*Ryan Taylor. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
AS THE 2022 hurling championship began, Waterford were seen as the likeliest pretenders to Limerick’s crown.
The Déise had reached the All-Ireland final in 2020 and then the 2021 Munster final, losing to the Shannonsiders on both occasions, as they did in the All-Ireland semi-final of ’21.
When Liam Cahill’s side won the Allianz Hurling League last year, their status as strongest challengers was franked – a narrow defeat to Limerick at TUS Gaelic Grounds was seen as the first game of a trilogy with the Treatymen.
However, Waterford fell to earth quickly, while Cork – beaten All-Ireland finalists in 2021 – began their Munster SHC campaign with two defeats. With Tipperary in transition, Clare were the side to seize the opportunity and make the provincial final, only losing to Limerick by 1-29 to 0-29 after extra time.
Now, as the new championship comes into view, Clare’s Ryan Taylor admits that the encouraging performance last year means that there is a bar to be met.
“I think, probably among the Clare supporters, there’s a higher expectation than there was this time last year,” he says.
“We didn’t have a very strong league campaign last year either and there wasn’t too much expectation. We ended up in the Munster final and got fairly close to Limerick. The expectation is higher but that’s where you want to be. We set high standards for ourselves and ultimately the goal is to win the Munster championship and go on and win the All-Ireland. There’s definitely more pressure, but it’s what you want to have,” Taylor told The Clare Echo.
Clare’s appearance in the Munster final was the county’s first since 2018, which was the second consecutive decider they lost to Cork. Prior to that, one has to go back to Tipperary and 2008, the county’s first since the six in seven years in the 1990s, winning in 1995, 1997 and 1998.
While it was a disappointment not to win the final having got there, Taylor feels that it can be channelled positively.
“Definitely, it was a missed opportunity in one way, getting that close,” he reflected. “I suppose, overall, you have to take the good out of the experience. I had been part of previous panels that had been in a Munster final but I was an unused sub so it was my first time on the pitch in one. It was great to get that close, but ultimately your goal is to win it out and pick up some silverware and we failed in that. You take the positives, but you want to go one step further. You want to win; that’s what it’s about”.
In terms of using the league as a preparation for what is about to follow, Clare had ups and downs. With two rounds remaining, they were in the mix for the knockout stages but a poor home defeat to Galway ended those hopes before a draw with a Cork side that had already secured a semi-final spot.
Looking back on the league, Ryan remarked, “It was definitely a mixed bag. There were some decent aspects from it, but some poor performances overall. I think it’s a learning curve, you learn a lot and it’s all geared up towards the Munster championship. Definitely, you analyse games and look back through games, younger lads have got some game-time. It’s definitely something you don’t forget about – you look through it, you analyse it, you try to put it into practice on the training field and then hopefully you’re making those improvements and adjustments for the Munster championship”.
In that regard, having the time to focus on the championship – as opposed to playing a semi-final and/or a final – could prove to be beneficial. “When you’re in a competition, you want to win it, no matter what. There’s no point us saying our goal wasn’t to win the league – it was, but the fact is that, when you’re out earlier than normal and not in the knockout stages, it gives you a few more weeks to work on stuff in training. Hopefully that stands to you then in the first round. You have to take positives from the situation. Internal games are where we’re getting most of our preparation. We’ve a strong panel and extended panel, so playing games among ourselves is a huge aspect of that. That’s where we’re getting our feedback and lads are putting their hands up for places.”
Clare, like every other county, will looking to stop the Limerick juggernaut. What is it that Taylor feels makes John Kiely’s side so strong? “They’re just an exceptional team, all over the field,” the Clooney/Quin man maintained. “Even when they’re not playing particularly well or they’re behind in a game, they always seem to come up trumps in the end. They’re a very hard team to break down. You may get on top of them for periods but they always seem to be able to claw their way back into a game. They’re the benchmark at the moment and it’s up to us and the rest of the teams to bridge that gap. They’re definitely the standard-bearers at the moment”.
For Clare, the Limerick engagement is on Saturday week, April 29, on the Ennis Road. Before that is the visit of Tipperary to Cusack Park on Sunday at 4pm. Last year, wins over Tipp and Cork set Clare on their way and Taylor knows that a strong start is vital.
“Just in terms of building momentum – it could be over very quickly if you lost your first two games as it puts you under serious pressure. Getting a good start is vital and I think your home games are ones that you’d be targeting and looking at. We have a good record at Cusack Park. We try to make it a fortress when teams come. It’s something that we pride ourselves on and it is a tough place to go. It’s a small ground, just under 20,000, and the crowd is in on top of you. It’s somewhere we’ve build up a good record over the years”.
