Clare hope to begin on right foot

Reputation alone practically guaranteed that several of those associated with the greatest football team of all time would carry on as managers.

Yet, it must still be something of record that four Kerrymen, all associated with the last great peak of the team in the mid-1980s, will take to the sidelines around the country this Sunday.

There is Mick O'Dwyer, still holding the management ropes but now with Laois and bringing his team to face Dublin in the Leinster semi-final at Croke Park.

There is Páidí Ó Sé, eight-time All-Ireland winner and now in charge of his native Kerry. Tipperary provide his opposition in Tralee in the Munster semi-final.

Then there is the other Munster semi-final in Cusack Park, where Liam Kearns holds charge of Limerick, and John Kennedy the same with Clare. All four can be traced to Kerry's golden years, though for now Kennedy is burdened by the least amount of pressure.

Sunday marks his first championship game as a senior inter-county manager, and it comes against a Limerick team who have already stated their intentions as Munster contenders by beating Cork in the first round. Before looking ahead to that game, Kennedy reflects on the novelty of the four elements of that Kerry team out on the same Sunday.

"It's amazing alright to have so many Kerry guys involved on the same day," he says. "And one of the reasons why I'm looking forward to the game on Sunday is because I know Liam Kearns very well.

"We've been in contact even more this year since I've taken over with Clare, and we cross paths quite a lot these days.

"Liam was also on the panel with us too around the mid-1980s. He was, of course, unlucky not to get an All-Ireland medal, but there were a lot of players around that time. He was a great player too, but there were so many of them that time that a few did lose out, and Liam was one of them. But he was a fantastic footballer, and has done a great job with Limerick."

Kennedy himself has three All-Ireland medals, from 1984, 1985 and 1986. His display at midfield in the Munster final of 1984 against Cork is particularly memorable, and he played a key part in the All-Ireland win that September over Dublin, the team that also featured Ó Sé and was managed by O'Dwyer.

He came into the Clare football management last October having previously been a selector with the Kerry minors for five years, and was also involved with Shannon Rangers, the local club team in Kerry, as well as various other underage teams.

What he intends doing over the next few years is building up a team in more or less the same way that Limerick have now done.

"Limerick have three or four years of very hard work put in now, and have made great progress, whereas we'd really be only starting off that road.

"But we have a good number of younger players coming through, with eight under-21s in the panel. There are more of them out there, so it's a learning process for us over the next few years.

"We're going out on Sunday to put up a good show. And anything can happen on the day. I'm not saying we're going in without hope, but it's very important that we learn and improve from the start - especially the pace and intensity of our game - so that we can really take on the likes of Kerry, Cork and now Limerick."

Kennedy saw for himself the further improvements Limerick have made this season, exemplified by their win over Cork.

"I was there that day, and while everyone gave Limerick a great chance, no one could have envisaged the way they won.

"They showed no apparent weakness, even with the bad conditions. But more significant for me was that it came a week after losing to Westmeath in the league final, which ruled out any question marks I might have had about them."

Clare's own form certainly didn't sparkle during the league, yet Kennedy is content that preparations have gone well.

"We had a poor enough league, and were disappointed with some of the results. But the championship is what you aim for. We've played several challenge games, which went quite well, but we know Sunday will be a real heated battle."

Four Clare players will make championship debuts on Sunday - goalkeeper Dermot O'Brien, corner back Dara Blake, half forward Michael O'Dwyer and corner forward Rory Donnelly.

CLARE (SF v Limerick): D O'Brien; P Gallagher, D O'Sullivan, D Blake; B Smith, A Malone, C Whelan; G Quinlan, B Considine; M O'Dwyer, M O'Connell, P McMahon; O O'Dwyer, D Russell, R Donnelly.

TIPPERARY (SF v Kerry): P Ryan; N Kelly, D Byrne, L Cronin; D Fanning, S Collum, R Costigan; E Hanrahan, F O'Callaghan; L England, N Fitzgerald, A Fitzgerald; T Doyle, D Browne, D O'Brien.

ANTRIM (SF v Tyrone): S McGreevey; G Adams, J McKeever, N Ward; S Kelly, T Convery, A Finnegan; M McCrory, M McCarry; J Quinn, K Brady, K McGourty; P McCann, D O'Hare, K Madden.