Clare v Leitrim Match 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