Hurling championship 2018

[shark]

They'll be doing well to replace Canning mind you.

I'd need to watch it back but he wasn't that overly involved in open play on first review. two line balls over the bar and deadly from frees all the same.
The lack of fresh faces in the Galway team could be their undoing although got a few run outs in the league, only Sean Loftus would be new to the larger hurling public at this level.

In Cork another Munster championship won't be enough when they see a Clare/Galway/Limerick man lifting the Liam McCarthy in a few weeks time. They expect and demand to be challenging for top honours. Last year was tolerated as it was their first time back at that level and competing.
This year they were aiming for the big one.

They have fine hurlers in their ranks, the touch and control of the likes of Lehane, Horgan, Fitzgibbon and even Harnedy is a thing of beauty and their shooting by and large is unreal.
BUT they lack two things;
A serious goal threat, a big aerial winning full forward who can bustle his way to goal (Think Conlon, Guillane, Flynn, Dowling, Shanagher, Duggan, Joe Cooney)
And
A defence able and capable of stopping a big, aerial winning full forward like those mentioned above.

They dominated large parts of that game yesterday but never were able to land the killer blow.

There'll be a novel pairing in the AI final anyways so that is good.

That is becoming a common theme for teams playing against Clare. Cleary doesn't hurl a huge amount of ball for a no6, but he is unusually sticky for a player playing in that position. His man tends to have a hard time getting on much ball. It must be the fact that he's a footballer playing hurling!

[Jim_Murphy_74]

Limerick will fear neither with the extra weeks rest .

Limerick had no fear travelling to Ennis for round robin game.  Granted they didn't have an extra  week's rest but with a Munster final a stake they didn't shine.  Once they realize that Clare wouldn't wilt to physical stuff their plan B was pure containment of John Conlon.

If Clare get through the All-Ireland is a derby game.  Derby games seldom follow form.

/Jim.

[johnnycool]

Limerick will fear neither with the extra weeks rest .

Limerick had no fear travelling to Ennis for round robin game.  Granted they didn't have an extra  week's rest but with a Munster final a stake they didn't shine.  Once they realize that Clare wouldn't wilt to physical stuff their plan B was pure containment of John Conlon.

If Clare get through the All-Ireland is a derby game.  Derby games seldom follow form.

/Jim.

In that game in particular I think the Limerick management over thought the situation in taking off a forward and bringing on a defender to sweep in front of Conlon and you playing with the wind. They handed the impetus to Clare with that move.
You'd have hoped they've learned from it.

[Jim_Murphy_74]

Limerick will fear neither with the extra weeks rest .

Limerick had no fear travelling to Ennis for round robin game.  Granted they didn't have an extra  week's rest but with a Munster final a stake they didn't shine.  Once they realize that Clare wouldn't wilt to physical stuff their plan B was pure containment of John Conlon.

If Clare get through the All-Ireland is a derby game.  Derby games seldom follow form.

/Jim.

In that game in particular I think the Limerick management over thought the situation in taking off a forward and bringing on a defender to sweep in front of Conlon and you playing with the wind. They handed the impetus to Clare with that move.
You'd have hoped they've learned from it.

It may have been a factor but also Cian Lynch, Seamus Flanagan and Kyle Hayes in particular did not cope well with Clare's close attention that day.  Remember too that the sweeper was a result of the hay Conlon was making prior to that.  Something had to change either way.  Richie Mc Carthy alone wasn't the answer either.

/Jim.

[johnnycool]

Geroid McInerney looking to be out with a torn calf muscle. If that's true no amount of cryotherapy or religious relics are going to work and Galway are down a key man.

[seafoid]

Article on Clare tactics for the next day. Reminded me of 86 . Galway played a 2 man full forward line in the semi final that worked very well. They also used it in the final and got beaten.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/ger-sparrow-oloughlin-warns-clare-about-redeploying-sweeper-in-replay-37173073.html

[Milltown Row2]

Deploying a sweeper will help but they wont win you the game as such, the sweeper is putting the ball back into their sweeper, the team with the best players who can shoot from distance will win this game, short puck outs to the spare man and then by passing the sweeper takes him out of the game..

Teams/management should be very clued into such going ons as they are happening and put their own tactic in place to prevent the sweeper clearing up loose ball..

I would be a fan of it if/when we played teams that would have hammered us 15 on 15, it helped build confidence and kept the game tight, wasnt pretty and requires a nippy set of forwards and a clever player to sweep in and make good clearances to the forwards..

[johnnycool]

Deploying a sweeper will help but they wont win you the game as such, the sweeper is putting the ball back into their sweeper, the team with the best players who can shoot from distance will win this game, short puck outs to the spare man and then by passing the sweeper takes him out of the game..

Teams/management should be very clued into such going ons as they are happening and put their own tactic in place to prevent the sweeper clearing up loose ball..

I would be a fan of it if/when we played teams that would have hammered us 15 on 15, it helped build confidence and kept the game tight, wasnt pretty and requires a nippy set of forwards and a clever player to sweep in and make good clearances to the forwards..

That's just it though. Galway initially were lording it over Clare just by pumping direct ball into their forwards and working from there. Galvin drops back in there and he starts hovering up those balls but avoids the defacto spare man in Harte who did very little.
Galway still persisted with going long and straight too often in the second half and Clare were able to cut it off.

Hard to see Galway being as naive again.

[Milltown Row2]

Deploying a sweeper will help but they wont win you the game as such, the sweeper is putting the ball back into their sweeper, the team with the best players who can shoot from distance will win this game, short puck outs to the spare man and then by passing the sweeper takes him out of the game..

Teams/management should be very clued into such going ons as they are happening and put their own tactic in place to prevent the sweeper clearing up loose ball..

I would be a fan of it if/when we played teams that would have hammered us 15 on 15, it helped build confidence and kept the game tight, wasnt pretty and requires a nippy set of forwards and a clever player to sweep in and make good clearances to the forwards..

That's just it though. Galway initially were lording it over Clare just by pumping direct ball into their forwards and working from there. Galvin drops back in there and he starts hovering up those balls but avoids the defacto spare man in Harte who did very little.
Galway still persisted with going long and straight too often in the second half and Clare were able to cut it off.

Hard to see Galway being as naive again.

Whats your take then? move in a better sweeper or push a player up to their sweeper? or shoot from distance ?

[seafoid]

Deploying a sweeper will help but they wont win you the game as such, the sweeper is putting the ball back into their sweeper, the team with the best players who can shoot from distance will win this game, short puck outs to the spare man and then by passing the sweeper takes him out of the game..

Teams/management should be very clued into such going ons as they are happening and put their own tactic in place to prevent the sweeper clearing up loose ball..

I would be a fan of it if/when we played teams that would have hammered us 15 on 15, it helped build confidence and kept the game tight, wasnt pretty and requires a nippy set of forwards and a clever player to sweep in and make good clearances to the forwards..

That's just it though. Galway initially were lording it over Clare just by pumping direct ball into their forwards and working from there. Galvin drops back in there and he starts hovering up those balls but avoids the defacto spare man in Harte who did very little.
Galway still persisted with going long and straight too often in the second half and Clare were able to cut it off.

Hard to see Galway being as naive again.

Whats your take then? move in a better sweeper or push a player up to their sweeper? or shoot from distance ?

Galway had a lot of wides. When they are playing well they are far more accurate, even from distance

[johnnycool]

Deploying a sweeper will help but they wont win you the game as such, the sweeper is putting the ball back into their sweeper, the team with the best players who can shoot from distance will win this game, short puck outs to the spare man and then by passing the sweeper takes him out of the game..

Teams/management should be very clued into such going ons as they are happening and put their own tactic in place to prevent the sweeper clearing up loose ball..

I would be a fan of it if/when we played teams that would have hammered us 15 on 15, it helped build confidence and kept the game tight, wasnt pretty and requires a nippy set of forwards and a clever player to sweep in and make good clearances to the forwards..

That's just it though. Galway initially were lording it over Clare just by pumping direct ball into their forwards and working from there. Galvin drops back in there and he starts hovering up those balls but avoids the defacto spare man in Harte who did very little.
Galway still persisted with going long and straight too often in the second half and Clare were able to cut it off.

Hard to see Galway being as naive again.

Whats your take then? move in a better sweeper or push a player up to their sweeper? or shoot from distance ?

Galway had a lot of wides. When they are playing well they are far more accurate, even from distance

I think I saw somewhere that they hit high teens wides but Clare also were well up on the wides count. Hawkeye was used at least three times that decisions went against Galway, fine margins.

If Clare do go for Galvin in front of Glynn (I don't think they will straight off the bat) then Galway need to feed the wings as much as possible or maybe work it up the field to the midfield area and beyond and pick off the points to give Clare a decision to make wrt Galvin. Conor Whelan,Cathal Mannion, Cooney and the Burkes need to start dominating on the wings and trouble the scoreboard operator a lot more.
As much was Galvin was defensively cutting out a lot of ball he also was using it very well in an attacking sense. He gave an exhibition on how to play that role, but Galway won't want to make a hero out of him two games in a row.

[GaillimhIarthair]

Deploying a sweeper will help but they wont win you the game as such, the sweeper is putting the ball back into their sweeper, the team with the best players who can shoot from distance will win this game, short puck outs to the spare man and then by passing the sweeper takes him out of the game..

Teams/management should be very clued into such going ons as they are happening and put their own tactic in place to prevent the sweeper clearing up loose ball..

I would be a fan of it if/when we played teams that would have hammered us 15 on 15, it helped build confidence and kept the game tight, wasnt pretty and requires a nippy set of forwards and a clever player to sweep in and make good clearances to the forwards..

That's just it though. Galway initially were lording it over Clare just by pumping direct ball into their forwards and working from there. Galvin drops back in there and he starts hovering up those balls but avoids the defacto spare man in Harte who did very little.
Galway still persisted with going long and straight too often in the second half and Clare were able to cut it off.

Hard to see Galway being as naive again.

Whats your take then? move in a better sweeper or push a player up to their sweeper? or shoot from distance ?

Galway had a lot of wides. When they are playing well they are far more accurate, even from distance

I think I saw somewhere that they hit high teens wides but Clare also were well up on the wides count. Hawkeye was used at least three times that decisions went against Galway, fine margins.

If Clare do go for Galvin in front of Glynn (I don't think they will straight off the bat) then Galway need to feed the wings as much as possible or maybe work it up the field to the midfield area and beyond and pick off the points to give Clare a decision to make wrt Galvin. Conor Whelan,Cathal Mannion, Cooney and the Burkes need to start dominating on the wings and trouble the scoreboard operator a lot more.
As much was Galvin was defensively cutting out a lot of ball he also was using it very well in an attacking sense. He gave an exhibition on how to play that role, but Galway won't want to make a hero out of him two games in a row.

We had 22 wides, 12 of those alone were in the 1st half - Clare had about 19 also I think.  The surprise really is how badly we managed the sweeper when you consider we played against one in nearly every game last year!  It seems the adjustment by Clare after 15mins caught our Mgt Team off guard and they never addressed it properly - we were really too one dimensional with the long ball down on top of Glynn thereafter.  I expect we will vary it a lot more this weekend and I do think we will have a little too much for Clare this time round - should be another great game.

[seafoid]

Galway mgmt are good at analysing where things went wrong.

[Milltown Row2]

Under 21 semi on now tg4, Cork big favourites

[Milltown Row2]

Shootie in.

Cork had a few senior players on that team..