Gaelic Games

Final Countdown: How Clare’s 1995 Munster final win had a little ‘magic’ motivation

Croke Park early birds to be entertained . . . Páirc viewing party sells out . . . horsing around on Sunday

Clare captain Anthony Daly with the trophy after his side’s 1995 Munster final win over Limerick. Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho
Clare captain Anthony Daly with the trophy after his side’s 1995 Munster final win over Limerick. Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho
Paul Fitzpatrick
Fri Jul 19 2024 - 06:00

Clare’s win over Cork in the 1995 Munster semi-final, decided by a late Ollie Baker goal, saw them into their third provincial final in a row. Such was their desperation to win it that, all these years on, their inspirational captain Anthony Daly still has a slightly suspect recall of the facts.

Clare had been well beaten in the ‘93 and ‘94 Munster finals and in an interesting interview with GAA.ie on Thursday, Daly explained the mood music in ‘95, when they faced Limerick.

“So, we got into the Munster final then and were going to be the first team to lose three Munster finals in a row. But when the day came, we were so ready to perform.”

No doubt Daly and his team-mates believed that stat and, given manager Ger Loughnane’s reputation for serving up every motivational crumb available, it may well have come from him.

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But it wasn’t accurate. In actual fact, Clare themselves (1922-24), Cork (1896-98 and 1959-61), Tipperary (1952-54) and Limerick (1945-47) all had the same unwanted record.

Croke Park early birds will be up for the match

In the absence of the traditional curtain-raiser, the powers-that-be will be treated to a “specially commissioned show” called The Warm-Up at Croker on Sunday.

Starting at 2pm, the show, hosted by Dave McIntyre, “will provide entertainment and analysis for those who come to Croke Park early and also those around the world who want to connect and follow the exciting countdown to what is one of the biggest days in the GAA inter-county calendar,” according to the press release.

There will be analysis from Podge Collins, Eoin Cadogan and John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer as well as musical entertainment, a jersey cannon firing out free shirts to the crowd and “pyrotechnics, drummers and pitch pageantry”.

Also incorporated will be the jubilee team celebration, which this year is the 1999 Cork side.

Demand for tickets sees Cork viewing party sell out

Demand for tickets for Sunday’s final is said to be nigh on unprecedented, so much so that the match will be shown on big screens for the public to watch at both Cork and Clare venues.

In the ‘real capital’, even the viewing party has sold out, as Ruairí O’Hagan of Cork’s Red FM explained on Off The Ball.

“It was ridiculous, 15,000 tickets went on sale for the viewing party in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoímh this coming Sunday, they sold out in 45 minutes,” he explained.

“The Cork GAA website crashed, the Cork City Council website crashed, you could not get tickets for love nor money.”

Meanwhile, Clare County Council will host their screening at Active Ennis Tim Smythe Park (the Fair Green).

Horsing around

Ever since Mayo For Sam was pipped at Ballinrobe two days after Mayo lost to Derry, we have been keeping an eye on the nags.

On Sunday at the Curragh, Nippy Kelly (1.40) will attract some support, as will Glen Princess (3.45).

Rogers Dream in the 2.52 at Redcar may also be an omen but, in honour of Davy Fitz’s thinly-veiled ‘come and get me’ this week, we might save our euro each-way for Dgalwaygallivantor in the 5.30.

Quote

The teams that cope best with deadballs tend to emerge victorious – Headline on a piece in the Clare Champion’s superb commemorative supplement this week.

Number: £9

Price of a ticket for the 1994 All-Ireland hurling final according to the Central Statistics Office’s official X account.

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