Few teams have ever blurred the line between senior and under-21 success as spectacularly as the Clare hurlers did last summer, and that process starts all over again this evening. Indeed if Clare's under-21 hurling pedigree – three All-Ireland titles in the last five years – has been the true springboard to senior success then this evening's Munster quarter-final against Limerick (7.30, live TG4) may well carry several tell-tale signs.
No one knows that better than Tony Kelly, who last year claimed the unique honour of being named both senior and young hurler of the year, on top of his All Star award at centre forward.
Still only 20, Kelly will again line-out with the Clare under-21s this evening, while still in the midst of Clare’s preparations for the Munster senior semi-final, against either Cork or Waterford, on Sunday week. It’s a demanding schedule, but somehow one Kelly and Clare have managed to handle with obvious success.
‘Management teams’
“I suppose it comes down to the two management teams,” says Kelly. “Gerry O’Connor and
Donal Maloney
have been there for three years, over the under-21s, and I think there has been great communication with
Davy Fitzgerald
, the senior manager. They give us the instruction on where to be at a given time, like when we are supposed to be back with the under-21s, or when we’re supposed to train with the seniors. And I think they have got the balance right. You see some teams get burnt out, when they don’t get the balance right.”
As it turned out that balance was fully tested last year when the All-Ireland senior final between Clare and Cork went to a replay, and scheduled in between was Clare against Antrim in the All-Ireland under-21 final.
“I think that worked out, in one sense, because we weren’t really focussed on the replay, and went straight into the under-21s,” recalls Kelly. “It can be a healthy distraction. If you can get through that without any injuries I guess a championship game is better than a training session before coming back to the senior panel.
“It helps when you’re successful, too. We’ve been successful for the last two years and then if you take in 2009 as well, those three winning under-21 teams make up the entire senior panel. For any team, you need underage success, like minor and under-21 teams winning, so when they come to senior they are no strangers to winning.
“With that comes more competition for places, too. You’ve 12-13 of us coming in from the under-21 in the last two years, pushing the more senior statesmen in the panel. and maybe pushing them out of position.”
None of this means Clare will be in any way underestimating Limerick. Especially since they have an impressive record at under-21 level too, winning the Munster title as recently as 2011, and that trio of All-Ireland titles in 2000-’02. Needless to say Limerick’s heads are up after their senior success over Tipperary on Sunday, and that so-called gap between the under-21 and senior player is closing all the time.
Fully grown men
“Looking at the conditioning of lads at under-21 and minor, and they are fully grown men,” says Kelly. “I think managers are adopting the approach ‘if you’re good enough you’re old enough’.
“I think it was the same with ourselves last year. We had no real fear. We didn’t know what to expect. We just went out and hurled. That is the advantage of being youngsters, they have no inhibitions about themselves, they just go out and hurl. That has to be a boost to the senior set-up as well.”
