Clare’s use of the ball ‘key’ to All-Ireland final outcome – Reidy

*David Reidy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill

USE of the ball will be key for Clare in Sunday’s All-Ireland final according to David Reidy who is determined his name won’t be omitted from the starting fifteen for the decider against Cork.

Clare’s win over Cork in the Munster SHC “probably doesn’t matter,” Reidy admitted as the finishing touches are put on plans for Sunday’s All-Ireland final between the two counties.

For their meeting at the end of April, Reidy chipped in with 0-3 as he produced a strong second half display. “That was a long time ago. When we played them it was a must win game for us as we were coming off a loss. The structure Cork had at the time has changed a small bit and there have been a couple of personnel changes to their team. The way they have come into their own and the way they are playing tactically and physically means the threat they pose has come up a couple of per cent since we played them”, he explained.

Ending Limerick’s run for five All-Ireland titles showed the ability of the Cork side, the Ennis man stressed. “What Cork showed on Sunday is unbelievable, We were in a privileged position in that we were able to sit back on the couch and watch the game. Some of the scores they were taking were unbelievable. They will be a different animal on Sunday”.
Sitting down to watch the game, David didn’t have any preference as to who he wanted to see winning, “I sat down to watch a good game of hurling”.

Drafted onto the Clare senior panel in the winter of 2013 having been part of the All-Ireland winning U21 squad earlier that year, Sunday will be David’s first taste of an All-Ireland senior hurling final. “I am on the panel for the last ten years and this is my first All-Ireland final. I have said to a few of the lads that have come into the panel this year not to get used to this as there are no guarantees. There can only be one focus and that is on Sunday”.

Reidy recalled, “The senior final was a draw, there was an under 21 final in between that and the replay which Clare won. You then get a call up to join the panel of the All-Ireland senior champions. It was only natural for a young player to think that this is going to last but you are quickly brought back down to earth. It’s not that easy. There are up to eight or nine teams at that level and if you stay static for a month you will see that in the results”.

In their first season after the All-Ireland win, Clare lost to Wexford in a replay in Wexford in a game in which current team coach Brendan Bugler was sent off, “It was 2018 when we got back to Croke Park”.

Securing a place on the starting Clare team is not easy, the Éire Óg hurler outlined. “We have 41 training and the pressure each one puts on to get into the match day 26, or be one of the five, possibly six subs is massive. Everyone can’t start. When you don’t start I suppose it’s about proving the management wrong and showing them what you can do, showing the resilience to come back after being dropped and do what can be done. Hopefully I can do that in training and make sure my name won’t be left off the team sheet”.

Focus for Clare’s hurlers is on concentrating about the game not allowing pressure to build, he said. “We will enjoy the build-up but we will concentrate on a game of hurling which will run for up to 76 minutes, against Cork who have improved so much. We will have to come with our own performance, that’s where the focus has to be. We have to have a 75 minute performance or we will be in trouble”.

Reidy stressed, “use of the ball is key. We were wasteful against Kilkenny, we weren’t getting ball to hand and that’s the standard, it has to be ball to hand, move the ball fast and take your opportunities. This group has always went after the performance, sometimes we got it and sometimes we didn’t. It’s about looking to how can you improve, and how to rectify a weakness in the game, pinpoint that weakness and go and try again”.