ALL-IRELAND UNDER-21 HURLING FINAL:SOMETHING MUST be out of the ordinary if Clare are going into Sunday's All-Ireland under-21 hurling final just slight outsiders to beat Kilkenny. But then this is no ordinary Clare team.

They not only won their first Munster title in July, but in beating Galway to make their first All-Ireland final they produced one of the best ever displays at under-21 level – and clearly they’re not finished yet.

If last Sunday’s senior final is a hard act to follow, this actually has the potential to surpass it. Kilkenny are defending champions and seeking a 12th title in all. But Clare have been the story of the championship so far, and no better man to describe their ascendency this year than manager John Minogue, a tireless servant to Clare hurling both as a player and coach at various grades.

“No, we haven’t played in Croke Park before,” he says, “because we haven’t been good enough to play in Croke Park before. But I suppose it’s where we wanted to bring this team when we started out three years ago. They’ve played well, and we’re hoping to put up another good performance.

“If you go back to the early 1970s, you had the likes of Ger Loughnane and Seán Stack. They competed well at under-21, lost Munster finals. I think we were always short maybe a Darach Honan or a Colin Ryan in the full forward line, who would put away the goal chances.

“We would always score a reasonable amount of points, but if you take Kilkenny, or Cork, they always have one or two forwards that will stick the ball in the back of the net. Like Honan has scored five this year. A guy who can put the ball in the back of the net at a crucial time wins the game.

“Maybe as well at under-21 it’s not as tight, it’s more free-flowing than senior hurling. A senior full back with five or six years’ experience, say Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Noel Hickey, they would be a lot tighter. But I think under-21 hurling is played with the spirit of freedom and joy. A lot of high scores, no cynicism. They just go out there and if there’s a goal on they go for it when you might be screaming at them to take the point. And then someone like Darach Honan will stick it in the back of the net. You should have to walk away and say ‘I was wrong’.”

Minogue points to the likes of Honan and Ryan for good reason. Between them they hit 2-12 in the semi-final win over Galway, a true epic when Joe Canning scored 4-7 and still ended up on the losing team. Honan is nursing a hamstring strain but will start on Sunday, while midfielder Cathal Chaplin has recovered from a broken finger. Seán Collins is the only absentee after putting out his shoulder playing a football game.

“They’ve put up a lot of scores so far this year,” adds Minogue.

“As a unit, they work well. Colin Ryan, Honan and Camin Morey have been quite dangerous in the full forward line. They know where the posts are, but whether they’ll get the space against the Kilkenny backs is what we have to worry about. All Clare teams have been crying out for forwards since Setanta pucked the ball.”

Clare’s motivation for victory certainly won’t be lacking and can be traced back to last year’s Munster final in Ennis where they were denied a likely victory over Tipperary when their goalkeeper was controversially penalised during a puck out:

“It was unfortunate. I never noticed a goalkeeper stepping out of the parallelogram before, but just watching last Sunday, the momentum will always take them that step outside. Unless they put a runway behind the posts. If you want to drive the ball 100 yards you have to get some run up at them. It was a heartbreak for the lads, because we’d a good bunch last year. Especially in your own backyard, and to happen at the death.”

Win or lose on Sunday, the fact that Clare are contesting an under-21 final would suggest a healthy future – although Minogue is a little more cautious:

“I’m not sure you can say one successful under-21 team will guarantee you a successful senior team. I think history will tell you maybe four or five players will go on to senior. Some guys lose interest, or their jobs take them elsewhere. And you have to look at the present economic climate. Where are these guys going to get jobs? Reporters, maybe.

“Counties like Clare, and say Wexford, Waterford to a certain extent, will have good teams every eight or nine years. They come and go. They don’t have as strong a pool as Kilkenny and Cork and Tipperary to replace two or three players very year.

“Take the Clare teams that won in 1995 and 1997. Once the likes of Brian Lohan and Seanie McMahon and Jamesie O’Connor and Davy Fitzgerald were gone they’re very, very hard to replace. But over the last three years our under-21s have been reasonably successful.

“You need successful minor teams too. Because one swallow doesn’t make a summer. One under-21 team doesn’t mean a successful senior team.” It’s got to help though, all the more if they can win the coveted All-Ireland.

CLARE’S UNDER-21 hurling team were denied a run-out in Croke Park last Sunday evening due to the pitch invasion which followed Kilkenny’s All-Ireland win over Tipperary, writes Ian O’Riordan. The team travelled to Dublin for the planned training session as this Sunday’s under-21 final is their first ever appearance at GAA headquarters, but instead they found themselves unable to use to pitch because of all the debris left after invasion.

“We were hoping to have a run-out here last Sunday evening, but that didn’t work out,” explained Clare manager John Minogue.

“Too many Kilkenny people ran onto the pitch. It’s not really an issue. We did get to walk around, and the pitch was in a poor state. Litter everywhere. We were told there was glass on the pitch and there probably was.

“There was everything else on the pitch, so it was dangerous. But we got in and walked around. Obviously we’d have preferred a puck around as well.

It shouldn’t be too much of a disadvantage. I hope they’ll realise the chances of playing with Clare in Croke Park again will not be as much as say the Kilkenny lads. And once you get the shot you have to take the chance.

“You can’t guarantee guys won’t get stage fright. And if you don’t play against Kilkenny for the first 10 minutes the game will be gone. So we’re hoping they grab it with both hands and get stuck in from the word go.”