Clare’ s golden generation in search of silver lining to their year
It’s an ordinary day in the Talbot St offices of the Irish Independent and the phone lights up with an unfamiliar number. The voice on the other end of the phone asks if I can take a call from Aidan O’Brien. This is January 2014. A few weeks earlier, O’Brien attended the Irish Independent’s Sportstar of the Year awards in Dublin’s Westbury hotel. He had sat close to Clare’s Tony Kelly that day and they swapped stories of how they look to build performance.
Kelly spoke about the aftermath of their All-Ireland final win, about how his sleep was measured in the quest for better performance. O’Brien referenced how every tree and hedgerow in Ballydoyle was specifically chosen with thoroughbred horses’ sometimes delicate constitution in mind. The pair grew comfortable in each other’s company.
Later in the evening O’Brien won a weekend away in a London hotel. He accepted it sheepishly but the phone call, patched through his office, was about changing that. For a man who famously flies home from all over the world to be back on the Ballydoyle gallops early the following morning, a weekend in London away from his string of horses just didn’t make sense. After a quick chat, the idea was that the trip to London should be handed to Kelly.
Those were the days when the hurling world was Clare’s and everyone else just lived in it. They’d swept to the 2013 All-Ireland with a team of tyros.
Shane O’Donnell was pulled from relative obscurity to bag a hat-trick in the All-Ireland final. Kelly swept the boards in awards season, winning an All-Star along with the Hurler of the Year and Young Hurler of the Year gongs.
That day in the Westbury, in a room that included Roy Keane and Martin O’Neill, Kelly was named the Irish Independent’s Young Sportstar of the Year.
Later in 2014, Clare would complete a three-in-a-row of All-Ireland U-21 hurling titles. In the midst of that run, joint manager of those sides Donal Moloney made a bold statement.
History
“We’re looking at some of the best hurlers potentially in the history of Clare hurling, in terms of what they did here tonight,” Moloney said in the moments after the young guns’ final win over Kilkenny in 2012.
“That’s no offence to the guys of the
’90s, they were incredible in what they did. These are different types of players though. They have incredible pace. It’s unique in that we wouldn’t have been always known for having wristy, pacey hurlers.
“These guys are incredible athletes, incredible ball-players.”
There was no reason to doubt him. In terms of talent and age profile, Clare looked to be in the box seat.
But since then, they’ve lost five Munster finals and by the cold metric of silverware, the intervening 10 seasons have delivered one National League title and nothing else.
They have been in classic games and have produced generational talents, but they could only watch as neighbours Limerick built a team for the ages in what was meant to be their time.
There’s no obvious reason for why things didn’t pan out for Clare the way most expected. Elite sport is unforgiving and will expose any cracks. Injuries and absentees took their toll.
Conor Ryan’s health issues forced him from the game at 26. Darach Honan’s troublesome hips took him out at 27. Domhnall O’Donovan, who scored the brilliant equalising point in the drawn 2013 final, retired at 27 citing the commute from his Dublin base.
And there’s no doubt that the loss of Paul Kinnerk was significant. Colin Ryan, who hit 19 points across both finals in 2013, was more blunt: “The biggest loss we ever had in Clare”.
They have built steadily under Brian Lohan and have shown an ability to operate at Limerick’s altitude.
That consistency has been rewarded with a place in Sunday’s All-Ireland final, 11 years on from when they looked primed to take over the hurling world.
Earlier this week, O’Donnell admitted he “certainly wouldn’t have thought it’d be 11 years between the two All-Irelands”.
There may be some regrets from the intervening period but that could all be washed away on Sunday.
Opportunity knocks for Clare’s golden generation.