Contenders Clare and Dubs crave end to provincial pain

Nobody’s summer will end this weekend but for two teams the skies will be a lot darker.

Two provincial hurling finals, each mattering that bit more to the contenders than the champions.

In Munster, Clare face Limerick in the decider for the third year running and it feels like now or never under Brian Lohan.

They lost by a point in the Gaelic Grounds last year, having handed the champions their first defeat in almost four years in the group stages.

In 2022, they drew in the round-robin – thanks to a late Diarmaid Byrnes free – and a last-minute sideline from Tony Kelly forced extra-time in the Thurles final. However, the Green Machine found an extra gear to win that by a goal.

In the opening round this April, league champions Clare were nine points up after 52 minutes but collapsed in spectacular fashion to lose 3-15 to 1-18.

To the Banner’s credit they recovered to win their three remaining games, and finish second on points difference to Limerick, who were pipped in round three by a Cork side fighting for survival.

Of course, they claimed Liam MacCarthy in 2013 but Anthony Daly was the last Clare man to lift what is now the Mick Mackey trophy, in 1998, and he hopes that wait won’t extend to 27 years.

“It’s massive,” Daly tells RTE Sport of Sunday’s showdown. “For us, it’s just a crazy length of time, for the teams we have produced at minor, at Under 20/21 level, not to have won it since ’98.

“Before we had the breakthrough in 1995, we produced a lot of great men, heroes of mine but we weren’t winning as regularly underage.

“I was part of the first Clare team that faced into a third in a row and we used to say we could also be the first Clare team that loses three in a row.

“I think there would have been a feeling in our group that that was a do-or-die match. If we didn’t win it that day, even though of the starting XV the Sparrow (Ger O’Loughlin) was the only one over 25, there would have been a good chance lads wouldn’t have gone back again. Would that have happened? I don’t know but it was definitely floating around that morning. Maybe it was a final push to give our lads.”

Clare beat Limerick in Thurles that July afternoon for a first Munster in 63 years and went on to claim the All-Ireland for the first time since 1914. The Treaty turned the tables in the ’96 semi but Clare bounced back to reign supreme in province and country in ‘97 and added a final Munster of the decade in ‘98, for a haul of three in seven.

“People often said to us that we were very calm after the All-Ireland (win over Offaly),” recalls Daly. “But it wasn’t All-Irelands we had lost at all, it was just those Munsters, we couldn’t get one!

“We’d just love to win it, and to stop Limerick from doing six in a row, which is some going. They’re one of the great teams.

“We think we’re in with a decent chance. We’re probably not playing as well as we were the last two years, going into it, but sometimes you feel the big day will be in our boys and that day will be today.

“There’s very little between them.”

The longer route back to the All-Ireland semi-final may have cost Clare against Kilkenny in the last two seasons but probably the biggest reason they need to win on Sunday is to prove to themselves and everybody else that they can beat Limerick when there is silverware on the line.

Even if they were to recover and somehow fight their way past Kilkenny at the third attempt (if the Cats are there of course) would Clare believe that they could make it third-time lucky against hurling giants that seem to grow even taller on the biggest day? Unless someone else (Cork?) took them out in the semis.

“I wouldn’t say there is any fear between the teams,” suggests Daly. “I think our lads would feel they are every bit as good as Limerick, but we haven’t the titles to back that up, that’s the reality.

“Winning the league was a good step for us this year. Since Brian took over we hadn’t lifted a title. That gave everybody a lift, especially doing it against Kilkenny, our nemesis in the last two All-Ireland semi-finals.

“I don’t think the boys are overawed in any way by Limerick or there will be any worries about belief and confidence. They will feel they have their measure and are in with no worse than a 50-50 chance.

“They know as well that they have been in a lot of these scenarios as well and it hasn’t gone their way but I know by their demeanour that they want to just get it done now.

“The likes of Mark Rodgers, Adam Hogan, look confident fellas and if Tony (Kelly) doesn’t make it or Shane O’Donnell was held, you would hope that these guys and fellas like Aidan McCarthy would step up.”

For Limerick, chasing the immortality of hurling’s first five-in-a-row, the motivation (in suggested order of importance) is three-fold: Earning a four-week gap to the All-Ireland semi-finals, maintaining the psychological advantage over one of their closest rivals and becoming the first county to win six consecutive Munster titles.

“People are saying they’re not going as well but they’re back in the final and it’s the first time they ever topped the group in the round-robin,” points out Daly.

“I’d say John Kiely would have been hoping to have qualified before the last round and get three weeks break into some of his key fellas.

“But the way that they lost to Cork, he had to go out full throttle against Waterford.

“if you had told someone four or five years ago that Clare wouldn’t have Tony Kelly for a game like this, they’d have been writing you off before the ball was thrown in.

“The whole prize of winning it, having four weeks off. It would be chance to get another month into Tonyand maybe even getting Ryan Taylor back.

“I’d be surprised if Tony didn’t start (he has been named on the bench) unless Brian felt him coming in at half-time would give it a huge spurt. He has a great record against Limerick, in terms of his own performances.”

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The last county to go for the high five, Kilkenny, won’t break any records if they rack up a fifth Leinster in a row against Dublin.

That was set in 2011 when they completed seven on the trot, for a remarkable tally of 12/13 crowns, disrupted only by Wexford in 2004.

Under the compressed split-season format, the accepted wisdom has gone from the lay-off for provincial winners being a potential liability to a bonus. Kilkenny have so far reached the All-Ireland final in every year they have won Leinster under the round-robin system, which didn’t apply in 2020 and ’21.

Clare got uncomfortably close last year and the Cats will not want to take the chance of the long way around. Unlike last year, they held off the Yellowbellies in the final round in Leinster this time, even though their qualification was already assured.

Though maybe they have as much chance of catching Limerick in a semi as a final – a two-point loss in ’23 became nine last year, even though they led by five after 45 minutes.

Dublin are their surprise opponents. The Dubs were written off after a lacklustre league campaign – will we never learn? – but the return of several key men to fitness saw them improve from sneaking a draw in Wexford on day one to knocking out Galway at the finish.

It has been over a decade since the glorious summer of 2013 when Daly’s Dublin edged Kilkenny in a semi-final replay before hammering the Tribesmen for a first Leinster title in 52 years.

“We were absolutely ecstatic,” he recalls. “You saw what it meant to the Dubs when we won it. It was an outpouring of complete relief for the hurling guys in Dublin.

“It was still all about the provincial. It was no use beating Kilkenny if you were going to be disappointed the following week.”

Dublin were genuine All-Ireland contenders but the wheels came off after a five-week wait for the semi-final against Cork and Daly ended a six-year stint after defeats to Kilkenny and Tipperary the following year.

They have only made one provincial final since – when the Cats handed them an eight-point beating in their most recent provincial final appearance three years ago, albeit with Covid affecting the Dubs’ camp.

“It’s a pity it wasn’t built on well enough. I was surprised,” admits Daly.

“I didn’t regret (not staying longer). I had done six years and kind of made up my mind it was going to be one last shot in 2014, then we took two hidings in the two matches that mattered.

“But this year you can see their underage is going better, the minors and the 20s in the Leinster final, you would be encouraged it would be turning back a bit. The footballers are not drawing big crowds at the moment either so there might be an opportunity there if they can get the win.

“Under each manager there have been a few good days but Micheál (Donoghue) is really starting to put his own stamp on it this year. When you have their best forwards playing, Fergal Whitely, Danny Sutcliffe, Donal Burke, Conor Burke, Ronan Hayes getting forward you have a potent, pacy attack.

“The Antrim game would have put me sitting me up. Driving up for Saturday Sport listening to the radio there was a lot of talk about Antrim making it into the three in Leinster and you were wondering how the Dubs were going to respond. They hadn’t been overly impressive in Carlow and were very lucky getting the draw in Wexford. But they have got better and better.

“You were thinking The Dubs haven’t won in Salthill in championship. Will they be capable of doing that?They did it emphatically and even conceded the goal late but never looked like being caught.

“I was delighted for them. I think they have steadily improved and luckily got their big guns all back. They are starting to play with more belief in their hurling and younger guys like Brian Hayes and Conor Donohoe have really impressed me.

“I’d give them a right chance. You do have to totally respect Kilkenny but they love Croke Park.”

In his second year in charge, Donoghue probably would have settled for top-three again – especially going into injury-time in Wexford Park – but Kilkenny needed a late goal to win at Parnell Park and he will now be telling his players that they are more than capable of recording just Dublin’s second victory in the fixture since 1942.

“I think if you had said at the start of the season that they would get to a Leinster final it would have surprised a lot of people,” says Conal Keaney, who was on that Dublin team that beat the Cats 11 years ago. “But their level of performance has been getting better and better in every game.

“They have had some massive leaders coming back. There are really skilful hurlers, I see them at club level all the time, but it’s difficult to do that in a team as a young lad where there are no real leaders around you. Having the likes of Eoghan O’Donnell, Chris Crummey and Danny Sutcliffe and these guys around you, it gives you that bit of extra confidence to raise your game.

“I know they were disappointed that they didn’t see the game out against Kilkenny in Parnell Park, and they are really looking forward to this. I think they are getting more confident and are in with a great chance.

“They probably didn’t reach the level that they needed to against Kilkenny but they did against Galway and I believe they would have still won even without the sending-off.”

“They’ll feel Kilkenny will fear them once they get that running game going” – Conal Keaney

Will Dublin’s terrible record against the Stripey Men be a factor?

“They won’t fear playing Kilkenny in a final while maybe a couple of years ago everyone would have been cautious enough,” says the Ballyboden St Enda’s man.

“They’ll feel Kilkenny will fear them once they get that running game going, they have serious pace around the middle.

“A lot of that panel probably feel aggrieved that when they got to the Leinster final the last time Covid ruled out a number of their players. They still weren’t that far away that day but now they have a great chance with a full squad to really go after this Kilkenny team.

“You have to give Kilkenny some credit. They probably haven’t hit the heights they’re used to hitting but that’s when they’re really dangerous. There’s not a whole lot of talk about them going for five in a row.

“I’m not going to say Dublin are definitely going to win but they have a great opportunity. They have nothing to lose and know they can perform on the big days when needed after going to Salthill.

“Momentum is huge. If you just manage to get a couple of games behind you, it’s amazing what that can do for a group, and the confidence it can give you, especially for the younger lads.

“I think they are really relishing it and it’s like a free shot. Nobody really expects them to win only themselves, so it’s a massive opportunity and a great place to be.”

Defeat would likely mean a tough quarter-final against Cork but what would it do for hurling in the capital if they were to recapture Bob O’Keeffe for the first time since Keaney and Co 11 over a decade ago?

Dublin remain Leinster’s second-most successful hurling county, even if most of the trophies came before 1950.

“It would give a massive lift to Dublin,” says Keaney who wore the sky-blue jersey for 20 years across both codes. “It has been a long time since Dublin have had a bit of success.

“Hurling in Dublin underage is huge and the skill level is unbelievable. For the little success that Dublin hurlers have had there is still a huge buzz for hurling and it’s still well supported, even in club games.

“But it’s obviously important that the flagship team does really well, especially when the footballers are doing so well. It is important that the hurlers are up there competing for trophies and if they can get this one over the line it would be massive for Dubin.

“It would keep the likes of this years Under 20s involved and wanting more, rather than being enticed away by other sports or holidays or whatever is that comes along.”

The 2013 team looked on the cusp of a wave but Keaney didn’t get to contest another Leinster before he retired (for the second time) aged 38, in April 2021.

“Beating Kilkenny in Portlaoise at the time was huge,” he recalls of that summer. “After that, we just believed we were going to beat Galway. Dublin always loved playing them for some reason but Kilkenny have pipped us a lot more than we have beaten them.

“When you’re actually involved you’re just looking ahead and we presumed the squad and the management that were there would be there the following years and this was just a stepping stone to compete every year after that. Obviously, it didn’t happen like that.

“We took our eye off the ball a little bit maybe going into the following season and then the change with Anthony (leaving) was huge.

“Management coming in in the years after that and trying to make massive changes didn’t work.

“Pat Gilroy came in and did a massive amount of groundwork and then had to go because of work commitments. Mattie Kenny was what was needed at the time but was just very unlucky in some of the games. So there was a lot of chopping and changing, from management to players.

“That’s all behind us now and we’re moving on. It’s only really in the last two or three years it has settled down and a new crop of players are coming through.

“Hopefully we’ll get over the line on Saturday and keep it going year after year.”

They would settle for this year as a start. The green and amber empires could well expand further this weekend but it would be only a mild surprise if new kings were to seize at least one of the thrones.

As Daly says: “Limerick and Kilkenny are the favourites and entitled to be but I think our boys and the Dubs will have a fair say in it.”

Watch the Leinster Hurling final, Kilkenny v Dublin, on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1

Watch the Munster Hurling final, Limerick v Clare, on Sunday from 3.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1