David Tubridy spent a lot of time on the sideline in 2015 due to various injuries, now that he’s back on the field; the Clare footballer is making the most of every game.
Speaking to The Clare Herald in the moments after their three point win over Limerick, Tubridy admitted that it’s a big lift to be playing without any injury worries. “It’s very nice especially to be back playing seventy minutes of football and you’re not thinking of your groin or your stomach or something like that. Thankfully now we can step it up we’ve two weeks now to Kerry and hopefully we’ve get things right and sort out our mistakes and get ready from the start the next day”.
Tubridy had to wait until July of last year for his first Championship appearance of 2015 due to groin problems and damage to the muscle of his stomach. The Doonbeg forward hailed the impact of Podge Collins from the bench as he ensured that losing Cathal O’Connor to injury didn’t dent their chances.
“Cathal O’Connor he’s been one of our best players this year, he’s some fielder of the ball and to lose him so early in a game was a massive blow but we adapted to it and the changes we made, put Jamie out to midfield and brought on Podge and Podge made a big impact when he came on as a sub and kicked two or three points which was huge for us, just overall we played well in the second half and got over the line”.
He says that Clare were smart with their options and that proved to be significant. “It’s always great to get a win especially against Limerick, we knew coming down here today that Limerick were going to give us a serious game and we weren’t underestimating them one bit, we probably started off too slow but I think second half we showed there that we took the smart options, we didn’t panic under pressure and when we were three points up we could have went for a goal but we steadied ourselves and took the points when they were on and I think that’s what got us over the line in the end”.
At half-time Colm Collins’ men reset and refocused the minds. This was crucial to setting up a semi-final date with Kerry on June 12th according to the West Clare publican. “We just had to settle, I think in the first half we were taking potshots and I had one myself out near the sideline usually you wouldn’t kick but just ball to hand and running into crowds and losing balls in the tackles which we didn’t do towards the end of the league we based ourselves on smart play, keeping the ball, waiting till the option opens and taking our points but today the second half we did it and thankfully got over the line”.