*Clarecastle coach Anthony Daly. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
THREE years in the second tier of Clare hurling and away from the top tier has been a long spell for the proud Clarecastle club but buzz of preparing for a successive final has the Magpies itching to spread their wings back to senior.
One of Clare hurling’s most iconic figures, Anthony Daly is involved with the Clarecastle intermediates for the second year in a row in what is one of the most high-profile Magpie managements there has been. He and Stephen Sheedy have been part of Ger O’Loughlin’s management from the get-go this season, having linked up in advance of last year’s quarter-final.
September 2023 saw Clarecastle relegated from senior hurling for the first time in their 136 year history. The club is thriving off the field with continued development and infrastructure but time away from the top flight has been tough, the two-time All-Ireland winning captain admitted. “It has been a difficult few years, great people put up their hands in management like Brian Russell, Eric Flynn, Colin Lynch, I came in to a few of Colin’s sessions and they were outstanding but we forgot how to win games. I remember after losing to Tulla in the firstround this year, I was driving west thinking will we ever win. We were just good enough to get over Smith O’Briens, the four weeks before the Bodyke game really stood to us because we knew how good Bodyke were beginning to look in the group, it is very level and it is a great competition so credit to the people who decided to go this way, it is very good. I’m living in Shannon Gaels country, I see there is a very level intermediate football championship so they probably don’t need it but in this every game is hard fought and we saw the other group was desperate tight, of the last four we were the only ones from our group and that is how tight it is on both sides”.
It was O’Callaghans Mills that relegated the Magpies and they had the upperhand in last year’s Clare PIHC final on a score of 2-19 1-16. Returning to the decider has always been the focus for Clarecastle this season, Dalo outlined. “The target after losing last year’s final was to get back into it, after the Tulla game we were saying we had an awful lot of work to do but in fairness they knuckled down, we beat Killaloe and we had four weeks then where we got a few lads back, Rory O’Connell was back a couple of weeks at that stage, Galvin was coming fit again, we really worked hard for that four weeks and we had another four weeks to deal with too but in fairness I think we managed to deal with them fairly well, we played a couple of challenge matches, we went down to Kerry and played Abbeydorney in a great match, we saw how good they were against the Mills.
“We weren’t really happy with the Ruan display but we did show a bit of composure down the stretch, we were a point down going into injury time, we managed to get the few scores to get over the line. We knew Tubber would be Tubber, we’ve met three times in the last three years, they won the first one above in Corofin, we caught them cold last year and we knew we did because we were going so bad but this year the gloves were off both ways, we both knew we were going okay, there was a barometer there with Ruan so we were delighted to get over the line in the semi-final and tune in then. This Clare GAA TV is a great job, you can go to the lounge in Murty Browne’s and watch Whitegate and Corofin and enjoy it, it was brilliant to watch, as Leo (Doyle) and Pat (McNamara) said it was nearly one of the games of the year to watch entertainment wise, it was excellent stuff but we had our own job to do and we did it, we lulled a bit after the red card and we know we can’t afford to do that against a team like Corofin who are on a different trajectory to us in terms of their experience of the last four or five years of playing at a higher level, they drew with Clooney/Quin last year, they beat the Mills in a relegation play off in 2024, they’ve been up in senior for a while and we haven’t been. This is our third year down and with due respect the previous few years before that and I was involved myself with Brian Russell, we were fighting relegation most of the time, it is a good buzz at the moment to be trying to win something, it is a relief for everyone but it is all on the hour”.
During this year’s campaign, Clarecastle have had to contend with two four-week breaks, the first due to their bye in round two and the second after topping the group which saw them advance directly to the semi-finals. “In fairness everyone has pulled together in terms of the players showing leadership, led down from Sparrow and Stephen, they have been great, myself and Donagh (Murphy) have just been getting on with the coaching, Martin Sheedy is an excellent rock to bounce anything off, logistically Emmet and the two Cassidys have been great. The players have been great, they have really stood up, the few injuries came right too outside of the longer-term injuries which is Josh Brack and Niall Brigdale, outside of them we have nearly everyone fit, Tom Slattery came through the Ard Scoil game in the Harty and it was great for him to be playing midfield. Rory O’Connell is back training, Conor Ralph is back training and Rory Ralph. I thought we managed the two four-week breaks well but it is weird to have the quick turnaround now which is the same for both teams”.
Apart from Brack and Brigdale, Clarecastle have no injury complaints for the final, Daly confirmed. “It is going to be hard to pick it, Bobby has the few nights training under his belt, he will be the first to admit he was ring rusty out in Ruan but you can see him sharpening there, we have another three more sessions to do, Conor Ralph got a broken collar bone in the warm-up against Ruan, he is back and he is going flat out in the tackling, there will be fair headaches to get through it”.
An appetite to get Clarecastle back to the top tier enticed Anthony to get on board with Sparrow’s management. “I got involved last year before the quarter-final and we were lucky to get through, myself and Stephen came in, we brought a bit of energy to everything and the lads responded. When the call came from Sparrow last October or early November, it was hard to say no, it’s been an awful commitment and not just me above anyone else, with the bar and the media stuff it has been awkward but he has been great and I’ve had to miss nights here and there. It is a great buzz there involved tonight just there doing the bit of coaching, I haven’t coached since 2018 I think, a bit last year at the end of the year and I really enjoyed it, working with a younger coach like Donagh (Murphy) has been a breath of fresh air for me, some of the stuff that he does is great, there is a yin and yang between us, it’s been enjoyable but results will make it a good decision to come back or not, I think we’re improving lads and doing our best to bring things on. We’re a proud hurling club, we’re three years down which is a long time, no championship for twenty one years, when things are hard you have to answer the call and get stuck in”.
Having managed Clare to successive All-Ireland SHC semi-final appearances in 2005 and 2006, Dalo’s six season stint in charge of Dublin, guiding them to win their Leinster SHC in 63 years, a first NHL Division 1 title in sixty five years, contesting a first-ever All-Ireland SHC quarter-final and the semi-finals in 2013. Since then, he served as Director of Coaching for the Limerick GAA hurling academy from December 2014 to September 2017 and spent two seasons as Kilmacud Crokes manager along with fronting a successful podcast for The Irish Examiner for whom he pens a popular column.
His coaching outlook has had to change since he returned to Clarecastle, Anthony admitted. “Everything is more games based, that is the way of it, there’s way more contact, we all learned from Loughnane, his training would have been about speeding up your hurling and then a ferocious match where the whistle would be stuck up his arse and he wouldn’t be blowing, you have to change now to mini-games. What really stood to me were the three years with Limerick, I was running the coaching for all the levels from minor down, I still have loads of material from that but I badly needed a break from it because I don’t think I had the hunger for it but it’s great, the last couple of months have flown by because there is a buzz there, it is easy do anything when there is a buzz in it”.
A winner of five Clare SHC medals, Dalo has linked up with his former teammates, Sparrow and the Sheedy brothers on the management. “We’ve done a bit of soldiering in this room (club meeting room) at times, we’d all have good strong opinions, the one thing I’ll say is they are a great bunch to deal with as a management, no one is saying there is the door and the door is blue, they’re willing to say ‘I didn’t think he was in great form three weeks ago but in fairness ye made a call and he played well, I was wrong, we should have gone with him in the corner’, there has been a great openness that way and we get on well off the field, it isn’t a social club either, we are here to challenge each other so it’s been great working with them”.
Their camaraderie has been evident on the sideline with Dalo quick to praise Martin Sheedy during the heat of the semi-final for moving Colin Brigdale to wing back to free up Darragh Healy when they had an extra man. “He said put Darragh (Healy) into the pocket and let Stig (Colin Brigdale) push up on your man, people were getting tired at that stage and you get that both ways because Stig is so good at going forward, he can squeeze and Darragh is a safe pair of hands with loose ball, he is the man you want to see the ball pop to and it was like we had the extra man at that stage and Tubber had to shove up to have an extra body and make it Healy. It was Martin that called that and we’ve great help got from Tommy Howard, Ruairí Concannon, they have always been there as a sounding board and looking back at videos for us, the club have been great, the three women are looking after us great and as you can see the pizzas have been ordered tonight, it’s great and we’re nearly there. Tonight’s session was full-on and I’m relieved no one is gone off with a slight tear. The lads are enjoying themselves, Cian Broderick is outside standing in goals saving penalties and I’m saying ‘will you get in off the field’ but that is the buzz around being involved at final come October time”.
Dropping to intermediate has seen Clarecastle learn to win again, the big one awaits on Saturday where securing the Paddy Browne Cup would also seal their return to senior. “We’ve prepared really well, you can trust your process, we’ve decisions to make on the team and our five subs, we know we face a very strong side and probably the best we’ll face this year who had it tough in trying to focus on senior football and prermier intermediate hurling which is not easy, we didn’t fare out great at it in the Junior A football so they are here, they are seasoned and we know we have to play our best in this one but we’d be hoping after last year that our best can come out and it will need to”.
