*Peter Keane. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
CLARE cannot afford to be missing players, manager Peter Keane said following their nine point loss to Monaghan.
By Colm Shalvey
A strong opening half which resulted in Clare building up a seven point half-time lead with Connor Meaney landing two pointers was not matched in Sunday’s second half as Keane’s charges fell to a nine point loss.
Three successive championship defeats, the Munster final and first two outings in the All-Ireland SFC have been recorded by Clare but they can still qualify for a preliminary All-Ireland quarter-final should they overcome Louth in Portlaoise on Sunday next.
Keane is hopeful of having the injured pair of Cillian Brennan and Emmet McMahon available for selection for that game. “We’d be hopeful, the medical team are working as good as they can and they have been very good, they weren’t too far away today that maybe we could have them for a fortnight”. He added, “To be missing Cillian Rouine, Cillian Brennan and Emmet McMahon … we need everyone and hopefully we’ll have them back for the next game.
Experienced forward Keelan Sexton was an unused substitute in Clare’s latest outing with Jamie Stack, Evan Cahill and Darren Nagle all introduced when the game was out of reach.
He said the wind was a big factor in the second half and referenced a “very difficult” week for Clare football with the death of Éanna Rouine.”We worked very hard and the two-pointers worked well for us in the first half, but we paid for it on the other side in the second half. There was a very strong wind. They probably got back into the game pretty early in that second half, but I can’t fault the lads, considering we were down a few fellas and the week we had. It’s very difficult on the lads. It’s just a very difficult situation and our hearts went out to them”.
Getting out of Division 3 is key for Clare to progress, the former Kerry manager stated. “You’re looking at a Division One outfit. I saw them against Louth and they were very impressive. They have a lot of movement and a lot of quality. We just have to try to get out of Division Three and play at a higher level. That’s how you progress and the beauty of this competition is there’s games and games and when you play better teams you learn”.
