*Clare captain, Tony Kelly. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
FOR THE FIRST time in the Clare colours, Tony Kelly netted a hat-trick as back to back All-Ireland semi-final appearances were achieved.
Kelly scored 3-04 from play to earn the man of the match accolade in Clare’s comprehensive 5-26 2-17 win over Dublin in the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday.
Lessons were learned from last year’s quarter-final clash versus Wexford which came on the back of another provincial defeat where Clare produced a sluggish display. That was certainly rectified when they put the Dubs to the sword. “We put a lot into the Munster Championship again and it was disappointing but we learned from last year when we were in the same position. It stood to us today. We were far better able to respond than twelve months ago,” Kelly said.
Clare’s captain explained, “Today was all about trying to perform well and get back to Dublin and thankfully we did that. We are delighted with the result and of course we are thrilled to be back in an All-Ireland semi-final. We can be happy with a lot of our play but we still have stuff to work on. It was nip and tuck for probably the first fifteen minutes or so”.
He revealed that the injury to John Conlon and the treatment he received on the pitch gave Clare a chance to reset. “When John went down it gave us a chance to come in and speak about what was going right and what wasn’t. I think from that we got another goal and then our use of the ball got that bit better”.
Hitting five green flags is a big plus for Clare, the Ballyea sharpshooter said. “The wind was swirling all the time out there so we made a concerted effort to carry the ball in a bit more rather than shooting and I suppose that opened it up for us. The chances then came our way and we got the goals and historically we wouldn’t be known for too many goals so that’s another positive we can take into the All-Ireland semi-final.”
Kelly continued, “We created similar chances against Limerick but we didn’t take them. With six or seven minutes to go in the Munster Final we felt we had the game there for the taking and we didn’t convert our chances. We spoke about it and worked on it for the last couple of weeks. Thankfully today our conversion rate was far more clinical. You need to be ruthless and I felt we were. Goals give you breathing space. They are a massive boost and at this level they are vital to success”.
Getting a chance to atone for last July’s championship exit at the hands of Kilkenny is what lies ahead of Tony and the Clare team. “Regardless of who the opposition is our goal was to get back to Croke Park. We haven’t been there enough as a group since a lot of us came onto the scene and we need that consistency as a county. You want to be at the business end every year. We feel it’s two different seasons. We do feel we are in better shape than this time last year. We put an awful lot of work into last year’s Munster Championship which we did this year too but we learned what worked and what didn’t work so we are in a better place this time around”.
All four teams left standing are more than capable of winning the Liam McCarthy, the secondary school teacher maintained. “We just have to try tidy up our injury list and have a real crack at it. I don’t think there’s anything between the top teams to be fair. Everybody will have the mindset that they can win the semi-final and then win the All-Ireland and we are no different. We will regroup, prepare to the best we can and have a real go on Sunday fortnight”.
