Clare GAA discussion thread

KevinK

roashter wrote: »

Fahy has been good for under 21s lately and has a chance now to make the no. 1 jersey his own.

Really? Is this not the same Andrew who played u-14 in 2002 - making him 26-28?

roashter

KevinK wrote: »

Really? Is this not the same Andrew who played u-14 in 2002 - making him 26-28?

Yes, you are correct -I had mixed him up with Taaffe

letowski

Good to get the win I suppose, but I don't feel to happy over the performance. I didn't catch Davy's interview after the game but I guess he said something along the lines of any sort of a win will do, but really I feel were half way through the summer now, we should be operating at a much higher level. I think there has to be huge concerns now whether we are in a good enough position to win the quarter final but that's for another day.

The positives after the win for me were the performances of Dillion (again), McInerney, Podge, O'Donnell and Shanagher. I think Shanagher now is obviously here to stay, as he is bringing an extra dimension aerially up front which is great. I think this is also having a knock on effect on O'Donnell who finally, finally looks to be coming into a bit of form. His role seems to be changed a little as he does't always have to be the furthest up front being double teamed, he came out a few times and got involved in the play well and took points. I thought the two linked up well. If we get McGrath back, that could have the makings to be a good inside line.

On the negative side, I honestly don't like the way Davy has us set up, it's still too congested in midfield. Our half backs in Cleary Browne and McInerney play far too high up the field for my liking and it left oceans of space in the back line. We could end up with someone like Galway and Tipp in the next round and players like Callinan, Bubbles or Canning or Mannion could have a field day. We were lucky Limerick didn't push up until the end, they had Dowling and Downes furthest up they are two very lazy players to make a run for the ball. I'd prefer if our backs held there shape more compactly, I think it would loosen things up more in midfield and would see better performances from the likes of Galvin, Kelly and Conlon. It'd one for Davy and his legion of a backroom team to look at I'd say.

windy shepard henderson

letowski wrote: »

Good to get the win I suppose, but I don't feel to happy over the performance. I didn't catch Davy's interview after the game but I guess he said something along the lines of any sort of a win will do, but really I feel were half way through the summer now, we should be operating at a much higher level. I think there has to be huge concerns now whether we are in a good enough position to win the quarter final but that's for another day.

The positives after the win for me were the performances of Dillion (again), McInerney, Podge, O'Donnell and Shanagher. I think Shanagher now is obviously here to stay, as he is bringing an extra dimension aerially up front which is great. I think this is also having a knock on effect on O'Donnell who finally, finally looks to be coming into a bit of form. His role seems to be changed a little as he does't always have to be the furthest up front being double teamed, he came out a few times and got involved in the play well and took points. I thought the two linked up well. If we get McGrath back, that could have the makings to be a good inside line.

On the negative side, I honestly don't like the way Davy has us set up, it's still too congested in midfield. Our half backs in Cleary Browne and McInerney play far too high up the field for my liking and it left oceans of space in the back line. We could end up with someone like Galway and Tipp in the next round and players like Callinan, Bubbles or Canning or Mannion could have a field day. We were lucky Limerick didn't push up until the end, they had Dowling and Downes furthest up they are two very lazy players to make a run for the ball. I'd prefer if our backs held there shape more compactly, I think it would loosen things up more in midfield and would see better performances from the likes of Galvin, Kelly and Conlon. It'd one for Davy and his legion of a backroom team to look at I'd say.

an awful lot to work on , i can imagine that was a poor game for the neutrals to watch, but to be fair we never looked like we were going to lose at any stage

i felt dillons distribution was poor at times although he did have a good game i would think pat o connor would be a better choice , the idea of david mac and conor cleary pushing up field for clare puck outs needs more work but will work in time , the puck outs aimed at cleary at times were a bit close to the sideline in the second half ,

shane o'donnell had a fine game for a fella that dosnt sore points , hopfully he continues the trend , while finally we look to have an out and out full forward in arron shanagher

as far as tactics go , i would like to see us work the ball better from the short puck out rather then dillon or o'connor launch predictable long high balls down on two double marked men , a win is a win but galway or tipp will punish our wastefulness in two weeks time if we hit as many handy wides as we hit today

with the likes of mcgrath , and colin ryan out we covered ourselves well in the scoring stakes but we look like a team that is trying to get used to a system rather then being close to perfecting it ....which we should be at this stage of the year

letowski

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

an awful lot to work on , i can imagine that was a poor game for the neutrals to watch, but to be fair we never looked like we were going to lose at any stage

i felt dillons distribution was poor at times although he did have a good game i would think pat o connor would be a better choice , the idea of david mac and conor cleary pushing up field for clare puck outs needs more work but will work in time , the puck outs aimed at cleary at times were a bit close to the sideline in the second half ,

shane o'donnell had a fine game for a fella that dosnt sore points , hopfully he continues the trend , while finally we look to have an out and out full forward in arron shanagher

as far as tactics go , i would like to see us work the ball better from the short puck out rather then dillon or o'connor launch predictable long high balls down on two double marked men , a win is a win but galway or tipp will punish our wastefulness in two weeks time if we hit as many handy wides as we hit today

with the likes of mcgrath , and colin ryan out we covered ourselves well in the scoring stakes but we look like a team that is trying to get used to a system rather then being close to perfecting it ....which we should be at this stage of the year

I think you hit the nail on the head here. I think back last April versus KK, the system was starting to come together and then Conlon got injured and we had three grueling matches with Waterford in which we seemed to go back to a short passing game again. My post might have been a little negative, we did hurl very well in the 2nd quarter (less the wides), I think that's something the team should build on.

McGrath was a loss today he is our best finisher, our wides kept Limerick in it today. John Conlon is still a little flat after his injury as he was flying it before. We need him back.

Maybe getting Tipperary next and have it on in Croke Park might be for the best in terms of getting this team motoring.

windy shepard henderson

letowski wrote: »

I think you hit the nail on the head here. I think back last April versus KK, the system was starting to come together and then Conlon got injured and we had three grueling matches with Waterford in which we seemed to go back to a short passing game again. My post might have been a little negative, we did hurl very well in the 2nd quarter (less the wides), I think that's something the team should build on.

McGrath was a loss today he is our best finisher, our wides kept Limerick in it today. John Conlon is still a little flat after his injury as he was flying it before. We need him back.

Maybe getting Tipperary next and have it on in Croke Park might be for the best in terms of getting this team motoring.

we are bad favorites really , so hopfully there is a big performance the next day out,bad as the game was today i dont think we were that bad eithe,r its just the fact that the system at the moment is so unorthodox it seems confusing to the players ,

today was similar game to the league game in ennis , very error ridden and lots of wides but when we came up against better opposition later on we raised the game, hopefully we can do the same in the next few weeks

windy shepard henderson

clare 0-14 laois 1-10

great win for the footballers in poor conditions , the game was pretty much won and lost in the final quarter of the game where clare came back from 4 points down to snatch the lead on the 70 minute mark and for the first time in the game ,

it was'nt the greatest display from our lads but the late rally was enough to see off at times a fairly tame laois attack in which they missed several scoreable frees late on to equalize, other then donie kingston they lacked accuracy against the wind in the second half only managing to score 3 points

eoin cleary and jamie malone were probably our stand out players , two excellent late points by subs shane mcgrath and seanie malone put clare in front for the first time in the game with the 70 minutes up a nervy 5 minutes of stopage time ensued but clare did enough to see out the game

podge came on for the last 20 minutes and put in a serious effort for a lad who had played a full 70 the day before , in fact all that came off the bench were crucial to todays win
the draw takes place in the morning for the 3rd round of the qualifiers which take place next weekend , one of derry , cavan or sligo will be the opposition

scorers

eoin cleary 0-4
jamie malone 0-3
gary brennan 0-1
shane hickey 0-1
cathal o'connor 0-1
seanie malone 0-1
kealan sexton 0-1
david tubridy 0-1
shane mcgrath 0-1

windy shepard henderson

hurlers play galway two weeks today , and they are far from happy with loughnane's comments , it makes the game that bit harder now

Akrasia

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

hurlers play galway two weeks today , and they are far from happy with loughnane's comments , it makes the game that bit harder now

What were Loughnane's comments?

windy shepard henderson

Akrasia wrote: »

What were Loughnane's comments?

he claimed that galway were gutless in there second half performance against kilkenny , he also had a pop at galway hurling in general and at the current set up arrangement , it was a bit ironic coming from him as he was'nt exactly a miracle worker during his time in charge of galway

Figerty

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

he claimed that galway were gutless in there second half performance against kilkenny , he also had a pop at galway hurling in general and at the current set up arrangement , it was a bit ironic coming from him as he was'nt exactly a miracle worker during his time in charge of galway

Don't know about that, Ollie Canning chose not to play with Galway over the carry on the club championship.
10 minutes to go in the All-Ireland semi, Eddie Brennan picked up a breaking ball, took off, left the Galway left corner back for dead and a goal was scored. I remember thinking that would probably not have happened if Canning was there...I wonder does Loughnane think the same?

I just googled it and Loughnane has brought it up again

http://www.balls.ie/gaa/ger-loughnane-shoots-back-at-ollie-canning-and-mocks-joe-cannings-world-tour/339189.

Dyr

Delighted for the Clare big ball boys

Delighted for Laois too

Akrasia

I think Waterford's abject performance today needs to show Fitzy that the best strategy is the one that dominated hurling for a hundred years before a sweeper ever became popular. If you have good players, play them in the traditional positions and let them compete for the ball man vs man.

All this overthinking by the managers is hubris by the managers thinking that they're the ones who win the games. No, in hurling, the players win the match. Managers can lose matches by arsing around and getting in the way of the players instinct developed over years of practice and training

Kilkenny has never used a sweeper and their results speak for themselves

windy shepard henderson

Akrasia wrote: »

I think Waterford's abject performance today needs to show Fitzy that the best strategy is the one that dominated hurling for a hundred years before a sweeper ever became popular. If you have good players, play them in the traditional positions and let them compete for the ball man vs man.

All this overthinking by the managers is hubris by the managers thinking that they're the ones who win the games. No, in hurling, the players win the match. Managers can lose matches by arsing around and getting in the way of the players instinct developed over years of practice and training

Kilkenny has never used a sweeper and their results speak for themselves

100% agree , teams like tipp and kilkenny dropback maybe one man as a 3rd midfielder and sometimes further back as a traditional sweeper like pat donnllon against limerick or cork in 2013 , but not the nonsense we saw last night with us playing 2 inside forwards 1 center forward and 3 midfielders with no one to aim at . i was at the intermediate game in limerick last wednesday night and the u21s next wednesday will adopt the same tactics as tipp or kk with no less then five players in forward scoring positions at all times just like tipp today , which is why donal maloney has been so successful as an under age coach

windy shepard henderson

Figerty wrote: »

Don't know about that, Ollie Canning chose not to play with Galway over the carry on the club championship.
10 minutes to go in the All-Ireland semi, Eddie Brennan picked up a breaking ball, took off, left the Galway left corner back for dead and a goal was scored. I remember thinking that would probably not have happened if Canning was there...I wonder does Loughnane think the same?

I just googled it and Loughnane has brought it up again

http://www.balls.ie/gaa/ger-loughnane-shoots-back-at-ollie-canning-and-mocks-joe-cannings-world-tour/339189.

i wouldnt worry too much about what loughane has to say no one in this side of the country really takes him seriously , he used to berate tipperary for not wining more all irelands with there current team yet we fall into the same category

i am very surprised with galway for taking the bait and biting without a second taught put in , if galway hurlers are going into an all ireland 1/4 final against us in two weeks time worrying about something ger loughnane said about them , they are not preparing properly for such a big game

windy shepard henderson

Bambi wrote: »

Delighted for the Clare big ball boys

Delighted for Laois too [/QUO

the last time we played laois 3 years ago we lost by 15 points . the work colm collins has put in since has been serious , its a statement of intent of how far we have came in a short space of time , personally delighted with the win

letowski

I think in the grand scheme of things, this is probably Davy's biggest game as manager with Clare, outside of the 2013 AI Final. He has been with this group for 5 years now, and if he wants to prove he has the group going in the right direction, a big performance is required. We have to see this side front up now in big games. He cannot feel justified in coming back as next year's manager if we go out in a whimper like the last 2 years. Galway can be good, but in terms of quality there isn't a whole lot between the teams, actually right now PP have use favorites.

But there's absolutely no way in hell I'm putting any money on this game, these are arguably the two most hot/cold sides in the competition.

windy shepard henderson

letowski wrote: »

I think in the grand scheme of things, this is probably Davy's biggest game as manager with Clare, outside of the 2013 AI Final. He has been with this group for 5 years now, and if he wants to prove he has the group going in the right direction, a big performance is required. We have to see this side front up now in big games. He cannot feel justified in coming back as next year's manager if we go out in a whimper like the last 2 years. Galway can be good, but in terms of quality there isn't a whole lot between the teams, actually right now PP have use favorites.

But there's absolutely no way in hell I'm putting any money on this game, these are arguably the two most hot/cold sides in the competition.

under fitz we are so unpredictable but as you said he knows he needs to get to croke park at the very least so sunday week is do or die for him , cant believe how naive galway are in falling for loughnanes nonsense

keeponhurling

Akrasia wrote: »

I think Waterford's abject performance today needs to show Fitzy that the best strategy is the one that dominated hurling for a hundred years before a sweeper ever became popular.

Need to stop you there.

Waterford did not lose today by 21 points due to their strategy being a bit off. It was just a very poor performance on the day.

windy shepard henderson

keeponhurling wrote: »

Need to stop you there.

Waterford did not lose today by 21 points due to their strategy being a bit off. It was just a very poor performance on the day.

there strategy had an awful lot to do with there defet today , yo dont play with 3 forwards with a gale force wind at your back

keeponhurling

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

there strategy had an awful lot to do with there defet today , yo dont play with 3 forwards with a gale force wind at your back

At hand time they were only 2 points down after the gale at their back.

Maybe a bigger problem was the 10 wides they hit, or the goal they gifted Tipp ?

windy shepard henderson

keeponhurling wrote: »

At hand time they were only 2 points down after the gale at their back.

Maybe a bigger problem was the 10 wides they hit, or the goal they gifted Tipp ?

10 wides from way out the field , you need more then 4 forwards to beat the likes of kilkenny or tipp , i hope we dont make the same mistakes should we meet any of them later on in the year

windy shepard henderson

spotted the tweet of the weekend on the sunday game earlier tonight from star reporter kerian cunningham it was a poor game last night and it is an over reaction from some galway people


https://twitter.com/KCsixtyseven/status/751857185374740485

BENDYBINN

windy shepard henderson wrote: »

spotted the tweet of the weekend on the sunday game earlier tonight from star reporter kerian cunningham it was a poor game last night and it is an over reaction from some galway people


https://twitter.com/KCsixtyseven/status/751857185374740485

Fair play to loughnane -Galway hurlers will be really fired up for this one!

Keano

It was a dismal performance from us. Nicky English is right in what he says about teams who player the sweeper, it is to limit the size of the defeat. A long time since I left a Clare match after a win and having no emotion. Should be basking in beating our neighbours but instead it's wondering when they will be allowed to hurl and express themselves again.

Figerty

Keano wrote: »

It was a dismal performance from us. Nicky English is right in what he says about teams who player the sweeper, it is to limit the size of the defeat. A long time since I left a Clare match after a win and having no emotion. Should be basking in beating our neighbours but instead it's wondering when they will be allowed to hurl and express themselves again.

This is true. The year before Davy took up the Clare position Waterford played the extra man at the back. I always thought this was Davy's way of getting a respectable defeat.
To be fair, it did contain the Joe Canning threat in 2013, but James McInerney also did that in Ennis at full back on a different day when Galway were on fire.

The first thing in any sport is to beat your opponent mentally,skillfully, physically and tactically.. We seem to go for the tactical above all others.

letowski

Clare named their U21 team for Wedsnesday;

Vaughan,
Hayes, Fitz, Cooney
McCarthy, McGuane, O'Gorman
Conroy, Hehir
Donnellan, Duggan, Gleeson
Taylor, Crehan, Shanagher.

Waterford have better star players in the likes of the Bennetts, Curran, Gleeson, Devine, but that's a good team there. The back line is a little light, but they have tonnes of hurling ability. I think if we can start strong and settle into our short passing game we can do well, but I think the winning of the game for us will be down to the quality of direct ball into Shanagher. It will be important to mix it up.

This should be a good game if the weather is ok.

Cake Man

Was just going to come here asking what yer U21 team would look like for Weds night. Would ye be so kind as to give us a morale boosting win after Sunday


Seriously though, it wouldn't surprise me at all if ye came through. Our lads involved Sunday will be so low on confidence it'll be very hard to pick themselves up for a battle so soon. We can only hope there's a big response.

Am I right in saying this is live on TG4?

letowski

Cake Man wrote: »

Was just going to come here asking what yer U21 team would look like for Weds night. Would ye be so kind as to give us a morale boosting win after Sunday


Seriously though, it wouldn't surprise me at all if ye came through. Our lads involved Sunday will be so low on confidence it'll be very hard to pick themselves up for a battle so soon. We can only hope there's a big response.

Am I right in saying this is live on TG4?

Yes it is on TG4.

I always find at U21 level that preparation is a huge factor at this level, along with obviously talent. I suppose Clare have an advantage that they don't have many seniors, so you have a good core group of 12 starters training together weekly, along with the fact they didn't have a senior game this weekend. The intermediate policy of selecting nearly all U21 players for that level has been a success too, so I'd be confident that this team won't underperform tomorrow evening. But if both team do play to their best ye should win.. but it's been a long time since a Waterforrd team did play to their best at U21.

buck65

Waterford though hammered are a good team, Tipp got a run on them as we did in the league going back a couple of years ago. Their system suits them and they had an off day - they will beat Wexford and go to Croke Park.

Clare too are a good team that play a system that works for them, they have shown that they can go 15 v 15 too and win (Cork 2013 all irelands). Clare are more flexible than Waterford and can adjust their game faster if they go behind. Galway though are a bigger threat as they will be primed to show they aren't gutless, with Flynn back they can score.

I still maintain that Waterford can go to the final this year.