Clare still in driving seat

Clare's propensity to generate controversy is again the main talking-point going into this afternoon's Guinness All-Ireland hurling semi-final re-fixture against Offaly at Thurles.

This may be unfair to the county which finds itself facing a third semi-final simply because a referee got his timing wrong with two minutes left when the All-Ireland champions were leading by three points.

But once more, it is events off the field which have stirred up most publicity in the seven days since the ill-fated replay. Early in the week, the match was refixed in accordance with Rule 138. Next Colin Lynch, the Clare centrefielder, had his appeal against suspension turned down by the GAA's Management Committee.

In the days since, Ger Loughnane has broadcast the latest of his interviews with Clare FM (the county's equivalent of Beijing wall posters). Amongst the various buttons pressed were Lynch's plight and an allegation that some in authority did not want Clare to win the All-Ireland.

Yesterday and the day before have been full of to-ing and froing between Clare's county chairman Robert Frost and Donie Nealon in the Munster Council in the hope that an appeal to the council could be organised before today's match for which Lynch could technically be cleared.

In fact, Clare had accepted before yesterday evening's statement from Nealon that the player would not be available and the application to have his suspension reduced from three months to two will come onto the agenda only after today's match - assuming Clare win.

Even that assumption has been cast into some doubt, to an extent that would have been unthinkable at half-time last week. In the days since their reprieve, Offaly have been strengthening their line-up to the extent that this afternoon's first-choice team looks their strongest of the season.

This owes a good bit to fortune. Injuries have cleared up and both Michael Duignan and Johnny Pilkington escaped further censure or a video investigation into their indiscretions last week - much to the irritation of Lynch's supporters in Clare.

The champions, for their part, have a number of fitness concerns. Most serious is the case of Ollie Baker whose back injury has required intensive physiotherapy and who was rated as only 50 per cent likely to play by Loughnane himself. Privately, sources in the county say Baker will play - even if not 100 per cent - and that the team is unlikely to differ from the line-up which comprehensively outplayed Offaly for so much of last week's replay.

Baker's indisposition is particularly worrying for Clare in the continuing absence of Lynch. Having to replace an entire centrefield would pose grave problems.

Throughout this long-running fixture, there has been a sense that Kilkenny may be the ultimate beneficiaries. The All-Ireland finalists have played only two matches since the beginning of July. By tonight, Clare and Offaly will have played five each. Given Clare's intense style, this packed timetable must pose problems both physical and mental.

For the first time since their arrival in the big time the champions are showing signs of physical stress with injuries beginning to plague the team in a way that used never happen. Today's re-fixture is demoralising for them because they looked likely winners a week ago even if Offaly couldn't be written off in the circumstances.

For Offaly, there has to relief that circumstances came to their rescue, albeit in an unconventional manner. It was a match in which the Leinster team played very poorly for a long period by the end of which their chances should have been dead and buried.

That they came back is tribute to the usual Offaly virtues, but also to a Clare mini-collapse of the type which was familiar enough last year. Having reached a seemingly impregnable position, the champions relaxed sufficiently to allow the opposition back into the match.

During the first half, Offaly's biggest failing was in the forwards. A complete failure to compete not alone annihilated their scoring potential but also allowed Clare's backs into a deadly rhythm of winning ball in such comfortable conditions that they were able to unleash a blizzard of clever ball into the forwards.

Whereas the Offaly backs came under increased pressure from Clare's redeployment of pace, this was exacerbated by the dread realisation that they might as well have been clearing ball into a handball alley.

From an Offaly perspective, there is also concern that too much reliance is being placed on the old guard and that there is nothing in reserve to help lift their game. Joe Errity has demonstrated the strength and directness to be worth the full forward spot but will he have the fitness for the whole 70 minutes? Similarly, can Billy Dooley maintain his rehabilitation over the course of the full match?

In the end, Michael Bond and his selectors are probably right to send out their best team, but if it's not working there's no plan B on the bench.

Paudie Mulhare's return will be a bonus if he can pick up where he left off in the drawn match before missing the replay after the death of his father.

Offaly's difficulty will be in combining the frenzied vigour of last week's comeback with the composure shown in the drawn match. Yet the pace of Barry Murphy and the industry of Alan Markham unhinged Offaly's best defenders a week ago. And the attack only began to click after Brian Whelahan's move up front. At what stage do such emergency measures come on the agenda?

But the most telling factor in Clare's favour is likely to be the pitch in Thurles. This is the venue which has seen many of Clare's best performances.

This year they have already beaten Cork by eight points and Waterford by 12 in Semple Stadium and if the draw in the Munster final was a surprise, it also featured some excellent hurling. Clare's forwards will be more comfortable in the wider expanses of Semple Stadium where their advantages of pace and fitness will worth more.

There were signs last week that those advantages were already beginning to bite and whereas the match today may not swing as wildly as last week's, Clare should again be in the driving seat as the minutes tick down - and this time remain there.