*Mike Gough looks for an offload. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
INTRODUCING new players is the primary aim for Clare in the Munster Hurling Cup, manager Brian Lohan has said.
Clare began 2022 with a five point win over Waterford in Cusack Park on Saturday earning them a home final against Limerick this coming Sunday.
A strong Clare side was fielded from the get-go with just Darragh Lohan and Paddy Donnellan the only players in the first fifteen not to have featured in championship. Mike Gough and Darren OโBrien made their first appearances for the county seniors from the bench with Shane Meehan clocking up 1-03 during his second competitive senior outing.
โIt was a typical first game of the season, a lot of mistakes but happy enough to win it,โ Lohan said following the win. โThe obvious thing is weโre trying to get a few players from this competition, weโll have another day out to see and give those guys a chance again, weโll go hard at it against Limerickโ.
Brian added, โItโs a good competition, inter-county lads all of them want to play, weโre carrying a panel of 38/39, everyone of them want to play, they canโt all play in the championship matches, weโve five games coming up in the League, this is an important competition for usโ.
He was pleased with the contributions from the bench which certainly didnโt weaken Clareโs challenge. โWe had a couple of good performances off the bench, Ian Galvin came on and did well, weโre trying to introduce new lads into the team, in a set-up where there is so much commitment thereโs no point doing all this training if youโre not getting this opportunity on the field, everyone except the goalkeepers that was available to play did playโ.
Returning 2-24 in their first competitive match of the year was a plus, the Shannon man noted. โIt was a decent enough score, the standard that has been set by a lot of teams is that you have to get up on those 2-24, back in the day it would have won two games but at the moment it is the standard you have to be hittingโ.
Waterford boss, Liam Cahill felt the match was worthwhile from their perspective. โA great workout, Iโm really happy with it, itโs our first real competitive outing, a few areas will always pop up this time of year that we have to address. We had a lot of fellas who came into our squad today, it was a fairly big baptism for them to come into Cusack Park, Clare came fairly well loaded today with a lot of established players, as the game went on they showed that extra bit of classโ.
Mark Rodgersโ twenty sixth minute goal was a turning point in the contest, the Tipperary native acknowledged. โWhen youโre hit for a sucker punch, you have to be able to weather it and come back from it. When Clare got the goal, we seemed to go away for a time which allowed them to capitalise on the scoreboard and ultimately thatโs what was in it at the end of the game. Anytime you come to Cusack Park in Ennis youโll learn as much about Clare, a lot of teams come down here and donโt come out with a win, itโs been a great exercise for us to start the year withโ.
They are out of the running for the Munster Hurling Cup but Waterford are determined to claim some form of silverware in 2022, Cahill stated. โIt is a big year, we need to see proper progress, these players have done great over the last two years, theyโve put themselves into the latter stages of the championship each time, obviously it is to start delivering silverware and hopefully a Munster championship, weโd all love to be able to get up the steps of the Hogan Stand, that is the whole idea but silverware is the main aim for this yearโ.
