*Clare wing back Luke Pyne. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
CLARE’s U20 footballers are back in championship action this evening (Tuesday) with the panel of players “relishing” the chance to play three more games in Munster.
A five point win over Limerick in their third outing saw Clare advance to phase two of the U20 provincial championship following defeats to Waterford and Tipperary.
Maurice Walsh’s side knew that anything less than a five point win over their neighbours was unlikely to suffice in Miltown Malbay a fortnight ago. “We had a target alright and these lads love to put me to the pin of my collar, it was a great result, great football, a great first half, the wind picked up a bit in the second half which suited Limerick, in fairness to them they are a proud footballing team, they came out and gave us a run in the second half, we came out on top,” Walsh reflected.
An interval lead of eleven points gave Clare a solid cushion. “We had our two pointers, we knew lads could kick from that distance, we said we’d try rack up a lead, I’m fierce happy with the result”.
They pulled the cushion from under themselves in the second half though when they only kicked one point, that a Conor Fennell free as Limerick put them under a swell of pressure. “Totally concerned with the second half, Limerick got on top, it is very hard to drive into that breeze, it resulted in Limerick getting ahead, they didn’t get ahead on the scoreboard but they did get ahead around the pitch, we had to bring on subs, change our formation and dig in, I think in the last five minutes we were starting to run the game the way we wanted to”.
He added, “I don’t think our kickouts weren’t great in the second half, I think Eoin was under a bit of pressure and sent some of them out to the sides which we weren’t happy with, in general around the middle of the field around the second half Limerick commanded it and we were living on scraps but the scraps we worked the ball up the pitch as best we could with”.
Fennell’s free was awarded after it looked like the necessary winning margin was sliding from Clare’s grasp. “We didn’t score a lot in the second half, we were delighted to get that free and it steadied the ship, lads are getting used to new rules, it is no reflection on any player, it is a very difficult free to give away, we were delighted to get it”.
Walsh said both management and the players are learning every day they go out. “We’ve 24 players played in three games, the management are learning the time”. He confirmed the absence of corner back, Michael Kelly was due to illness.
He told The Clare Echo, “It is a learning curve for us, we came in in December, although we knew a lot of the players it is a learning curve to get them to work as a team, they are starting to do that, I said a few weeks ago that we want to be improving going into phase two but that was before the Waterford game, if we can produce our first half performance the next day then we’ll play as good as football as anybody”.
“We have a bit of momentum in the camp now, it is a learning curve, they’re all under twenty, we’ll march onto the next day”.
Cusack Park was the preference for Walsh and the U20 management but they’re instead heading West to Páirc Naomh Mhuire in Quilty to host Cork, the tie commencing at 19:00. “It is fantastic to have three more games, for the development of Clare football it is fantastic to have another three games in phase two, it is probably the better teams that are still in it, I don’t see us as any different to those teams, the lads are relishing the extra three games”.
