Clare have made two changes in their full forward line for their All-Ireland semi-final clash with Kilkenny in Croke Park on Sunday. Fergal Hegarty and Conor Clancy come in at right corner forward and full forward respectively, while Ger O'Loughlin moves from the middle of the line into the left corner. Kilkenny make only one change in their line-up, John Power coming into the attack instead of Peter Barry.
Clare beat Tipperary by 1-18 to 0-18 in the Munster final. The players to lose out from that game are Stephen McNamara and Barry Murphy, who were both replaced that afternoon.
The defence and the midfield have not been altered, but the thinking seems to be that the introduction of Hegarty and Clancy, who came in as a substitute in the Tipperary match, will add extra bite to the attack. Clare feel that Clancy will give a better balance to the full forward line and that Ger O'Loughlin will add width to the attack in the corner. The selectors have also preferred Clancy because of his ability to present a stiff physical challenge for the Kilkenny full back Liam Simpson.
Kilkenny, for their part, have preferred John Power on the right wing of the attack in place of Peter Barry. Power has made a full recovery from injury and came into the quarter-final match against Galway at half-time and made quite an impact. He now retains his place.
Following a disappointing display against Wexford in the Leinster final, Power worked extremely hard on his fitness and is now rewarded for that diligence. The selectors are believed to consider that Power's greater experience and strength will add better balance to the attack. There was an air of celebration about the Kilkenny training stint at Nowlan Park last night when the news was broken that their high-scoring forward DJ Carey had been presented with a son earlier in the day by his wife Christina.
The baby was not expected until next week. Carey, who scored 2-8 in a wonderful performance against Galway in the semi-final, now has the concern about his wife's pregnancy removed from his mind. The development bodes ill for Clare. There was much comment in Kilkenny last night when the news was heard that Clare had gone through a training session in Croke Park earlier in the week. It is not expected that Kilkenny will make much of a fuss about this, however, as they accept that they have had a few competitive outings there themselves with the last month or so.
Clare's performance against Tipperary, no less than Kilkenny's comeback against Galway, has given the selectors much cause for satisfaction. The teams have never met before in an All-Ireland semi-final, although both were involved in the final stages of the first ever All-Ireland hurling series in 1887 when the open draw system was in use. After much coming and going, including objections, Tipperary won the title that year. Kilkenny won their first All-Ireland title in 1904. Clare's All-Ireland victories were many years apart - 1914 and 1995. The teams did clash in the final in 1932 when Kilkenny won under the captaincy of Jimmy Walsh. The score was 3-3 to 2-3 in favour of Kilkenny, with such famous players as John Joe "Goggles" Doyle and "Tull" Considine playing for Clare.
In that year Clare made a remarkable recovery in the semifinal against Galway. They were 13 points adrift at half-time and after putting two further points to their total in the second half, Galway suffered an extraordinary collapse. Clare scored six goals to take the match on a score of 9-4 to 4-14.
