Clare's Cian Dillon talks to GAA.ie about Sunday's Division I Allianz Hurling Leagues game in Cusack Park, Ennis when the Banner County host Kilkenny at 2pm. Following defeats for both sides on the opening weekend of the Leagues to Cork and Waterford respectively, both Clare and Kilkenny need the points however Dillon is expecting nothing easy from the Cats on Sunday.
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Sunday 19 February
Allianz Hurling League Division 1A**
Clare v Kilkenny, Cusack Park, 2pm
Both teams will be keen to bounce back from opening round defeats that will have given their respective managements plenty of food for thought.
There were always likely to be teething problems for Clare as their new management duo of Gerry O’Connor and Donal Moloney implemented a new game-plan, but the convincing nature of their defeat to Cork last weekend was still a surprise.
It’s clearly going to take some time for the Clare players to adapt to a less structured approach than they were used to under Davy Fitzgerald, and there may be some growing pains along the way.
They gave the Cork attack far too much space last weekend particularly between their half-back and full-back lines, and they were too reliant on Tony Kelly for scores because their inside-forwards struggled to make much headway.
“It is February the time to be learning lessons, whilst it is disappointing to lose we’d much rather be learning these lessons in February than in June, that’s ultimately where we’re looking at this,” said Clare joint manager Gerry O’Connor after the match.
“We tried out a lot of players in the Munster League and some of those players started on merit of their performances in training and the Munster League, some of them played really well and some of them won’t be happy with their performances.”
Clare will need to show a lot of improvement on Sunday if they’re to avoid a second defeat in a row, particularly in terms of their physical intensity, because Kilkenny will bring the same standards to bear on the contest that they always do.
Even though they were beaten by Waterford last weekend, you couldn’t fault their application and their trademark doggedness saw them come from four points down at half-time to close to within a single point by the final whistle.
Kilkenny’s main problem was a lack of a real cutting edge in attack where, once again, they were heavily reliant on TJ Reid and Richie Hogan for real moments of quality.
The sooner they get players like Colin Fennelly, Ger Aylward, and James Maher back in harness the better, because they need more inspiration to go with the perspiration that you’re generally guaranteed from a Brian Cody team.
You would imagine Clare will improve on last weekend’s performance, especially with the benefit of home advantage, but Kilkenny’s more tried and trusted tactical approach could give them an edge.
CLARE: Donal Tuohy; Oisin O'Brien, Cian Dillon, Seadna Morey; Brendan Bugler, Conor Cleary, Jamie Shanahan; David Fitzgerald, David Reidy; Aaron Cunningham, Podge Collins, Cathal Malone; Aron Shanagher, John Conlon, Shane O'Donnell.
KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Evan Cody, Padraig Walsh, Conor O'Shea; Joey Holden, Paul Murphy, Kieran Joyce; Conor Fogarty, Cillian Buckley; Liam Blanchfield, TJ Reid, Richie Leahy; Richie Hogan, Walter Walsh, Kevin Kelly.
