Clare look to their under-21 talent for inspiration

MUNSTER HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL:THEY'VE HAD two fairly epic battles in Munster finals in the last three seasons, Tipperary requiring a late surge to win last year, while also denying Clare in controversial circumstances in 2008. They know each other well and hardly fear each other either: so how come no one is giving Clare much of a chance in this Sunday's Munster semi-final?

Unfortunately for Clare those close encounters were actually in the Munster under-21 championship, and while there may be precious little between the counties at that level, Tipperary have apparently risen a class above at senior.

Sunday’s clash at the Gaelic Grounds sees Clare seeking a first senior championship win over Tipperary since 2003, and their last meeting – in 2009 – ended with a third successive victory for Tipperary, with an average winning margin of six points.

Much of Clare’s problem in impacting at senior level right now stems from the inevitable rebuilding process, not just after the Ger Loughnane era, but in the years since: Sunday’s team will bear no resemblance to that which managed to make the All-Ireland final in 2002, and instead is built largely on the emerging under-21 talent, which, in 2009, and sandwiched between those Tipperary defeats, claimed Clare’s first under-21 All-Ireland.

Darach Honan is in his fourth and final season as a Clare under-21, and will also front the senior attack against Tipperary on Sunday. Honan won’t need any introduction to the Tipperary players, given he’s played against the majority of them at under-21: Tipperary’s 2008 Munster under-21 winning team produced players such as Brendan Maher, Pádraic Maher, Gearóid Ryan, Séamus Hennessy, Patrick Maher, Pa Bourke and Séamus Callanan, and last year’s team – which also won the under-21 All-Ireland – still boasted a few of those, plus Noel McGrath.

The difference is Tipperary also boast similarly talented senior players like Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett, and, of course, Brendan Cummins, who bring their considerable experience to go with the emerging under-21 players. For Clare the situation is a little different, as all their standout names from the 2002, their last really successful summer, are gone.

“If you look at this Clare team right now, I’d say under-21 players make up nearly the whole panel,” says Honan. “That shows that under-21 is still seriously important. Right now we only have four or five players over 25.

“I suppose it would help to have a little more big game experience. We still have Diarmuid McMahon and Fergal Lynch, and they are good leaders, but then we’ve lost last year’s captain, Brian O’Connell, a huge blow, because he was a real leader.”

O’Connell departed for Australia last October, initially for three months, but due to the job difficulties at home went back again in the New Year. It has made manager Ger “Sparrow” O’Loughlin’s task that bit more difficult, and being resigned to Division Two hurling for a third season can’t have done their enthusiasm much good either.

“No, it’s not ideal,” says Honan, probably no doubt on behalf of the entire Clare team. “To be honest I haven’t enjoyed the league at all the last two years. We’d much prefer to be in Division One, and I think we’d be able for it too. I don’t think anyone is being served well by having us down in Division Two. And it possibly has hindered my development as a hurler. I would be hugely in favour of bringing back the 12-team Division One. Last year was our first season in Division Two, and we lost the league final to Wexford. A couple of small mistakes cost us that game. I think Wexford have come on a good bit again from being back in Division One.”

What can give Clare some hope, however, is the way Limerick pushed Waterford every step of the way in last Sunday’s first semi-final – eventually losing out to the injury-time goal from John Mullane. Clare, after all, pushed Limerick to the limits in the Division Two final in Ennis back on April 30th, and if such defeats really do make a team stronger, it may only be a matter of time before Clare come good.

Loughnane often claimed that a series of defeats at under-21 level ultimately propelled his team to senior All-Ireland glory in 1995 and 1997, and Clare’s harsh defeat to Tipperary in the 2008 Munster under-21 final – when a late Clare puck-out was penalised, and Pa Bourke slotted over the winning free – is still in the mind of Honan and his fellow under-21s. “That defeat definitely made us stronger. I still felt we learnt a huge amount that year, and helped us to win it outright the next year. But we know we’re very much underdogs going into this game. I suppose it suits Clare to be that way.”

Weekend Fixtures

Saturday

Leinster Hurling Championship:Semi-final: Dublin v Galway, Tullamore, 7pm, M Wadding (Waterford), RTÉ.

All-Ireland Hurling Championship:Preliminary round: Antrim v Westmeath, Casement Park, 3pm, T Carroll (Offaly); Laois v Cork, Portlaoise, 3pm, J McGrath (Westmeath).

All-Ireland Camogie Championship:Cork v Wexford, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 1pm; Galway v Clare, Jenny Park, Athenry, 2pm; Tipperary v Offaly, Semple Stadium, 3pm; Kilkenny v Dublin, tbc, 2.30.

Sunday

Munster Hurling Championship:Semi-final: Clare v Tipperary, Gaelic Grounds, 4pm, J Owens (Wexford), TV3.

Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship:Semi-final: Clare v Cork, Gaelic Grounds, 1.45, S Hourigan (Limerick).

Ulster Football Championship:Semi-final: Armagh v Derry, Clones, 2pm, D Coldrick (Meath) RTÉ and BBC.

Ulster Minor Football Championship:Semi-final: Fermanagh v Armagh, Clones, 12.15, S Hurson (Tyrone).