Eoin Cleary is still going strong for Clare. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
By Micheál Clifford
They may be pointless heading into this weekend, but Clare's journey to Laois Hire O’Moore Park this Sunday feels crucial for captain Eoin Cleary.
In one sense it is familiar ground heading into the final round of the group stages, rooted at the bottom of Group Three - a position they have been in for the past two seasons - but this feels different for a reason, because this time they are playing for something more tangible than just pride.
If they beat Louth , they will make it into the All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-finals in what is essentially a sudden death game in Portlaoise. "Last year, the lads were not in a position to qualify and the year before was the same, we were going up to Longford to play Derry with nothing to play for really only pride. There is a different feel on match day when that is the case.
"Of course, you want to do the jersey proud, but you can see it in lads. I suppose they are that bit more relaxed, but you really want something to play for at the end of all this," explains Cleary.
More than most, he is appreciative of being back in the cut and thrust of championship ball. After 10 years of committing to the Clare cause, last year, having just got married to Collette, he made the decision to take time out in the summer to catch a different slice of life.
It took him to Chicago - where he played alongside Kerry’s Micheal Burns for Wolfe Tones - New York, Sydney and even managed time to luxuriate with a sun-break in Portugal. That’s a roadmap well thumbed by most thirtysomethings, but not for those who dance to the rhythm of inter-county football.
He has no regrets, albeit it gnawed more than a little when they hosted Kerry in the Munster final in Ennis and his only line of duty that afternoon was in his Garda uniform on his Limerick City beat.
Clare senior football team manager Peter Keane. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
He may have only been away for 12 months, but when he returned, he could have been forgiven for feeling like he was starting all over again.
In a way, he was. For long, as a high-skilled forward - he is set for his 97th competitive appearance having racked up 5-362 to date - he has long advocated for a more expressive and ambitious game, one which he found to be in place on his return. "It has been very enjoyable because you see a lot more aggressive presses on kick-outs where before a lot of teams gave up the kick-out and it made for a slow and laborious game.
"Every team feels that they have a chance to win the opposition kick-out so they are setting up to do that and it certainly makes for a better spectacle. High fielding has come back into the game which is something we wanted to see come back and it certainly has.
‘The one thing that may need to be tweaked is the kick out mark because we are seeing cute midfielders brushing into opponents to gain that 50 metre advantage.
"We want to see contests, but we don’t want to see a stage where an opposition midfielder lets his opponent catch the ball because he backs off just because he fears giving up 50 metres."
The other thing that changed was more personal. He had only ever played under Colm Collins - making his debut off the bench against Waterford in 2014 - but has relished the chance to play under Peter Keane this season.
"Colm was all I knew, in fairness to him he was like a second father to me. Peter came in and it was an opportunity to work with someone else. I was only delighted to see what we could get out of him.
Eoin Cleary, Clare, and Dessie Ward, Monaghan, in All-Ireland SFC action at St Tiernach's Park. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
"It has been very enjoyable so far; Peter is an excellent man manager; a really good forwards coach, he has some great ideas and he is very personable in how he deals with players and players respond to that.
"I think Peter has brought stability and there are definite improvements from last year and a lot of that is down to him and his management team," says the 31-year-old St Joseph’s clubman.
Those improvements have yet to be validated by results, but the signs were promising this spring. They beat the two teams - Offaly and Kildare - that were promoted out of Division Three, but missed out primarily because of an opening round defeat to Antrim played on a stormy afternoon in Corrigan Park.
That momentum seemed to have perished when in the aftermath of a heavy Munster final loss to Kerry, they went down to a 17-point defeat to Down in the opening round of the All-Ireland series.
However, their defiance against high flying Monaghan in Clones last time out - they led by seven points at half-time - served as a reminder that even when you are not winning, you can still bank positives from losing. "Those performances against Kerry and Down were very disappointing," he reflects.
"We simply didn’t do ourselves justice against Down and we were very disappointed after it But we did take something from how we reacted in Clones. It is in our DNA really as Clare people, we have loads of heart.
"We are hard working people and that is what we wanted to bring to that game and if we want to get a result against Louth that is what we are going to need to bring."
