Focused Kilkenny ready for final stage

GAELIC GAMES/All-Ireland SH semi-final/Kilkenny v Clare: One step away from this year's Guinness All-Ireland hurling final we're still chasing shadows. Kilkenny steamrolled Leinster and Galway while Clare breezed everything since getting a smacking from Cork last May.

Which is more plausible, Kilkenny's refreshed and evolving team or Clare's impressive track record in rehabilitating for the final stages of the All-Ireland after poor provincial championships?

For all that both Anthony Daly and Cyril Lyons before him worked miracles with the remnants of the great 1990s team and newcomers raised without the benefit of any underage success in recent years, the achievements have been brilliantly contrived rather than clear evidence of All-Ireland potential.

Clare folk may feel Cork were run to a point and should have been beaten at this stage a year ago before going on to put All-Ireland titles back-to-back. But like in the quarter-final in 2004 when Kilkenny were more than glad to take a replay, Clare didn't pull the trigger when the target was closest.

The teams met most recently in last year's NHL final, which was won convincingly by Kilkenny in a second half when they crushed their opponents. May might not be Clare's favourite time of year, but they were up for the league that day and yet after a competitive first half got swatted 2-13 to 0-5.

Tomorrow all but two of that team will be on the field, whereas Kilkenny are much changed, with 10 surviving and only three in the same position. To most eyes those changes are for the better. There is rightly scepticism about Brian Cody's lack of a settled team at such a late stage of the championship, but the tweaking of selections is confined to the fringes of the team and, given the quality of the county's replacements bench, isn't greatly affecting the overall quality.

By any standards the regeneration has been thorough, with new players drafted in and others given different roles within the team. John Tennyson has grown impressively into the centre-back position, so far seamlessly slotting into Peter Barry's place.

James Fitzpatrick's redeployment to centrefield worked very well in the Galway match and he provides the silk to Derek Lyng's steel in the middle. It has complemented the team's stylistic move from a big, ball-winning collective to one that uses a faster, more intricate approach.

Eddie Brennan has been in good form this season on the wing and it will be interesting to see if he can maintain that in the corner, even if it's a more familiar posting for him. Michael Rice's recall indicates a change in emphasis and recognition of the strength of Clare's half backs, against whom Brennan might struggle to gain possession.

Most importantly, Henry Shefflin is in top form, as has been Martin Comerford.

Inevitably in big matches involving Kilkenny, Shefflin's input will be critical. He was irresistible in the quarter-final and is listed to start on Brian Lohan, in what might be the last match before the famed red helmet is hung up for good.

It's not beyond Lohan to give a significant performance, but if he does, it's unlikely to be on the same opponent. Kilkenny had great success shuffling their forwards all over the shop against Galway and hacking up on the scoreboard while their baffled opponents tried to keep track.

Clare's strength throughout the field is their most recognisable asset, but Jonathan Clancy has added dash to Colin Lynch's formidable presence at centrefield, and some of the forwards, Tony Griffin and Tony Carmody, have been scoring well, albeit against less than terrifying defences, whereas Niall Gilligan has found form as a supplier rather than as a shooter.

Two years ago Daly notched a notable tactical success by using Alan Markham effectively as an Armagh-style seventh defender and crowding the Kilkenny forwards, but though the precedent is similar - a big Kilkenny win over Galway and a Clare romp against Leinster finalists - Cody's team are radiating more menace with a rebuilt side. They should win and given the nature of the evolution progress a bit further in time to have their say in Cork's putative three-in-a-row.