*Clare U20 football manager, Dermot Coughlan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
LOSING by nineteen points to Kerry was “a disappointing exit” for Clare’s U20 footballers but their outings against Cork and Waterford were the costly ones when it came to stopping the county reaching a first Munster final at the grade since 2002.
Wednesday’s 2-20 0-7 defeat to Kerry brought the curtain down on Clare’s six game championship run in the Munster U20 football championship. Both of the phase two round three games effectively doubled up as provincial semi-finals with the Tomás Ó Sé managed Kerry and Cork advancing with wins over Clare and Waterford.
Victory was let slip from Clare’s grasp when they drew with Cork and lost by a point to Waterford having led by seven two thirds of the way through the game.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, U20 manager Dermot Coughlan outlined that they have learned a lot over the course of the championship. “The Cork game we probably played the better football, we were just unlucky on the night, it was a tremendous performance. With Waterford, we got caught with two scores in injury time, we were a point up and they got two scores in injury time but that is the way it is and they are the lessons you learn with a young team, we learned them over the last three games but that is why we are here to learn lessons with them, improve and drive the group on. We’ve massive strides made since minor level to go to this”.
Coughlan acknowledged that fatigue weakened Clare’s challenge against a strong Kerry outfit. “It’s a disappointing exit, it has been a tough year for these lads especially after Jack’s (Boddy S&C coach) death following the Tipperary game but they battled gamely and went on a three match unbeaten run after that, we probably looked a bit tired after the last two games if I’m honest. We’ve three or four lads on the age, the rest of them are underage again next year, we went out with a young team tonight and I thought they battled gamely for thirty five or forty minutes but we just met a quality outfit in Kerry who punished us at every will”.
Qualification for phase two was secured when Clare played at the beginning of April but management opted against altering the line-up or resting players for this game. Coughlan explained their focus was on maintaining momentum within the side. “Momentum is everything, you want to keep winning and keep momentum going, when lads are playing to a system they get used to it, that was our game, we won the three games and we drew with Cork on the back of that momentum, it is very hard when you make three, four or five changes to wrestle it back”.
Three years ago this Clare side didn’t progress beyond phase one of their group, getting six championship games under their belt will aid their growth as footballers. “It is massive for development, when you have ten or eleven lads there again next year along with Ruben and Donncha who are underage for two more years the future is bright, we’ve made a lot of strides this year, we played a lot of good football and tried to play good football tonight, our structure was good tonight but we were unlucky with the goals, one was advantage from a free where they got the break from, the other was a good save from Harry which was recycled to the inside forward and he finished it. We created two goal chances and we needed to finish both of them, I couldn’t be more proud of our lads, I thought they battled gamely to the finish, the scoreboard won’t show that but the effort was 110 percent”.
Midfielder Evan Cahill is currently part of the county senior squad and Mullagh native Coughlan is confident more of the 2026 U20 panel will link up with Paul Madden’s squad next season. “It is a bit much the way Paul is so far down the line (for them to join this season) but definitely he will be looking at a few of them in the McGrath Cup and early league if they keep progressing but that is down to the players themselves because Paul will give them every opportunity”.
