22 February 2007 Clare v Leitrim Match Preview Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! Clare v Leitrim Preview Suzuki League Division 2 A 2nd Round Clare .v. Leitrim preview. The Clare ladies football team will take on the 2006 All Ireland Junior runners up Leitrim on Sunday next in Fr. Duggan Park, Ballinasloe with a 2.00pm throw in. Following on from their opening Suzuki league campaign win over Limerick the Clare team will be anxious to consolidate their good start to the season with another solid performance this weekend. Leitrim will be a big step up in class with regard to the Limerick game but Deirdre Murphy’s Clare team have been going well in training and in challenge games thus far this season and are well ahead in terms of preparation than they were at this stage last year when both teams met early in the league. On that occasion Leitrim scored a 3 – 11 to 0 – 10 victory over the Banner County representatives. That was Clare’s first competetive outing of the 2006 league and they had the satisfaction of turning the tables on Leitrim with a thrilling Division Three Final win later in the year. Leitrim however went all the way to Croke Park in the summer’s junior championship and this experience should see them in good stead on Sunday. Although beaten in their opening league tie against their 2006 chapionship conquerors Sligo, Leitrim will enter Sunday’s game intent on reversing last year’s league final defeat at the hands of Clare. Clare will be confident of a good performance and with a full panel available for selection they should be favourites to secure another brace of league points. A tightening up defensively from their performance against Limerick is an imperative for Clare in this game and they cannot afford to leak goals defensively against Leitrim as they did against the Shannonsiders. Clare must also maintain their concentration and push on to kill off games when ahead – this they failed to do in the second half against Limerick and nearly paid a dear price for their lapse of concentration. Deirdre Murphy and her backroom team will have worked on these issues over the past two weeks and hopefully the team will bear the fruits of this labour on Sunday. Sunday’s game should be a fast free flowing game as per these two team’s most recent encounters against each other. Clare’s early season form should be good enough to see them through – but expect it to be close. Dr. Paul McKenna, PRO Clare Ladies Board Share this Article 0 0