ULTIMATELY IT was the contrast in homecomings that made Gerry O’Connor realise the magnitude of what they had achieved.
Two years ago he was the joint manager of a Clare minor hurling setup that trudged back to Ennis in a desolate mood after losing an All-Ireland minor final to Kilkenny. Reversing that result at U21 level last Saturday night helped create a vastly different scene when they returned to the Abbey Street car park in the Clare town 24 hours later.
“The scenes on Sunday were amazing. I was looking down on a few thousand people in Ennis, half of them kids and an army of Clare U21’s signing jerseys and hurleys. There was just a colossal feel good factor after the game at the manner in which they performed.”
Success arrived after a blinding second-half display in Semple Stadium when Clare, trailing by three points at the break, swatted Kilkenny aside with a display that blended skill and pace together. If there was concern amongst supporters at the double-goal blast Kilkenny had produced before the break, that level of anxiety was not shared by those in the Clare dressing-room.
“At half-time as always the four of us in the management team digested the statistics”, revealed O’Connor. “We told the players where the issues were and it was up to them then to resolve it. We spoke about how there was three years work on the line here.
“We were going out the tunnel and I said to Donal (Moloney) that I’d never seen them as refocused. Then we gave the performance in the second-half that we have been waiting for from this team. A lot of these guys have known each other since they were 14 or 15 and a huge bond has been built up.”
The success is a continuation of a seismic shift in the underage hurling landscape. Clare have never been as dominant as they currently are with two titles apiece at All-Ireland U21, Munster U21 and Munster minor levels over the last four years.
“John Minogue and Cyril Lyons started all this off in 2009 and since then Clare minor and U21 teams have no awe factor playing the big counties like Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny who have huge traditions,” argues O’Connor. “The belief factor has completely changed the mentality of Clare hurling and that’s the real legacy.
“For instance the Clare minor hurlers were very unlucky this year not to reach the All-Ireland final and they would have been considered an average team in the national rankings at start of the year. The reality is that I’ve said it several times while our management are getting all the accolades for last Saturday night’s win, all these players started somewhere else.
“You had a primary school teacher or a club coach decided they would make a contribution to their hurling development and that’s got to them to the stage they are currently at.”
Clare’s Cathal McInerney and Conor Ryan celebrate with supporters after last Saturday’s game. Pic: INPHO/Donall Farmer
A plethora of moments stood out for O’Connor observing last Saturday’s victory. The classy score taking of Cathal McInerney who was not on the starting team in the Munster championship but blazed such a trail on the training ground that the management were compelled to parachute him into the attack.
The dominance Conor Ryan exerted in the second-half as he lorded the half-back sector. The persistence of Cathal ‘Tots’ O’Connell in executing the turnover that lead to Conor McGrath’s crucial goal.
Today O’Connor returns to work and the celebrations will soon quieten down with key club matches on the horizon. Several of the squad will be involved in the senior grade next spring and the exposure to Division 1 league hurling can only assist them.
In addition ten of Saturday’s team and 26 members of the 35-man squad are eligible for the U21 ranks next season which will boost their prospects of retaining their crown. O’Connor and Moloney have no fixed term of office yet the lure to stay in charge is strong.
“At the end of every year, we have a chat with Michael O’Neill and Pat Fitzgerald in the Clare county board”, says O’Connor. “We don’t really go seeking a contract. If they want us to continue, we’d generally be happy to continue and go for another 12 months. We haven’t really discussed it yet. But I think we’re enjoying it too much to walk away now.”
