Match Thread - Limerick v Clare All Ireland Hurling Semi Final

Clareman · 08-08-2013 12:30pm #1

Semi-Final - Croke Park
Sunday 18th August 2013, 15:30

Clare and Limerick renew their rivallary in the second of the 2013 All Ireland Semi Finals in Croke Park on the 18th of August at 3.30. Both teams have had a diffcult recent history but are showing signs of progress and will see this game as an opportunity to reach an All Ireland Final.

Limerick's recent Munster Final win over Cork has rejuvenated the County's passion for hurling and with their Minor team playing in the curtain raiser they will expect to out number their neighbours. Limerick have not had a competitive match since the Munster final on the 14th of June whereas Clare have recently played Galway and a lot of their team has tasted Under 21 success in Munster.

In recent years Limerick have had the better of Clare in their Championship meetings and will head into the game as slight favourites.

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Match Odds
From Paddy Power

Match Betting
Limerick 8/11 Draw 9/1 Clare 11/8

Handicap Betting
Limerick (-1.0) 10/11 Handicap Draw (-1.0) 10/1 Clare (+1.0) evens

Ticket Details
Tickets are on sale through Gaa.ie, Ticketmaster, local GAA clubs and Centra.

daisybelle2008 · 08-08-2013 2:10pm

The two early trains to Dublin on 18th are sold out for over a week now, would it not occur to irish rail to put some extras on for the day

spacetrap · 08-08-2013 3:09pm

daisybelle2008 wrote: »

The two early trains to Dublin on 18th are sold out for over a week now, would it not occur to irish rail to put some extras on for the day

Found this on Irish Rails Twitter page they have a Ennis special seat still available it is not on the normal timetable.
Iarnród Éireann ‏@IrishRail 7 Aug
Extra services operating for Limerick & Clare fans travelling to the Hurling Semi Final @CrokePark Sun 18th August https://seatreservation.irishrail.ie/specialServices.asp …
Expand Reply Retweet Favorite Mor

niallo27 · 08-08-2013 5:16pm

I like the way you put the Clare players names bigger than the limerick boys. Put them back in their place.

Rightwing · 08-08-2013 5:18pm

When Clare beat Galway, I said 'yes' we have the easy draw.

Now I'm beginning to think we have the hard draw.

niallo27 · 08-08-2013 5:31pm

I think the first ten minutes could be crucial. Both teams will be nervous, a team could find themselves 7 or 8 points down before they know there in a game. I do think there is a lot more pressure on limerick than the Clare side. I think whoever wins we will be shouting for in the final. Lets just hope it's Clare.

InchicoreDude · 08-08-2013 5:37pm

Is the Brian o'Connell who is on the bench the guy who was midfield for ye a few years ago? How is Jonathon Clancy these days? Ger Loughnane was always raving about him when he came on the scene first.

Rightwing · 08-08-2013 5:37pm

niallo27 wrote: »

I think the first ten minutes could be crucial. Both teams will be nervous, a team could find themselves 7 or 8 points down before they know there in a game. I do think there is a lot more pressure on limerick than the Clare side. I think whoever wins we will be shouting for in the final. Lets just hope it's Clare.

Cork wiped the floor with Clare. That gives me hope. Limk should try and see how they did it.

InchicoreDude · 08-08-2013 5:47pm

Rightwing wrote: »

Cork wiped the floor with Clare. That gives me hope. Limk should try and see how they did it.

Not sure that is an accurate description of the match!

niallo27 · 08-08-2013 5:47pm

Rightwing wrote: »

Cork wiped the floor with Clare. That gives me hope. Limk should try and see how they did it.

Cork gave up at least 5 great goal chance against Clare. We seem to be more clinical as the championship goes on. Things just didnt happen for Clare that day.

marco_polo · 08-08-2013 6:20pm

Rightwing wrote: »

Cork wiped the floor with Clare. That gives me hope. Limk should try and see how they did it.

In that case the Limerick gameplan for the forwards just needs to be stand within 50-60 yard of our goal and wait for one of our defenders to handpass the ball to ye*. :P

* Hopeful we have improved considerably since then.

Rightwing · 08-08-2013 6:54pm

marco_polo wrote: »

In that case the Limerick gameplan for the forwards just needs to be stand within 50-60 yard of our goal and wait for one of our defenders to handpass the ball to ye*. :P

* Hopeful we have improved considerably since then.

Ya, I watched that match. Clare seemed to have Cork on the ropes, the big lad was doing serious damage, but Clare just fell apart and Cork won pulling up.

Clareman · 08-08-2013 8:18pm

niallo27 wrote: »

I like the way you put the Clare players names bigger than the limerick boys. Put them back in their place.

Woops, nicely spotted, the pictures are different sizes which is throwing out the table, I'll sort that tomorrow.

grenache · 09-08-2013 12:12am

Earlier on in the week, I would have gone for a Clare victory, now i'm coming back towards Limerick, but only a little bit. There's no doubt that the Clare forwards have hit form at the right time of the championship, and the vast spaces of GAA HQ will suit them, probably even more so than Limerick. It goes without saying that Podge Collins, Conor McGrath and Tony Kelly in particular will need watching. It puzzles me as to why they don't make more use of Honan, when he has the beating of most full backs. They seem to be reluctant to hit him with quick direct ball.

Limerick need to start Declan Hannon at the edge of the square. I cannot for the life of me understand why he is being utilised on the 40', when he can do far more damage at 14. I know using him there allows James Ryan to fall back as a third midfielder, but it severely limits our strength further up the field, I think both Tobin and Mulcahy would be far better served with having an orthodox 14 playing beside them. Mulcahy in particular, as he has been a little quiet so far this summer, and really needs a big game.

Clare seem to have the better forwards, overall, but Limerick appear to have the edge in the backs. I can't see Limerick's half or full line giving the Clare forwards the same space that Wexford and Galway gave them. Galvin and Ryan at midfield for Clare have been very impressive thus far, although O'Grady and Browne have been very decent too for Limerick. In fact Paul Browne has been the most improved player for Limerick this past year. I honestly think whoever wins midfield will win the game. At the present time, you'd have to favour Clare, slightly. Ryan has been a revelation since moving back from the forwards.

But as we all know, with Clare's passing game, it's all or nothing. It's going to be a fascinating match and compelling viewing either way.

Fireball07 · 09-08-2013 12:24am

Poll, Clareman? See which way the boards mood is swinging?

Big Pussy Bonpensiero · 09-08-2013 12:30am

I hate this myth of the "wide open spaces in Croke Park". The pitch isn't actually that big, most pitches are 145m x 90m (like Cusack Park, Pearse Stadium and Thurles), Croker is only 144.5m x 188m. It's practically the same, the Gaelic Grounds is the only stadium that I've found that's much smaller than most others, coming in at 137m x 82m. Most pitches are, naturally enough, the same size.

grenache · 09-08-2013 12:38am

THFC wrote: »

I hate this myth of the "wide open spaces in Croke Park". The pitch isn't actually that big, most pitches are 145m x 90m (like Cusack Park, Pearse Stadium and Thurles), Croker is only 144.5m x 188m. It's practically the same, the Gaelic Grounds is the only stadium that I've found that's much smaller than most others, coming in at 137m x 82m. Most pitches are, naturally enough, the same size.

Shhhh....you're ruining my clichés

Clareman · 09-08-2013 7:57am

THFC wrote: »

I hate this myth of the "wide open spaces in Croke Park". The pitch isn't actually that big, most pitches are 145m x 90m (like Cusack Park, Pearse Stadium and Thurles), Croker is only 144.5m x 188m. It's practically the same, the Gaelic Grounds is the only stadium that I've found that's much smaller than most others, coming in at 137m x 82m. Most pitches are, naturally enough, the same size.

The "old" Croke Park was a lot smaller than most other pitches, that's 1 of the reasons why it was deemed a disadvantage for teams that weren't used to playing there, now however it's almost at the maximum size which is 145m x 90m. Most county grounds will also have the opportunity to go to a big size but they'll often take it back in to make more space on the sideline.

InchicoreDude · 09-08-2013 10:31am

THFC wrote: »

I hate this myth of the "wide open spaces in Croke Park". The pitch isn't actually that big, most pitches are 145m x 90m (like Cusack Park, Pearse Stadium and Thurles), Croker is only 144.5m x 188m. It's practically the same, the Gaelic Grounds is the only stadium that I've found that's much smaller than most others, coming in at 137m x 82m. Most pitches are, naturally enough, the same size.

Darragh O'Se was explaining this on TV3 a few weeks back. It is more a trick of the eye than anything. I cant remember his logic exactly so I wont try to explain it, but he did have a good explanation!

Rightwing · 09-08-2013 10:46am

THFC wrote: »

I hate this myth of the "wide open spaces in Croke Park". The pitch isn't actually that big, most pitches are 145m x 90m (like Cusack Park, Pearse Stadium and Thurles), Croker is only 144.5m x 188m. It's practically the same, the Gaelic Grounds is the only stadium that I've found that's much smaller than most others, coming in at 137m x 82m. Most pitches are, naturally enough, the same size.

A lot of it is to do with the stands,,,,they are a back a bit, whereas a venue like Clones feels claustrophic.

mickmackey1 · 09-08-2013 11:32am

THFC wrote: »

Croker is only 144.5m x 188m.

That's fairly wide all the same :pac:

Big Pussy Bonpensiero · 09-08-2013 11:48am

mickmackey1 wrote: »

That's fairly wide all the same :pac:

Ya, Christ, maybe that's where all the wide open spaces are!!

Clareman · 09-08-2013 12:04pm

Poll added and crests made the same size.

Rightwing · 09-08-2013 12:24pm

I went for Limk, but really it's a coin toss.

Is that 3 lions I see on the clare crest ?!

Moneymaker · 09-08-2013 12:35pm

I'd favour Limerick, I think they have slightly more quality all over the field and their bench is a strong ace John Allen has up his sleeve.

Would not at all be surprised to see Clare win mind. I have it at around 55-45 in favour of Limerick, maybe 60-40.

Clareman · 09-08-2013 12:43pm

Rightwing wrote: »

I went for Limk, but really it's a coin toss.

Is that 3 lions I see on the clare crest ?!

Yup, it comes from the O'Brien's family coat of arms and can be dated back to Brian Boru. The Clare crest was the first crest specifically designed for a GAA team as they wanted it for tickets and stuff. The motto is Latin for "First into battle and the last out of it"

Rightwing · 09-08-2013 12:47pm

Clareman wrote: »

Yup, it comes from the O'Brien's family coat of arms and can be dated back to Brian Boru. The Clare crest was the first crest specifically designed for a GAA team as they wanted it for tickets and stuff. The motto is Latin for "First into battle and the last out of it"

A little bit of history there for us, thank you. Interesting.

Bet not too many would answer that question at a pub quiz...'3 lions on which GAA crest'.

Evil_Clown · 09-08-2013 2:53pm

Clareman wrote: »

Yup, it comes from the O'Brien's family coat of arms and can be dated back to Brian Boru. The Clare crest was the first crest specifically designed for a GAA team as they wanted it for tickets and stuff. The motto is Latin for "First into battle and the last out of it"

Cheers for the info, but isn't the motto in Irish ? That being said Latin wouldn't be my strong point

Clareman · 09-08-2013 3:09pm

Evil_Clown wrote: »

Cheers for the info, but isn't the motto in Irish ? That being said Latin wouldn't be my strong point

Very good point well made, yup it's Irish of course

Mountainlad · 09-08-2013 4:03pm

THFC wrote: »

I hate this myth of the "wide open spaces in Croke Park". The pitch isn't actually that big, most pitches are 145m x 90m (like Cusack Park, Pearse Stadium and Thurles), Croker is only 144.5m x 188m. It's practically the same, the Gaelic Grounds is the only stadium that I've found that's much smaller than most others, coming in at 137m x 82m. Most pitches are, naturally enough, the same size.

Well if the Gaelic Grounds is much tighter it's highly relevant, asLimerick have won two games playing negatively.

It's all about the pressure on the Clare backs really, the only way Limerick will score a goal is by Clare making a mistake back there as they're not setup to create goal chances.

Clare themselves have pretty telegraphed tactics, but it'd still be hard to keep a handle on Honan and McGrath, and the likes of Kelly and Collins running from deep.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero · 09-08-2013 4:06pm

Mountainlad wrote: »

Well if the Gaelic Grounds is much tighter it's highly relevant, asLimerick have won two games playing negatively.

It's all about the pressure on the Clare backs really, the only way Limerick will score a goal is by Clare making a mistake back there as they're not setup to create goal chances.

Clare themselves have pretty telegraphed tactics, but it'd still be hard to keep a handle on Honan and McGrath, and the likes of Kelly and Collins running from deep.

I was only referring to the myth of the wide open spaces in Croker, nothing else. It's the same as most pitches, including the GG, the difference is size between the GG and CP is minimal when you're talking about a pitch nearly 200m long.

Match Thread - Limerick v Clare All Ireland Hurling Semi Final

Who Will Win? 64 votes

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