Clare hold replay formula

This game proved one thing at least. If you want to beat Clare now you have to do it first time out or else you're in trouble for the second.

Clare are fast becoming the replay specialists, no doubt about it. They produced some great passages of hurling and certainly deserved this victory for the way they completely dominated the full 70 minutes.

Unfortunately for Galway, they couldn't develop the same approach of the previous Sunday. For a start, they didn't come out and go for the ball with the same sort of enthusiasm.

The forwards needed fast ball to come quickly from their defence, but instead it only arrived after two or three passes, some going forward and some going back, and that gave the Clare backs a lot more time to settle on the situation. I believed all along that Galway needed to perform as well as the last day if they were to win, but that seemed to be beyond them.

Clare, though, made a number of crucial tactical moves. They put Conor Clancy at centre forward to stop Cathal Moore from dominating the game and that meant he was not the factor he was the last day. After that Galway were inclined to run out of defence with the ball instead of making if fly.

Brian Lohan ruled the full-back line and at times I couldn't figure out how Clare appeared to have the spare man in that area. Any time the ball came down Lohan was on his own without a Galway man within 20 yards. Overall, the Galway half backs and centrefield just couldn't connect with their forwards.

Eugene Cloonan did well for the first half, even if a lot of his scores came from frees. Some people may criticise him for not going for the goal from the penalty. Maybe he showed a lack of confidence.

One of the big questions I had about Galway's game was over Brian Feeney. He came off the last day with a hamstring injury and yet started here. It was a gamble and I don't believe it worked because he was afraid to twist and turn like he normally does. His lack of pace was exposed, especially by Niall Gilligan, and he was later taken off.

Clare's first goal in the second half also showed a big weakness in the Galway backs. It was almost a giveaway and certainly a disastrous start to the half. Galway never really recovered and from there on Clare starting coming forward in droves. Their second-half scoring would have been enough to win most other matches.

Whenever their half backs came forward and whenever they got the ball there was always a spare man in support, even without a great display from Sean McMahon. In comparison for Galway, Joe Rabbitte got nothing of significance, the two midfields faded somewhat and the forwards got a shorter supply of ball all the time.

All the while, Clare knew exactly what they were doing and all their plans seemed to work. Gilligan, in particular, preyed on the weaknesses in the Galway backs and put up one of his best displays by far.

Still, to be fair to Galway, they never stopped trying and showed tremendous heart. But at times, it appeared to me that they were drifting back into their old style of hurling by running for long periods and playing into the hands of Clare. That slowed the flow down - what they really needed was the fast ball into the forwards which succeeded so well for them the last day.

Clare certainly learnt from the last game and seem to improve by almost 50 per cent when given the second chance. They could even afford to take off Jamesie O'Connor, which shows the confidence they had in their game.

It will be tough now for Clare to beat Kilkenny because they have five games behind them and you still have to wonder if they can keep going. Kilkenny will be fast and slick and, more importantly, fresh and it will be an extremely hard game for them.

You have to ask as well how badly they want to beat them, but after coming this far with so many hard games then you know they'll want it as bad as ever. Kilkenny will probably be the favourites, but Clare are back in form again. You just can't write this side off.

In an interview with Ian O'Riordan