*Clare U20 manager, Maurice Walsh. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
DESPITE their fourth loss in the Munster championship, Clare U20 boss Maurice Walsh said his charges are as good as any side in the province but they were caught by an inability to produce a seventy minute display.
Losses to Waterford and Tipperary in phase one of the Munster championship were followed by defeats to Cork and Tipperary in the second phase of the provincial campaign ending Clare’s chances of making a Munster final.
Speaking to The Clare Echo following Clare’s five point loss to Tipperary at New Inn on Tuesday evening, manager Maurice Walsh lamented their poor start in the opening ten minutes where they fell eight points behind. “That’s the story of this particular group, we just can’t get a 70 minute performance out of them. We have worked with them, we have tried everything. I don’t know, it just that it seems to fall apart for a period of time. If we can put in a 70 minutes performance they are as good as any team in Munster”.
He continued, “in the first ten minutes they allowed Tipp to come at them. In fairness to Tipp they broke everything, they came at us with a veracity. We dug in and got back to a four point game at half time. We dominated that quarter but we need to do it in every quarter”.
“Football is so fast now, it’s up and down the pitch, Tipp got a run on us in the first ten minutes, we got back into the game and, as I said, won the second quarter. We came out all guns blazing in the second half and we were with them until that late goal which was as a result of mistake. You don’t give a ball to Daithí Hogan and get away with it. Look fair play to our lads, they produced great stuff for the management. We are delighted with them but disappointed we lost”, Maurice said.
Next Tuesday’s trip to Tralee to take on Kerry is effectively a dead-rubber as far as Clare are concerned. “We have nothing to lose next week. It is a learning curve, going down to play Kerry in Tralee, is a learning curve for all these players. Unfortunately we are not going there chasing a result but we will go there and do our best. We will put our best foot forward and see where we are”.
Walsh concluded, “out of a panel of 35 there 15 are eligible again next year which is great. Lads will benefit a lot from this campaign, the names of a lot of these will show up in our club championship through the summer. They are great lads, ask them to do something and they will do it, ask them to play in a certain way and they will do it. Once they put on that jersey they do their best for Clare”.
