Clare bowed out of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship with a disappointing seven point defeat to Waterford, Davy Fitzgerald insists they’ll still play a big role in this year’s Championship.
A soft Maurice Shanahan goal got Waterford off to a dream start, the former Clare netminder told media after the game that this concession mixed with missed chances proved very costly. “The goal was an absolute nightmare to concede. But those things happen in games, you have to get over it. That was nearly a freak, the first goal, it crawled over the line. He added “We missed a lot of chances, gave away a soft goal, you wouldn’t be happy with that. We had some bad wides from players who’d normally score, but they’ve been phenomenal”.
“It might have been a different game if we hadn’t conceded that goal and hit those wides. We could have been up a few points. But Waterford were the better team and deserved their victory.”
Pundits have come out criticising the Banner County for a flat display, the Sixmilebridge man didn’t anticipate for this to occur. The funny thing is that you never know. You think they’re buzzing and you convince yourself – have I done everything, would I change anything? I don’t think so. We worked really hard, we gave them the week and a half off after the league final and they went back to the clubs, that’s fine. We had our training camp”.
The All-Ireland winning manager made no excuses for the result and is adamant they will come back fighting in the qualifiers. “Let me make this clear, we’ll be fighting in this championship. Clare are better than that”.
Fitzgerald continued “We’ve gone thirteen games unbeaten (this year), and I’m not going to criticise them. Every team goes through things like that, a time when the players don’t hit top form – Kilkenny, Galway, Tipperary, Cork, they’ll all have a time when that happens.”
It’s the backdoor now for Davy and his charges. He is confident they will raise the bar in the knockout games. “They lost a Munster championship game but we’ve come through harder things than what happened today. “I expect them to be disappointed. We have serious players who didn’t perform, but we’ll raise it again. We have a national title under our belts this year, very few teams can say that and we’re not out of the big thing yet”.
“I’m looking forward to the next day, the next battle, I can’t wait to go again. That’s my immediate feeling” he concluded.