Limerick face Clare this Sunday in the Munster Football Championship as the sides go head-to-head at 2pm on Sunday, May 29th in the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick. GAA.ie sits down to get the pre-match views of Limerick forward Ian Ryan and Clare's Joe Hayes as both sides look to advance to the Munster Semi-Finals. Tickets for the game are available from selected SuperValu and Centra stores nationwide, as well as from normal matchday outlets. For more information, visit http://munster.gaa.ie/
Sunday May 29
Munster Senior Football Championship
Limerick v Clare, Gaelic Grounds, 2pm
Progress is being made by Clare, but the Banner are well aware of the danger this Gaelic Grounds encounter carries.
Minutes after Clare’s Allianz Football League Division Three Final win over Kildare at Croke Park manager Colm Collins cut a proud, satisfied, but utterly focused figure.
The May 29 assignment with Limerick would be a defining fixture. “We will have to get it out of our system so we can concentrate on Limerick in the first round of the Munster Championship. That is the important one."
That was Collins’ cool assessment, and his gifted son Podge shares similar sentiments. Operating in Division Two next year offers a sign of how Clare have developed. “In fairness we’ve made positive strides in the last few years and we have a lot of dedicated guys, savage dedicated guys who put in a lot of work,” Podge Collins commented.
“Lads in the backroom as well. It has been going forward, Division 2 is the next step and if you are not going forward you are wasting your time. If you are not moving and progressing it’s an absolute waste of time and it has been (progressing) in the last few years.
Clare manager Colm Collins.
“Listen, we won Division Three, the prize is playing in Division Two next year. We won’t be thinking about it too much now because we will be focusing on Limerick, but it will be an interesting challenge next year.”
While Clare gleaned silverware Limerick were left reflecting on a worrying spring in which they suffered six defeats in seven Allianz Football League matches. Significant improvement will be required due to Clare’s promising burst.
Since returning from a cruciate ligament knee injury Collins has been involved with both Clare senior inter-county teams. Is playing with the football team a different experience? “There is a lot of ambition in the Clare football team,” Collins admits.
“We met last year and set our goals and things didn’t go well. I think there’s a big emphasis this year on everyone giving it that extra bit and making those extra sacrifices, and lads did. When we got up to Croke Park we knew we had played Kildare before and we knew the way the league results had gone.
“In that Division there wasn’t a lot between the sides. Kildare are a good side, but we felt that we could put it up to them. I don’t think we were overly surprised winning it, it was our goal at the start of the year to get promoted, and winning it was just a bonus.”
Clare claimed the Allianz Football League Division Three title at Croke Park.
Kerry and Cork are the bluebloods in Munster, but Collins insists that Clare aren’t overly concerned about being viewed as the third best outfit in the province. “I don’t think it would matter to us where we or people would rank us in Munster, because we go out against Limerick or Waterford or Tipp or Cork and on any given day in football and they could turn us just as easily as we could turn them, especially between the latter four teams.
“Cork and Kerry are that step ahead, but between the other four I don’t think there’s much in it. We’ll be going out against Limerick and it will be a 50-50 game in the Championship. We wouldn’t say we are better than Limerick or Tipp because when it comes to the Munster Championship anything can happen.”
