CLARE’S UNDERAGE SUCCESS has laid the foundations for a winning culture in the county, according to Colin Ryan.
The Banner has been in party mode since its young stars came of age and beat Cork in an unforgettable All-Ireland hurling final replay last month.
It was a 19-year-old who stole the show but Shane O’Donnell’s age was the least remarkable aspect of his 3-3 haul.
Davy Fitzgerald moulded his champions around a young spine: from the defensive rock David McInerney (20) through the commanding presence of Colm Galvin (20) in midfield to the game-changing creativity of Tony Kelly (19) and Podge Collins (21) in the forwards.
A fortnight earlier, with the replay looming on the horizon, those five seamlessly switched focus and defended their U21 crown against Antrim. Another piece of silverware to add to a crowded underage cabinet; since 2009 Clare have won two Munster minor titles, three Munster U21 titles, and now three All-Ireland U21 titles.
An ‘old’ 25 in a squad where the average age is a fresh-faced 23, Ryan says the winning habit was as evident in the celebrations which followed off the pitch as it was in their performances on it.
“Nothing surprises me with them,” he said. “They know nothing else but winning since they were minors.
“It’s very different to the way we got success at U21 level, and some lads didn’t have it at all. They’re just used to that. They’re used to keeping their feet on the ground.
They’re so eccentric on the field but yet off the field they’re great lads and they keep their feet on the ground and they just love hurling. That’s exactly what you want.
The belief of this Clare side was evident as far back as the Munster semi-final defeat against Cork — and the now famous “Mi Wadi” meeting which was called in Fitzgerald’s house for the following night.
“Looking back on it, I think people made a bit more of it than what it actually was,” Ryan said.
“It was a time when we hadn’t done ourselves justice in the Cork game the day before. Rather than let it linger, it was probably the right thing to do to meet up, have the chat pretty quickly and get it out of our systems so we could move on.
Conor and Colin Ryan celebrate with Marty Morrissey (INPHO/James Crombie)
“If we had left it to the following Thursday it would have been at lads all week. The fact we got it out of the way so quickly was the thing.
Davy is brilliant, to invite us to his home – he didn’t need to do that for us to realise we were a family unit and that we were all in it together. I suppose it just added that extra touch and we got it out of our system and moved on from there.
He added: “The league had shown that we were well able to compete with the teams up there in Division 1A. That had helped us along too this year and being able to do that was massive for us.
“I think it was just disappointment at not doing ourselves justice more than [thinking] ‘here we go again.’ We knew we could regroup and get going again. It was just a matter of getting it done quickly.”
Ryan with Daniel Jordan at the launch of the M Donnelly Wheelchair Hurling Inter-Provincial tournament yesterday (INPHO/James Crombie).
The fear now for Clare’s opponents is that the winning culture will take hold at senior level as well, strengthening their hand as they look to win back-to-back All-Irelands for the first time in the county’s history.
Fitzgerald’s decision to stay on until 2017 adds another level of stability, the kind which has been lacking since their last golden age.
It is nice to have that continuity in Clare hurling because it hasn’t been there since Ger Loughnane’s time.
“Anybody coming forward knows that if they put in the work and fit into the system then they are going to be rewarded because Davy isn’t going to change the way he is playing or anything like that.
“It is nice for them to know there is that bit of continuity there and it is great for Clare hurling to have that. There is sort of a concrete foundation set.”
Ryan is in club action again this weekend when Newmarket-on-Fergus take on Ballyea in the county semi-finals. No rest then — at least not until the new year when Clare plan to take their team holiday.
“It’s nice to get away and do things like that but I’m sure the wheels will be put in motion for next year before we head off on any holiday.”
Time for the next chapter.
