagher played well before being substituted , its just a pity we didnt chop and change like this , this time last year in the league , it would have given us a few more options for later in the year especially the cork game

few notable points in the first two games , defensively we are looking strong no one yet to have a bad game and kept wexford scoreless for long periods of the game especially in the first half
colin ryan and david reidy are flying in the middle third but still serious question marks on what to do with the full forward line , 2 points today from conor mcgrath who spent most of the game out the field , 1 goal chance for shane o'donnell who was smothered by 2 wexford defenders at all times again today , we need a new game plan for the front men come the limerick game we are not creating any space up front any more

stats

scorers
colin ryan 0-10 (9f)
bobby duggen 0-2
connor mcgrath 0-2
jack browne 0-2
david reidy 0-1
john conlon 0-1

wides 10 , frees conceded 17 , frees won 12

own puck outs won/lost 14/9 ,
opposition puck outs won/lost 13/15

letowski

Jack Browne had a fine performnce and got too great points, nice to see as he had a tough game there two years ago. Bobby Duggan got 2 top drawer scores and would be entitled to a starting 15 spot in one of the last 3 league games. Clare kind of struggled with Wexfords sweeper in the start of the second but once found range from out the field, we got some nicley worked scores.

Clareman

60% on your own puck out and 40% on your opponents is a poor return, with the conditions the way they were we should have looked to have been a lot better than that. We've Laois and Kerry now, assuming we win those game we go up against Limerick to decide who goes up, hopefully we'll go 15 on 15 in the next 2 games and the give a good tilt at the playoffs.

windy shepard henderson

Clareman wrote: »

60% on your own puck out and 40% on your opponents is a poor return, with the conditions the way they were we should have looked to have been a lot better than that. We've Laois and Kerry now, assuming we win those game we go up against Limerick to decide who goes up, hopefully we'll go 15 on 15 in the next 2 games and the give a good tilt at the playoffs.

stats are unofficial but wouldn't be too far off the mark, i think we are all singing from the same hymn sheet here , i spent the whole of 2013 calling for shane o'donnell to start more games , now i think a few games bringing him off the bench would be a better option for him , would like to see Cunningham or shanagher start full forward against limerick Cunningham preferred , he is also a great option to bring out the field , we need a big presence up front

keeponhurling

Is promotion decided with a one-off division 2 final, or is it simply who finishes top of the table?

Thanks

Claw09

Its who finishes top of table

keeponhurling

I see, thanks.

It's early days yet, but it does seem like Limerick v Clare will be the deciding game on promotion.

It hasn't worked out well for Wexford, promotion hopes effectively gone at this early stage.

deaddonkey15

Clareman wrote: »

Today was division 2 hurling, today's performance isn't going to win much, even though Clare are missing a few players as well, Wexford only getting their players from Oulart the Ballagh this week would be a bigger difference.

The main negative from today is we never looked like scoring a goal or getting a player in a goal scoring position. Other negatives would include our lack of physicality, we never looked like getting past our direct opponent even though they constantly tried to go for the weak shoulder. The penalty we gave away was a shocker, why risk giving away a penalty in such situations? Finally, yet again a ref feels the need to talk to Davy, even if everyone is out to get him surely he should know at this stage to keep his mouth shut? Going after the forth official was just idiotic. Even thought e have great forwards we have a very poor half forward line, we are completely reliant on Colin Ryan and if anything happens to him I think we're in big trouble.

It isn't just goals that's the problem. Only 2 points from our full forward line yesterday. 1 point last week. That's a shocking return from 2 matches against inferior opposition.

Clareman

I don't know what we're doing with the full forward line to be honest, we seem to be playing a 2 man inside line who are to get frees or at least that 's what it appears to me to me as whenever support is coming to the full forwards they are marked so it just creates a mess. Then again, Clare have never been a team that score goals easily, outside of the replay in 2013 we struggled to get goals (1 against Laois) and a lot of the time they came from follow up to frees.

We have some of the best forwards in the country but we also have massive problems in the forwards, our half forwards aren't winning puck outs, our full forwards aren't getting space and there seems to be a massive disconnect between both, a lot of the time play is broken down and a free is given. I would LOVE to see out forwards play the following type of pattern
Full forward stays in or around the D while the corner forwards pull their markers out towards the 45, the centre forward is more a third midfielder but stays in the opponents half while the wing forwards provide and overlap for the corner forwards. For our own puck outs I would instruct the goalie to either pick out a lose man (if possible) and if not possible aim the ball down on the oppositions wing back, that way our forward will be moving while their back will be stationary. Also for the puck outs, the corner forward (on that wing) should be sprinting out to help out attempting the win the puck out.

For a team with so many supposed strategies it looks to me that we just are playing a 1 or 2 man full forward line with aimless ball into them.

windy shepard henderson

we now interrupt this gaa discussion thread to bring you a party political broadcast from the man who promised us a state of the art new stand .... and gave us a new roof instead, a "warts and all " investigation into the state of inter county hurling ..........and backed down at the last minute , and tried to ban people from expressing opinions on anything to do with clare gaa on social media.......

i must admit i love the song too, it reminds me of the time clare got to the all ireland final . . . . . . . back in 1932!!! :pac:

JMB88

Would anybody have a contact for getting a jersey signed by Davy and the hurling panel or even know how to go about it?

windy shepard henderson

clare 1-14 0-11 limerick

comfortable win for the footbllers in newcastle west , hit with a blow before throw in with cathal o'connor ruled out , pierce lillis was moved into midfield to allow seanie malone his clare debut , clare came out of the blocks at a far higher tempo and with a number of early david tubridy and eoin cleary points put clare 0-3 to 0-0 in the opening minutes , it set the tone of the game as midfield dominance forced limerick short with there kick outs keeping them under pressure

tubbs and eoin cleary were causing havoc by the midway point in the half , and when sean collins chiped in with probably the score of the game it left the score 7-2 in the visitors favor, one clare fm commentator claims he would "stand naked in the snow" to watch david tubridy kick frees , but his 45" on the half time mark was worth a tip of the hat at least if nothing else 0-9 -0-3 clare at half time

the fast tempo clare were showing in the first half dropped in the second but not before adding 3 more points without reply , limerick chipped away staging a mini comeback with several ian ryan frees and a couple from probably there best forward on the day sean mcsweeney, limerick brought it back to five before gary brennan hit the back of the net , eoin cleary went very close for a second a minute later before ian ryan tagged over a few consolation frees to finish the game with 6 between the sides

on a normal day david tubridy would be awarded man of the match, for his tally of 0-8 points , but for work rate cian o'dea was probably the best on the field and had a great game , perice lillis , eoin cleary ,gordan kelly played well while seanie malone can be happy with his debut , clare play westhmeath next sunday in the park a win would put hem in a great chance of a promotion shout at the midway stage of the league

windy shepard henderson

JMB88 wrote: »

Would anybody have a contact for getting a jersey signed by Davy and the hurling panel or even know how to go about it?

i can only imagine by ringing the clare county board ,not sure if there are too many personal friends of the man on this , by right we are not supposed to be talking about him or the county board on here

tatoo

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

i can only imagine by ringing the clare county board ,not sure if there are too many personal friends of the man on this , by right we are not supposed to be talking about him or the county board on here

Were you standing , or sitting, behind a printer as you typed this ?

windy shepard henderson

tatoo wrote: »

Were you standing , or sitting, behind a printer as you typed this ?

am no? , but do you not remember the fiasco late last year about the censorship of online forums in regards clare gaa,

Fireball07

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

am no? , but do you not remember the fiasco late last year about the censorship of online forums in regards clare gaa,

That quote is a reference is to said fiasco. They accused the forum outlaws of standing behind printers. It's what I always do if I have something negative to say anyway

Clareman

There was a bit of a witchhunt done at the time, I was asked to help out, which was amusing cause I think I was 1 of the people they were looking for

windy shepard henderson

1-13 to 0-9 in our favour at half time, and to be fair a flattering scoreline, we must have gone 10minutes without a score before a brace of Bobby duggan frees and a very scrappy if not lucky goal by Colin Ryan (I think) , puck outs are still a slight issue, short to medium passing at the moment would be a bigger issue, defence and midfield all playing well, but Shane o donnell could do with a better second half

letowski

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

1-13 to 0-9 in our favour at half time, and to be fair a flattering scoreline, we must have gone 10minutes without a score before a brace of Bobby duggan frees and a very scrappy if not lucky goal by Colin Ryan (I think) , puck outs are still a slight issue, short to medium passing at the moment would be a bigger issue, defence and midfield all playing well, but Shane o donnell could do with a better second half

Really poor standard of hurling this evening. Hard really to take anything away from it, I think.

Davy just doesn't seem like he can get this group of players clicking. As you said, our hurling is still very sloppy. Maybe we will improve a good bit by the summer, but I'm unsure. Laois were well on top in the middle third for a while, which is still a huge issue with this side, I think we will struggle a lot against Limerick here aswell.

Two home games left, we just need to push on and get sharper in our hurling.

Super to here Podge back on bench btw.

windy shepard henderson

letowski wrote: »

Really poor standard of hurling this evening. Hard really to take anything away from it, I think.

Davy just doesn't seem like he can get this group of players clicking. As you said, our hurling is still very sloppy. Maybe we will improve a good bit by the summer, but I'm unsure. Laois were well on top in the middle third for a while, which is still a huge issue with this side, I think we will struggle a lot against Limerick here aswell.

Two home games left, we just need to push on and get sharper in our hurling.

Super to here Podge back on bench btw.

To be fair it was a million miles away from summer hurling conditions, close to freezing temperatures, but a worry on top of what seems a lack of sharpness, Laois had 5very bad wides at the start of the second half, with 5 points in the game at the time we looked there for the taking, but it was incredibly cold and I would expect Laois to push limerick just as close , still alot to work on for the summer though

letowski

windy shepard henderson wrote:

To be fair it was a million miles away from summer hurling conditions, close to freezing temperatures, but a worry on top of what seems a lack of sharpness, Laois had 5very bad wides at the start of the second half, with 5 points in the game at the time we looked there for the taking, but it was incredibly cold and I would expect Laois to push limerick just as close , still alot to work on for the summer though

Yep though its always the case with Davys teams, be it this clare team or the waterford team he had a few years back, they are out of form in the first championship game. It seems like its heading that way this year, which is bad because this waterford team are motoring really well again at this time of year. I suppose thats the challenge facing the group at the end of the day.

Clareman

letowski wrote: »

Yep though its always the case with Davys teams, be it this clare team or the waterford team he had a few years back, they are out of form in the first championship game. It seems like its heading that way this year, which is bad because this waterford team are motoring really well again at this time of year. I suppose thats the challenge facing the group at the end of the day.

He had problems getting Waterford right for the last game of the season as well......

keeponhurling

It's still early season and the players are building fitness.
Wouldn't read anything into a league game in terrible conditions.

They'll be targeting the Limerick game on March 20th

Clareman

March will go a long way to dictating success/failure for the footballers and hurlers. The footballers have Westmeath away and Offaly & Longford at home, win all 3 and we've a shot at being division 3 champions, win 2 out of 3 of those and we'll be on 8 points, really in the mix for promotion, lose 2 out of the 3 and we should be safe in division 3 for another year, lose all 3 and we'll be a relegation battle.

The hurlers are a bit more straight forward, win 2 games and be back in the top division

washman3

keeponhurling wrote: »

It's still early season and the players are building fitness.
Wouldn't read anything into a league game in terrible conditions.

They'll be targeting the Limerick game on March 20th

And if Limerick slip up today V Offaly (like the last seasons) March 20th simply wont matter.
If we had to go to Wexford park last time out and perform like we did in Killarney, we would've been well beaten.
On current form a Clare/Limerick showdown in Ennis is a foregone conclusion, the Banner by a country mile.

Clareman

I'm not sure if head-to-head ties come down to scoring averages/difference or the head to head result between the 2 teams. A 7 point win by Limerick today and the go top and we'll have to win the last game (i.e. draw isn't enough)

keeponhurling

washman3 wrote: »

a Clare/Limerick showdown in Ennis is a foregone conclusion, the Banner by a country mile.

Not sure if joking or serious.....