*Clare U20 hurling manager, Terence Fahy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
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NOT for the first time this season, the onus falls to the Clare U20s to lift the spirits of the county’s deflated hurling public.
Grit and character has been evident in abundance for all six of Clare’s outings in the Munster U20 championship. The manner in which they secured provincial glory was quoted by Brian Lohan, Diarmuid Ryan and Diarmuid Stritch as providing the inspiration for them to bounce back from their fifteen point Limerick loss.
Now in the aftermath of Clare’s exit from the Munster SHC, the pendulum swings back to the U20s to offer a tonic to the saffron and blue supporters who are still in shock following the seniors sobering sixteen point defeat to Cork on Sunday.
For the likes of Lohan, Ryan and Stritch to note that the U20s gave the much-needed bounce for the seniors “shows the strength of the ties” between both set-ups according to U20 manager, Terence Fahy. “We often speak about the Clare seniors and the way that they lead, we often speak about the behaviours needed to be an elite county player, we don’t have to look far in our county for that, it is straight in front of our eyes with the players on our senior team, we often referenced that and we often reference how near our players are to the set-up.
“We have three lads involved on the panel, Diarmuid Stritch and Jack O’Neill were with us last year, Niall O’Farrell and Seán Rynne the year before, Adam Hogan, they are all becoming strong players in the senior set-up, they have not left our set-up too long so if players can buy into development, discipline and learning those steps are there and it is achievable. We don’t have a big pool of players in Co Clare but we have capacity to have the right players and we have the capacity to keep them, retain them and develop them, that has been obvious in that senior team, it was a big boost and it shows the links are strong but we need that as a county, it is not by accident, Brian Lohan leads that and he has built that, it is nice that we can contribute to that,” Terence told The Clare Echo.
In his fifth season as Clare U20 manager, success had eluded Terence at the grade until earlier this month when Munster glory was claimed in dramatic fashion with Mark Sheedy making three saves and scoring one in a memorable penalty shootout. Therefore, he’s well aware that reaching All-Ireland finals is far from easy. “Two teams get through to an All-Ireland final so it is a very privileged position, it is a rare position and we’re a good few years at it and we haven’t been here before so we appreciate the opportunity and the magnitude of the occasion”.
Fahy previously noted how Clare were tired of being “gallant losers” at the U20 grade and is now focused on adding a second piece of silverware in eighteen days. “Those opportunities don’t come around too often, it was very important when we were in our third final in four years and we hadn’t got over the line but the group got over the line the last day and that was very important for the county and for hurling in the county”.
Throughout the championship, Fahy’s management have not been afraid to make changes and have not named the same team for consecutive games. “We have a lot of belief in our group, we’ve thirty eight on our group and it is very hard to get into our group, some excellent players didn’t make our panel, some excellent players don’t make our twenty four, we do believe in the capacity of anyone on the thirty eight to come in and do a job, changes have needed to be made and we have been struggling in matches but we have no hesitation to throw people in and invariably they deliver because they are prepped, they do the same preparation, we have huge faith in our group, that is why you will see change and it is next man up, that brings freshness, belief, competitiveness to the group, it is a healthy thing”.
Alongside his management of Andrew Fahey and Tomás Kelly, Terence was one of the interested observers at the Leinster final where Galway defeated Kilkenny 2-20 2-11. “They were very impressive, they were the favourites beforehand, they were comfortable enough throughout the match, there was always three or four points but they finished very strong, they closed it out impressively and they were impressive in both sides of the field, we know that because we’ve played them earlier on in the year, they gave us a lesson one night in Caherlohan so we know their capacity, they would have been favourites from a long way out”.
Whitegate’s Fahy knows a thing or two about Galway hurling and his proximity to the border adds some intrigue to Sunday’s showdown. “There’s always great banter, there’s a very good-natured and healthy rivalry, there is great craic around Whitegate and Woodford but very healthy. The intensity of the rivalry would be reserved for Tipperary across the lake”.
Within the staffroom of St Joseph’s Tulla, neither he or Kelly have sidelined their colleague Aidan Harte who is currently coach to the Galway seniors and was part of Fahy’s U20 management in 2024. “We’re around long enough and we won’t be talking U20 hurling, we will be talking everything but it. Aidan is a key member of our staff, a great hurling man in our school, we’ll be minding our own business, he would have a serious investment because they have a good few players involved with their senior team and overlapping on their U20 team too, he is very involved in their development”.
Big occasions are not feared by this group of Clare hurlers who also tasted All-Ireland success as minors in 2023. “They are a composed, mature group with a lot of experience, they have played in Harty finals, All-Ireland and Munster minor finals, a lot of big club games, college games, they are well used to the big day and performing on the big day so hopefully that won’t be changing”.
On managing the approach to the All-Ireland, Fahy outlined, “The Munster campaign was relentless so we had to come down for a while after that, we will gradually be going back up the gears, a very clinical approach, a very simple and common sense approach will be what we’ll do to get them right for next weekend”.
He continued, “We preach balance to the players, we try and walk that balance ourselves, it is important because it is a past-time, it is sport, it is GAA, a bit of common sense, once the work is done and we have the group ready then everybody can switch off and conserve their energy for the weekend, it is another match for us, it is an All-Ireland final but we won’t deviate too much from standard routines”.
