I know that the new season’s schedule is a trial but we’ve already had a Leinster football final going up against the province in a European rugby final and this Saturday’s All-Ireland quarter-finals having to be squeezed into television schedules to accommodate another rugby final featuring two South African teams.
It’s no secret that the hurling community is more conservative than football’s and that Sunday afternoons are optimal for matches of this importance. I appreciate the steps to showcase the Tailteann Cup semi-finals but can’t understand why the quarter-finals couldn’t have been on a Sunday.
The scheduling impacted on the hurling in terms of attendance and by extension, atmosphere. Crowds are more likely to ‘get in and get out’ on a Saturday when traffic is always worse. It’s not as if hurling doesn’t need decent marketing as well.
Making the best of it, Wexford and Clare provided a dramatic main event on Saturday. For me it went entirely to script for the Munster finalists, playing less than two weeks after an exhausting contest with Limerick.
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There was the early goal, the out-in-out involvement of Rory Hayes after the CHC freed him in the middle of the week — proving that getting players off can also be disruptive — and how off-beam Tony Kelly’s shooting was in the early stages.
[ Clare find extra gear to power away from Wexford and seal semi-final placeOpens in new window ]
Shane Reck did a good, man marking job on Clare’s most influential player but Kelly wasn’t at his best, as was obvious from his inaccurate shooting in the first half.
Wexford will feel that they left this behind them but they were on the end of a very impressive recovery. Clare’s win and the manner of it — dug out when they hadn’t played at all well — will really stand to them. To an extent it’s no surprise because there’s a consensus that they have earned the right to be seen as Limerick’s closest challenger but this performance copper-fastens that status.
When the six-point lead opened up and with it, the circumstances of Ian Galvin hitting the bar at one end and Lee Chin sticking in a third goal at the other end, I thought it was the death knell for Clare.
They showed immense courage in the comeback. They were gone at the hour mark and the way they had been playing and the lack of energy suggested that Wexford would pull away.
Out of somewhere they found the will to thunder back into the match. The bench contribution from Aron Shanagher and Shane Meehan — 1-4 between them — was significant but two players stood out for me.
Shane O’Donnell was exceptional. He hadn’t succumbed to the general malaise but he was also the real catalyst in the comeback, buzzing and bringing everyone with him.
At corner back Paul Flanagan also put in an exceptional shift and was one of the few players to follow a fine display in the Munster final with another one here. He has really blossomed this season. His injury a fortnight ago was a blow for Clare in extra time and I noticed that he was the first player Brian Lohan went to afterwards.
Once the early storm subsided I liked the solidity of their half backs, from Diarmuid Ryan’s scoring to John Conlon’s calm in the middle and the excellence of David McInerney’s ability to defend his patch and use the ball intelligently.
They did ride their luck a bit. Mark Fanning’s mistake for the Shanagher goal wasn’t the only one Wexford made during the recovery phase of the match when Clare strung together 1-6 without reply but it was the costliest.
As Brian Lohan said afterwards, top players are top players because they find a way to deliver. Clare’s comeback coincided with Tony Kelly’s best period and Ryan Taylor, another important figure but one who had been closely man marked by Conor Devitt, came into the match to great effect.
It’s also important to acknowledge that Rory O’Connor’s 15th-minute departure with a nasty looking knee injury meant that Wexford lost their best forward at a very early stage, which obviously impacted on them.
Galway were certainly better than the Leinster final. Cork had no forward similar to Conor Whelan
The first quarter-final was exceptionally disappointing for Cork. Again I have been left baffled by their inability to deliver on what looked promising form coming into a big match.
The outcome began and ended with their conversion rate, which was appalling. Maybe they were unnerved by the concession of such an avoidable early goal when Pa Collins lost Jack Grealish’s speculative shot. Whatever the reason, there was a great unease in their team from then on.
They were careless in possession and got turned over frequently.
[ Galway punish Cork inaccuracy as Shefflin’s men hang on by barest of marginsOpens in new window ]
Accuracy went up in smoke as chance after chance ended up on the bonfire — 12 first-half wides I counted. Conor Lehane was the most obviously affected by the systems failure. He has been Cork’s best forward and yet he blazed away wide after wide and had to be replaced by Patrick Horgan to rescue the free taking.
Alan Connolly was another who didn’t live up to his form and the effect was to push Cork back into being prescriptive about moving the ball through the lines. They ended up reminding me of the way they were back in April.
Galway were certainly better than the Leinster final. Cork had no forward similar to Conor Whelan, who really is playing as well as he can but they’re flying on one wing. They still found a way. Every time the margin narrowed, they seemed able to hit a long-range point to keep the scoreboard out of sight.
They got a better performance out of Cathal Mannion and Tom Monaghan was more recognisable. Their defence was also good. They’ll feel they have a good shot at Limerick in the semi-final but I’m not convinced.
