Jamesie O'Connor: Five talking points ahead of Clare v Limerick

Clare legend Jamesie O’Connor picks out five talking points ahead of Sunday’s Munster Championship clash between his native county and Limerick...

Can Clare rediscover their 2013 form?

If you analyse the early part of the year there were very high hopes in the county. There was a feeling that Clare had been training well, were in good shape and that they’d hit the ground running in the league.

But it just didn’t happen. They were poor against Galway and Cork and even against Dublin, which was the one game they did win. It was only in the second half when they were down to 14 men and behind by four or five points that they threw off the shackles.

There was primarily negative stuff about Clare, their form and how results weren’t what they should have been, but given the way they played in the relegation play-off against Kilkenny, they really could have won that game. A couple of turnovers in defence cost them.

In a funny kind of a way, Clare probably took more positives out of the league than Limerick or Galway did.

In a funny kind of a way, Clare probably took more positives out of the league than Limerick or Galway did. The league as a whole looked to have been a big disappointment, but there was a lot of character shown in the backs-to-the-wall win over Dublin and in those games with Kilkenny. Shane O’Donnell and Tony Kelly were both imperious in the second game and they came very close to winning the match. Suddenly people in Clare are very positive about the summer ahead.

The thing about this squad of players is a lot of them came up through the ranks together at minor and U21. When you get an extended summer together, as they did in 2013, it forges bonds. They are very comfortable in each other’s company and they did show that bit of resilience.

From the outside, things seemed to be fraying a little bit, but there was no evidence of that in the performances against Kilkenny. They looked collectively united and they certainly need to be heading into Sunday’s game.

Limerick are a championship team

That’s a skill in its own right, being able to be ready for the first round of the Munster Championship, to hit the ground running in May. And when it comes to Limerick’s form in Munster and Clare’s, there is no comparison. That’s certainly a stain on Clare’s reputation and one they’ll want to address.

Limerick have blown promotion in the league in the last two years. They drew with Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn in 2014 but inexcusably drew with Offaly. Again this year, destiny was in their own hands yet they contrived to somehow lose to Offaly and are consigned to another year in Division 1B.

But championship is a different ball game for the Treaty men. Winning promotion is not the ultimate for these Limerick players. It’s getting back to another Munster final and going a step further than they did last year.

Clare’s provincial pain

I was a member of the Clare team that won the Munster Championship in 1998, and we haven’t won one since. We lost the final in 1999 to Cork and have been in only one final since. We were well beaten by Cork last year, and even in 2013, the year we went all the way, we had to do it through the back door after also losing to Cork.

It is certainly something that these Clare players will want to address. Munster finals and big championship matches are the games you want to play in. We won the All-Ireland coming through the back door; we’d certainly like to win it again coming through the front door if at all possible.

Clare’s preparations would certainly have been geared, no more than Limerick’s, for May 24. Neither side will need any motivation. It’s a local derby with a lot of tradition. There has been a lot of airplay given to that epic game 1996 and Ciaran Carey’s last-minute point, and Clare’s breakthrough win a year earlier. The history and tradition is there. It’s a massive game for both teams.

Key match-ups

The big thing from a Clare perspective is the players that are missing. From the 2013 team, you’re missing four All Stars - Brendan Bugler (suspended), Colm Galvin (gone to Boston), Podge Collins (playing football), while Conor McGrath (hamstring) is apparently not starting.

There are also some questions marks over Conor Ryan, but Clare will take the field without four All Stars, central players in the way they play. It’s going to be a huge task to overcome those losses. McGrath on his day is certainly one of the top five forwards in the country. Without him in the inside line Limerick will probably feel that they only need to stop Shane O’Donnell and Tony Kelly. If their influence is curbed where will the scores come from?

The battle between Richie McCarthy and Shane O’Donnell is where this game could be won and lost.

The managers

TJ Ryan didn’t particularly like Clare during his playing days, and the same goes for Davy with Limerick! That’s the nature of it. We had some ferocious battles with those guys. There was a time when we would have played them in the league, even in challenge matches, and anarchy was never too far away.

Familiarity definitely bred a bit of contempt. We were two heavyweight sides at the time as well. They beat us in the Munster final in 1994, we knocked them out in ’93 and ’95, and they knocked us out in ’96. We won two All-Irelands either side of the two finals they lost. Obviously there was a huge rivalry and TJ and Davy were both centrally involved in those big days.

The game is not going to be won or lost by the managers; it’s about the guys that take the field. But clear heads will be required on the sideline as well.