All-Ireland SHC Qualifiers Phase 2 – Clare vs. Galway

Galway defeated Clare by 2-18 to 1-11 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Qualifiers Phase 2 on Saturday in Cusack Park Ennis.

Two Big Macs, but only one with real bite

Galway 2-18 Clare 1-11

By Diarmuid O’Flynn at Cusack Park for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Monday, July 13, 2009

IT’S SAID a team reflects the personality of its manager; this All-Ireland SHC qualifier offered diametrically opposing arguments on that particular hypothesis. On the one hand, offering proof positive was Galway.In his own playing days with Tipperary in the 80s, John McIntyre was a strong, forceful, honest, totally committed hurler. Saturday evening, Galway looked like a team of 15 John McIntyres; they simply crushed Clare, didn’t so much outhurl them as outwork them, outmuscle them – most un-Galway like. Everywhere a ball landed there was a Galway man in position, soon supported by one, two, even three. The effort so evident in the loss to Kilkenny was again on view but this time there was no let-up, no valley period, and from first whistle to last Galway were on top. 0-7 to 0-2 after the first quarter, 1-8 to 0-5 at the break, 1-11 to 0-6 after three quarters, 2-18 to 1-11 at the death – inexorable Galway progress.

In contrast, and stark contrast, there was Clare. From his time as trainer to the all-conquering team of the 90’s, big Mike McNamara has been something of a folk hero in the Banner county, the kind of unconquerable guy you’d imagine Brian Boru would have had by his side. However, Cusack Park was no Clontarf as the home citadel fell to Galway, a meeker and weaker Clare crushed. Oh, they had their heroes, in defence especially. Phillip Brennan was superb in goal, defiant even in the face of the Galway onslaught; twice his line was breached but on neither occasion was he culpable, and on at least three other occasions he showed exceptional skill and courage in denying Galway goals.

The twin Galway/Portumna inside scoring threat of Joe Canning and Damien Hayes was held by James McInerney and Pat Donnellan, respectively, to just one point from play (Canning) and two from frees conceded (on Hayes), while the outer Clare wall of Brian O’Connell, Brendan Bugler and Alan Markham also more than held their own. O’Connell did see a red card in the 58th minute for a reckless tackle on Cyril Donnellan, and that didn’t help Clare’s cause, but that offence was a reflection more of BOC’s commitment than his character because the Clare captain is not a dirty player. Centre-back Bugler was caught for the first Galway goal, scored in the 30th minute by the unmarked Donnellan to put his side 1-7 to 0-3 ahead, but this only because in the build-up, seconds earlier, Bugler had been taken out off the ball by a flying elbow from the same Donnellan, an offence unspotted by referee, linesmen or umpires but which left Bugler prone on the ground while the action continued.

It was from that half-back line forward, however, that the Clare effort flagged, champions hard to find. Diarmuid McMahon tried manfully all through, never gave up, and his kicked goal in injury time was fitting reward for that effort, albeit all too late. Jonny Clancy also worked hard, as did Niall Gilligan, Pat Vaughan and Tony Griffin, but none were very effective and all were well outplayed by their immediate opponents.

A team of Mike Macs? Hardly, and his disappointment at the effort was evident. “We had looked good for the last couple of weeks, the training was superb, going really well,” he said, “I thought something good was on the cards today, but we struggled in key areas, seemed to get the match plan wrong. We tried to adjust, as we did against Tipperary (Munster semi-final loss); the adjustments went well that day, didn’t go so well today.

“We have to have a look at the whole structure,” he continued. “Why our level of consistency is so poor, why so many fellas drop the heads so early, so easily. We have fellas who should be able to contest with the best, but they aren’t contesting with the best.” And of course that was the key word, contest. While Clare could look to only about half their team as being truly competitive for the whole game, Galway were like tigers throughout the field, tenacious in their tackling, a fact reflected in a free count that went heavily against them – 10-2 at half-time, 14-5 ultimately. “I felt our players were being penalised for their total commitment,” McIntyre complained afterwards. “Kilkenny seem to get away with it but we were penalised; I felt our players were hounding the player in possession, doing what we told them to do and yet nine times out of ten it seemed to be free against them – that was disappointing, we were being penalised for total commitment, especially in the forward line.”

No, John, you shouldn’t complain; the free count was probably a fair reflection of what was happening on the field, Galway the ones hitting hardest and hitting most often, Clare the ones – for the most part – standing back. Fergal Moore, who dropped back to the corner from the wing very early in proceedings, alongside Shane Kavanagh and Ollie Canning, took no prisoners in the inside line; Damien Joyce, John Lee and Adrian Cullinane formed a fortress in the half-back line, Eoin Lynch and Kevin Hynes dominated midfield, while up front, the work-rate never flagged. Why, even the Canning/Hayes axis, while beaten, still managed to come up trumps at times, and it was a hook by Hayes on Bugler in the seventh minute of the second half that led directly to Joe’s only point from play, but a critical point it was, and typified the Galway effort.

“We knew the game wasn’t over at half-time,” said John McIntyre, “We knew we’d have to drive on. The work-rate was good all over the field, we did out best very quickly to win back lost possession, we hounded players, didn’t allow them settle on the ball. We did a lot of things right, though maybe we weren’t clinical enough, used the ball badly at times. But the commitment, the heart – you couldn’t fault it. If you have that, you have something to build on.”

McIntyre has that in spades, now Galway have it. Clare? With a relegation dog-fight about to commence, Mike McNamara has a major challenge on his hands.

Scorers for Galway: J Canning 0-7 (5f, 1’65’); N Healy 1-3; C Donnellan 1-2; A Callanan 0-2; A Smyth, K Hynes, E Lynch, J Gantley, 0-1 each.

Clare: D McMahon 1-1; N Gilligan, B Nugent, P Vaughan, 0-2 each; T Griffin, T Carmody, J Clancy, J Conlon, 0-1 each.

Galway subs: G Mahon for O Canning, 49; G Farragher for A Cullinane, 51; J Gantley for D Hayes, 65; E Forde for K Hynes, 70.

Clare subs: J Conlon for T Griffin, 38; C Morey for D Barrett, 43; B Nugent for T Carmody, 48; C McMahon for C Ryan, 63

Lee leads Galway rising

From the Irish Independent newspaper

Galway 2-18 Clare 1-11

Monday July 13 2009

QUITE what this Phase Two hurling qualifier victory over the auld enemy in front of a packed and sodden Ennis meant to Galway was evident from the heartfelt comments of brilliant centre-back John Lee afterwards. “We haven’t won a big championship match since 2005 (All-Ireland semi-final) and we’re getting knocked and slated by everyone, in the press and the public, so, just for ourselves, this gives us a bit of a lift and we need that,” he said passionately.

Manager John McIntyre concurred and this dogged, tireless, selfless display showed he’s definitely got Galway playing in his own image — and for each other — now. The only quibble, ironically, was about their full-forwards’ poor return and the scoreline certainly flatters Galway as they were only six points ahead at half-time and with 15 minutes remaining.

They only really cut loose when Clare were reduced to 14 men after captain Brian O’Connell was sent off for a head-high tackle on Cyril Donnellan on 57 minutes. Galway’s vaunted gunslingers — Joe Canning, Damien Hayes and Niall Healy — were held scoreless from play for the entire first half, though, admittedly, they got far from perfect service all day. But a tireless half-forward line, in which Donnellan (1-2) and Aonghus Callanan (0-2) starred, made up for it, especially with their phenomenal work-rate.

Billed as this team’s ‘OK Coral’ moment, Galway came out fighting and question marks about their goalkeeper (Colm Callanan) and full-back (Shane Kavanagh) were also answered affirmatively.

Colm Callanan saved a Tony Carmody penalty after 26 minutes that proved vital as within minutes Donnellan had goaled to give Galway a seven-point cushion which was soon extended to eight. And when Colin Ryan burst through on goals just before the break, Colm Callanan, whose long puck-outs were noticeable, parried it safely. Like Canning, Clare U-21 Ryan was over-burdened with massive expectations after his 0-12 against Tipp and he failed to meet them, snuffed out scoreless by Ollie Canning’s brilliance.

Most galling for Clare was that they hadn’t one other forward, of any vintage, capable of filling that vacuum against a ferocious defence in which Adrian Cullinane also stood out. Two years ago, Clare famously narrowed the pitch to knobble Galway’s attack, but this time they took them on bravely in man-to-man combat. James McInerney proved his rightful claim to the full-back berth with a marvellous display to temper college team-mate Joe Canning, who scored just a point from play.

Goalkeeper Philip Brennan made a great double-save in the third quarter and Patrick Donnellan, Brendan Bugler and Alan Markham did everything possible to rally Clare, even if their clearances weren’t always perfect. But up front and at midfield Clare completely misfired and were shamefully outmuscled at times on their home patch, prompting manager Mike McNamara to wonder “why our level of consistency is so poor. We’d loads of fellas dropping the heads when they shouldn’t.”

For a team with such a marvellous qualifier record (13-1 previously) Clare fizzled out dreadfully. Diarmuid McMahon kicked in a consolation goal deep into injury-time and they now face the new relegation play-off dogfight which only darkened McNamara’s mood further. “What the hell are they (Croke Park) doing?” he mused. “All those lads want to do is go away from hurling now for a week or two, they’re more disappointed than anyone else in the way they played, and now we’re out again next week. It’s a crazy situation.”

Despite his delight, Galway boss McIntyre also voiced a quibble of his own. “I’m a bit concerned our players were penalised for their total commitment, especially our forwards,” he said, obviously without the benefit of video hindsight to know that Joe Canning was blessed to avoid an early booking for trying to dispossess Patrick Donnellan with his fist.

“The Kilkenny lads seem to be able to get away with it but I thought we were penalised heavily when hounding the player in possession,” McIntyre said of referee James Owens, who is a definite graduate of the ‘play on’ school of refereeing, awarding just 18 frees on a very wet sod, just five of them to Galway.

The only serious worry for McIntyre though was the injuries to Ollie Canning (blurred vision) and Cullinane (knee), especially facing Cork now so quickly. “We weren’t clinical, we used the ball badly at times but Jesus, the honesty and commitment and hard work,” he enthused. “If you have that you’ve something to build on.”

Scorers — Galway: J Canning 0-7 (5f, 1’65), N Healy 1-3, C Donnellan 1-2, A Callanan 0-2, E Lynch, K Hynes, A Smyth, J Gantley 0-1 each. Clare: D McMahon 1-1, N Gilligan, J Conlon, P Vaughan (1f) 0-2 each,T Griffin, T Carmody, J Clancy, B Nugent 0-1 each.

Galway — C Callanan 8; O Canning 9, S Kavanagh 8, F Moore 8; D Joyce 7, J Lee 9.5, A Cullinane 9; E Lynch 6, K Hynes 8; A Callanan 8, C Donnellan 9, A Smyth 7; D Hayes 7, J Canning 6, N Healy 7. Subs: G Mahon 7 for O Canning (49), G Farragher 8 for Cullinane (52), K Hayes for Donnellan (58) J Gantley for Hayes (66), E Forde for Hynes (70).

Clare — P Brennan 8; P Donnellan 8, J McInerney 8, G O’Grady 7; B O’Connell 7, B Bugler 8, A Markham 7; P Vaughan 7, T Griffin 6; T Carmody 6, D Barrett 4, J Clancy 6; N Gilligan 5, D McMahon 5, C Ryan 5. Subs: J Conlon 8 for Griffin (38), C Morey 6 for Barrett (44), B Nugent 7 for Carmody (48), C McMahon 6 for Ryan (54).

Ref — J Owens (Wexford)

Fixture Details

GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Championship Qualifier Phase 2
Ennis 7.00pm
An Clár v Gaillimh
Referee: Cathal McAllister (Corcaigh)
(E.T. if Necessary)

Team News

Clare (SH v Galway): P Brennan; P Vaughan, J McInerney, G O’Grady; A Markham, B Bugler, P Donnellan; B O’Connell, T Griffin; T Carmody, D McMahon, C Ryan; N Gilligan, D Barrett, J Clancy.

Galway (SH v Clare): C Callanan; D Joyce, S Kavanagh, O Canning (captain); F Moore, J Lee, A Cullinane; E Lynch, K Hynes; A Callanan, C Donnellan, A Smith; D Hayes, J Canning, N Healy.

Match Coverage

This game will be shown live on RTE2

Snippets

Clare v Galway, Ennis, Saturday, 7.0pm

The counties have clashed eleven times in the championship with Clare holding a commanding 8-2 lead with one draw. Galway’s only wins came in the 2003 All-Ireland qualifiers and in the 1961 Munster championship.

Last Five Championship Clashes

Clare 2-10 Galway 0-14 (2007 qualifiers)
Galway 1-15 Clare 2-11 (2003 qualifiers)
Clare 1-15 Galway 0-17 (2002 All-Ireland quarter-final)
Clare 3-18 Galway 2-14 (All-Ireland quarter-final) Replay
Clare 3-15 Galway 2-18 (All-Ireland quarter-final) Draw

2009 Championship

Tipperary 3-18 Clare 1-22

Galway 5-29 Laois 0-17

Kilkenny 2-20 Galway 3-13