LIMERICK face Clare this Saturday night in Thurles in the final round of hurling qualifiers. (Throw in at 7pm) The meeting at the home of hurling will be Limerick and Clare’s fifth meeting this season. The neighbours and rivals have already clashed the ash twice in the Waterford Crystal Cup and then twice in the League. Limerick, at this point, have yet to defeat the Blue and Amber of Clare.
Losing the two league clashes and one of the Waterford Cup games.
The league games and their results can give Limerick fans some indication of where John Allen’s chargers have come from.
The opening National Hurling League fixture ended in a 2-24 to 1-13 loss for Limerick. The distance between the sides on that night in the Gaelic Grounds was immense.
When the sides met again in the Division 1B final, again at the Gaelic Grounds, things were a little closer. Limerick, who surrendered a lead late in the game, eventually went down, 1-16 to 0-21.
Both sides then went on to lose their opening Munster Championship ties. Limerick lost to Tipperay in the quarter final, while Clare lost out to a spirited Waterford side in the Munster semi final.
Limerick are slight favourites for this weekend with the bookies. A slightly eye brow raising fact considering that the Treatymen have not beaten Clare.
Optimism is high for Limerick GAA fans however, as two emphatic wins over Laois and Antrim in the qualifiers has boosted the squads confidence and has served as a welcome return to winning.
Looking ahead to this weekend, Clare will be more match prepared, having defeated Dublin only last Saturday night in Ennis.
Limerick, who spent last weekend in Fota Island Resort on a training weekend, will be hoping that freshness will play a part in what is expected to be a huge physical encounter.
Team news ahead of the clash is that Conor Allis, (shoulder) and Paul Browne (knee) will miss out on this weekend.
Captain David Breen, who went off injured in the Antrim game, is expected to return to the side for Saturday night.
With Kevin Downes, Declan Hannon and Seamus Hickey all expected to feature for Limerick, the selection team will have headaches in all lines of the team.
Limerick’s losses to Clare this season seem to have been based around not meeting the intensity levels of the ‘Banner’ men. Clare showed in the league games that they had a lot more work down at that early season stage than Limerick had.
However, the vibes coming from the Limerick camp are good and the feeling that the panel are building with each week is only confirmed by the demolition of Laois and Antrim.
As the season progresses, Clare seem to be slowing down, while Limerick appear to be getting fitter, faster and more skillful. Will these factors lead to a Limerick win?
With returning players, comes selection headaches. Seamus Hickey, if fit enough to start, will need to start. The Murroe Boher star’s natural fitness is a huge asset at full back, wing back, centre back or even midfield.
The experiment of playing Brian Geary at centre forward might just have been done with a game of this style in mind.
The returning Kevin Downes will be hard pushed to dislodge an ever improving Niall Moran.
At the time of going to print, Limerick manager John Allen had not named his side for the game. With an almost full strength squad, Limerick will be looking to start strong against Clare and hopefully, this time, finish the job.
Verdict: Limerick to win by a score.
Last Five Championship Clashes
2008: Clare 4-12 Limerick 1-16 (Munster semi-final)
2007: Limerick 1-23 Clare 1-16 (All-Ireland quarter-final)
2006: Clare 2-21 Limerick 0-10 (All-Ireland qualifiers)
1996: Limerick 1-13 Clare 0-15 (Munster semi-final)
1995: Clare 1-17 Limerick 0-11 (Munster final)
