*Dermot Coughlan offloads the ball. Photograph: Ruth Griffin
HAVING COLLECTED their first win of the National Football League, Clare are looking to kick on and climb the table, vice captain Dermot Coughlan outlined.
A six point win on Sunday against Fermanagh saw Clare put their first points on the Division 3 table. Backing this up against Laois will see them climb out of the relegation zone and securing successive victories is firmly the focus within Paul Madden’s camp.
Joint vice-captain Dermot Coughlan has been one of Clare’s most consistent players in the first three rounds of the National Football League. He labelled Sunday’s 2-18 0-18 win over Fermanagh as “massive” for their cause. “It is typical Division 3 where every game is going to be fifty fifty, even though we were slightly happy with the performance against Down, we weren’t happy against Westmeath but the whole objective was to get up here, get two points and get back down the road again so we’re delighted with that”.
Clare’s strong finish demonstrated their character, the Mullagh man noted. “The only pressure that was put on was by ourselves to be honest, the boys were telling us all week not to put pressure on ourselves, go out and play football, we were here to get the win, they have full belief in us and that showed today, we were under the cosh for fifteen minutes in the second half but we regained our composure and finished the game strong”.
Added with the composure was the resilience to withstand losing midfielder Darragh Bohannon and captain Cillian Rouine to hamstring injuries early in the game. “It is a real competitive panel, even from training you won’t know who is going to be on the starting team or twenty six, it is really showing and lads took the chance again today, lads came on and nobody blinked an eye when they did, everyone did what they could for the cause, we’ve two points on the board and we’re looking forward to next week”.
There was relief within the Clare camp to finally get pick up points, for the St Caimin’s Community School teacher it also meant the Mid-Term break could be enjoyed somewhat. “The journey home from Down wasn’t that enjoyable when we came down the road with nothing, there is a lot of work-ons and we wouldn’t be entirely happy with that performance but that is the league, a new management in place and in fairness they are putting good structures in place, it maybe took us a while to get used to it but there’s great positive aspects to our play, if we can correct the few minor things we could be a force yet in Division 3”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, the Kilmurry Ibrickane clubman expressed hope that they will continue to climb the table, now that their first win is under the belts. “The thing with the league is that it is game on game, when you win and you’re playing again the following week you are playing with great confidence and there’s no doubt, if you keep getting points on the board you don’t feel them build up and you just need to keep looking to put in a performance week in week out”.
