Treatyites aim to lower the Banner
A look at what separates Clare and Limerick, as the neighbours go to battle in another tantalising round of the Munster Hurling Championship.
Hurling purists throughout the country have had their appetites well and truly whetted after the remarkable display few predicted performed by the men of the peoples’ republic two weeks ago. We’ve all heard the clichés regarding the Munster Hurling Championship, the passion, the fire, the rivalry, the incomparable ambiance of a jam-packed Thurles of a sunny evening in June. Like many clichés, it rings true. The game needs an entertaining, competitive, fierce Munster championship and if any form of provincial set up is to remain in the future, this will be the only thing keeping it together.
Both Limerick and Clare have been keeping extremely quiet. Both camps love this understated build up, keeping their heads down and then exploding on the big day. The only issue is; they both can’t be underdogs. There’s nothing between them in the bookies, but the sense is that, overall, Limerick are very much in the middle of a long-term project, and the die-hard supporters are happy to let John Kiely have his three years, as one long-time fan was overheard at the recent disappointing League semi-final loss to Galway, “sure we’ve waited 45 years, we can wait a few more!”. Clare, meanwhile, backboned by the strong club display by Ballyhea, and, personified by messrs. Tony Kelly, Podge Collins, David Reidy, and a plethora of others who are ominously entering their prime, have benefited hugely from the omission of the Davy media craze and have been allowed to go about their business behind closed doors, ready to spring a trap to bring down their age old rivals.
The Shannonsiders have been hit by a few injury concerns of late, Gearóid Hegarty and Diarmaid Byrnes among the wounded. Byrnes, in particular, as vice-captain, occupies a key leadership role and would be a huge loss to the spine of the team. A key talking point throughout the league has been the level of experimentation with this Limerick outfit, particularly in the forwards, to such an extent that nobody is really sure what Kiely’s first 15 will be for June 4th. Clare’s is somewhat more predictable, strongholded by David McInerney in the full-back line, Brendan Bugler and David Fitzgerald in the halfback line, Colm Galvin in midfield and the frightening ensemble of Collins, Kelly, John Conlon, Aron Shanagher, David Reidy and Conor McGrath leading the attack.
Limerick failed in many areas to contain Galway in the League semi-final, but failing to stop Joe Canning was a major contributor to the loss. They simply have to contain Tony Kelly to stand any chance in Thurles on Sunday. Clare’s scoring ability is superior to Limerick’s — particularly from long-range — and so if the game turns into a shootout, there will be only one winner. It is inevitable that Limerick will play a third midfielder to crowd the centre and discourage long range shooting.
Limerick possibly have the edge in defence, with Declan Hannon gradually coming good at centre back and due to peak, crowd favourite Richie McCarthy refuting the doubters and maintaining a solid presence, and Seamus Hickey having the year of his life thus far. Clare would fancy themselves the better outfit in attack, so it will be pure work-rate that will ultimately decide the result. If the Limerick defence can limit the free count against them, and the Limerick forwards work hard enough to curtail the amount of quality ball emerging from the Clare defence, they may be able to compete sufficiently on the scoreboard. If there is a regular, fast converyor belt of possession flowing past midfield and into space in front of the Clare forwards, they’ll have a field day.
Conversely, up front for Limerick, tactics so far suggest a more direct route will be how they will approach it with Shane Dowling possibly taking the role of target man at full forward, with Barry Nash and Peter Casey peeling off him to give pacey options to latch onto breaks. They have the potential to cut loose, but will have to hurl at breakneck speed and need things to go their way to offer a scoring return that will challenge that posted by the Clare attacking six.
The winning and losing of this potentially tantalising (Buff Egan, 2017) encounter will be in the Limerick half back line and the Clare half forward line. The strongest Clare line will look to win the majority of possession here and get Tony Kelly loose to dictate the game from the middle third. A Limerick line of Byrnes, Hannon and Hickey will be challenged but have the potential to compete aerially and limit the damage. If Byrnes is out, it is lkely that Gavin O’Mahoney would take his place. Experience would be his chief advantage as well as his ability to set up attacks with accurate distribution, but he would be targeted in the air, likely by Kelly or Conlon. The Limerick third midfielder would be utilised here to close the space offerd to Kelly and Collins and would play a critical role in disrupting Clare’s tactics.
Regardless of the outcome, here’s hoping that the blistering pace set by Cork and Tipperary is continued if not exceeded and both sets of supporters get the passionate, fiery display they so desperately crave.
