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Clare v Galway, All-Ireland SHC quarter-final match guide

Davy Fitz is plotting an end to the Joe Show for another summer. So he is.

All-Ireland SHC quarter-final

Clare v Galway

Sunday, 4pm.

Semple Stadium, Thurles

Ref: Brian Gavin, Offaly

Latest from the medics and management….

Disappointingly, Clare have yet to release their starting line-up so we have to employ some guess work here. Cathal McInerney is pushing hard for a starting place after his two-goal salvo after coming off the bench last time out against Wexford.

Peter Duggan is battling to hold onto his position in attack as Darach Honan is expected to return to the starting line-up after injury. From 1-9, the Clare midfield has a settled look to it but manager Davy Fitzgerald will have given the make-up of his full-back line and front six plenty of thought.

Meanwhile, Galway boss Anthony Cunningham has reacted to the heavy Leinster final defeat against Dublin by making a raft of changes. Colm Callanan replaces James Skehill between the sticks and there’s a championship debut for Jason Grealish at wing-back, with Joseph Cooney losing out.

Aidan Harte and Andy Smith will form a new midfield pairing at the expense of Iarla Tannian and James Regan and in attack, Jonathan Glynn starts in place of Cyril Donnellan, with Damien Hayes preferred to Davy Glennon. There are notable positional switches, too, as Kevin Hynes and captain Fergal Moore swap places in the full-back line.

Hynes endured a torrid afternoon at full-back against Dublin’s Paul Ryan and going by this Galway team, he will be shifted to the right corner. David Collins is named in the pivotal centre half back position and will be flanked by Shane Kavanagh and Grealish.

Galway: Colm Callanan (Kinvara); Kevin Hynes (Sarsfields), Fergal Moore (Turloughmore), Johnny Coen (Loughrea); Shane Kavanagh (Kinvara), David Collins (Liam Mellows), Jason Grealish (Gort); Aidan Harte (Gort), Andy Smith (Portumna); David Burke (St Thomas’s), Conor Cooney (St Thomas’s), Jonathan Glynn (Ardrahan); Damien Hayes (Portumna), Joe Canning (Portumna), Niall Burke (Oranmore-Maree).
Clare (probable): Patrick Kelly (Inagh-Kilnamona); Domhnall O’Donovan (Clonlara), David McInerney (Tulla), Cian Dillon (Crusheen); Brendan Bugler (Whitegate), Patrick Donnellan (O’Callaghan Mills), Patrick O’Connor (Tubber); Colm Galvin (Clonlara), Colin Ryan (Newmarket-on-Fergus); John Conlon (Clonlara), Tony Kelly (Ballyea), Pádraic Collins (Cratloe); Shane O’Donnell (Eire Og), Darach Honan (Clonlara), Conor McGrath (Cratloe).

Checking the odds…

Despite their Leinster final thumping, and a poor record in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, the bookies still fancy Galway to get past Clare tomorrow afternoon.

The Tribesmen will start as 4-5 favourites at Semple Stadium, with Clare on offer at 5-4. The draw is a 10-1 shot and in a game that looks set to be incredibly tight, these are odds worth looking at.

Clues from the form guide….

Will the real Galway please stand up? There’s a feeling in the West that last year’s Leinster champions and beaten All-Ireland finalists don’t have the same hunger levels as 2012, and have been unwilling to get their hands dirty like they did then. Behind closed doors in recent weeks, manager Anthony Cunningham has attempted to revive and rejuvenate the beaten Leinster finalists and he’s performed radical surgery on the team, with no fewer than six changes in personnel.

There are some big name casualties but Cunningham needed to make a statement in the wake of a 12-point mauling against Dublin.

There’s little to suggest that Galway have a big performance in them as they flattered to deceive in the National League, struggled past Laois and were demolished by Dublin. There are question marks hanging over Clare too but Davy Fitzgerald’s Banner County hit 4-56 in their last two matches against Laois and Wexford.

No matter who the opposition is, that’s decent shooting and the return of a goal touch is a welcome boost for the Banner men. Fitzgerald has players champing at the bit for starting places, particularly in attack, but Clare need to convert more chances as they registered 20 wides against Wexford.

The flipside of that, of course, is that Clare are creating a huge amount of scoring opportunities and somebody could be on the end of a big beating if they start taking them.

The game breakers are…

Clare marksman, Tony Kelly. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

Tony Kelly is Clare’s main man in attack. His scoring ability is unquestioned but the brilliant Ballyea player will unsettle opposition defences in his roving commission. Kelly’s hard-running game will drag the Galway centre back out of position, creating extra space for a two-man full-forward line.

But the key to Clare winning this game is their half-back line platform and Brendan Bugler has carried his 2012 Allstar form into this campaign. Returning to the forward line, Conor McGrath has yet to really catch fire this year but the Cratloe player laid on the decisive goals for Cratloe clubmate Cathal McInerney in extra-time against Wexford.

Joe Canning is the big player for Galway and in this regard, Fitzgerald has a big choice to make in defence. Does he persist with David McInerney at full-back, even though Canning has the ability to do damage against the Tulla man? Or does he ask Bugler to police Canning, as was the case when the sides met in the National Hurling League.

The return of Damien Hayes to the Galway team also gives the Tribesmen the opportunity to revert to the system that worked so well for them last year, when Hayes operated as a third midfielder.

Gazing into the crystal ball…

We suspect that Galway have too many questions to answer. There was even talk of Cyril Donnellan being tried in the troublesome centre back position in training since the Dublin defeat. And if Clare can come up with a plan to shut down Joe Canning, they’re more than halfway there. Davy Fitzgerald knows Canning inside out from the days when the Fitzgerald was manager and Canning the gunslinger as Limerick IT claimed Fitzgibbon Cup glory.

Famed for his analysis, Fitzgerald is sure to have a plan in place to curb the gifted Galway forward and that could see Brendan Bugler deployed in a man-marking role, or dropping back a few yards to provide a shield in front of the full-back line.

If Clare can take more of the chances they create at the other end of the field, they’ll give themselves a terrific opportunity to win the game.

And if Darach Honan is passed fit after he missed the Wexford game through injury, Clare have the chance to mix up the short game by going more direct.

A fascinating tie lies in store but Galway have lost their last five All-Ireland quarter-finals and have the worst record of the four competing teams at this stage of the competition.

Verdict: Clare

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