Fintan O'Toole

CLARE LEFT SMILING at the close a hurling league final that produced a pulsating finish, Kilkenny left to stew on defeat.

Plenty talking points emerged from a Saturday night of action in Thurles:

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1. Thoughts quickly shift to championship…

Shane O’Donnell was sprung from the bench at half-time to inject fresh impetus into Clare’s attack. He did just that, immediately playing a key role in engineering David Fitzgerald’s goal, and offering an attacking focal point for his side.

Yet there was no wild delight in O’Donnell’s post-match reaction at his return or Clare’s ultimate success. His summary reflected how it’s what comes next that matters most to Clare – welcoming Limerick to Ennis in a fortnight and a trip to Cork a week later.

“I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on it to be honest with you. We’ve kind of talked about it as well, if we looked back to 2016, the last time that Clare won the league and then we went out in the first round of the Championship and we lost. I

“I think anyone in a county set up at the moment would take that swap, losing the league final and then winning the first round of the championship.

“So if that happens in two weeks nobody’s going to be remembering that we won the league and patting us on the back.”

2. Clare needed this piece of silverware…

Clare have been a prominent hurling force over the past two seasons, contributing richly to two epic Munster finals, but losing out on both occasions to Limerick. They contested two All-Ireland semi-finals, but lost in contrasting styles at the hands of Kilkenny, decisively by 12 in 2022 and narrowly by three in 2023.

Another loss in a game of consequence would have been tough to absorb, a fifth big match defeat in the space of 21 months. For all the strides made under Brian Lohan, Clare needed some silverware on the board, and withstanding Kilkenny’s second-half assault to achieve that, provides a major boost.

“The group works really hard and you do want to get some reward for your effort.” said Lohan.

“It was just massive for us, particularly with our results against Kilkenny over the last couple of years. We’ve had to deal with a lot of disappointment from Kilkenny.”

3. Final disappointment for Kilkenny again…

A familiar and unwelcome feeling for Kilkenny in a national decider. After losing the last two All-Ireland finals at the hands of Limerick, this represented a second successive league final loss, having been dismantled by Limerick twelve months ago at this stage.

This game was a disappointment, given they have had the edge over Clare in recent times. The concession of goals either side of half-time left them chasing the game, too much ground to make up despite their powerful late charge for the line. No All-Ireland since 2015, no league title since 2018.

They are the market leaders in Leinster, targeting five-in-a-row in the province this season, but last night’s defeat will sting a little.

4. Clare forward line copes without Kelly…

Even in victory, the Clare conversation naturally turned to someone marked absent. Their talisman Tony Kelly was not involved last night and there’s no definite word on his availability for the looming Munster tests.

“He’s still working hard as he always does. We’d be hoping that he’ll get better and we’ll see how we go,” was Lohan’s message, while stating the Ballyea man was never in contention to face Kilkenny.

The uncertainty is a concern for Clare, yet the flipside is they will be heartened at the scoring output of a forward line lacking Kelly. Aidan McCarthy was their scoring talisman with 2-10, impressively converting his goal chances, and while his shooting was a little off in the first half, he nailed some big frees as the game went on.

David Fitzgerald grew in prominence as the game progressed, rifling home one goal and creating another. O’Donnell’s return was a big plus, while Mark Rodgers offers creativity, incisiveness and a scoring touch as he notched a pair of points.

5. Food for thought for Kilkenny…

Kilkenny were lacking their own big name attacking star, a hamstring problem ruling out TJ Reid. Adrian Mullen was impactful in the opening period, although his scoring return of three points from seven shots, needs enhancement. Eoin Cody found it difficult to shake off the persistence of the superb Adam Hogan, but did score a terrific goal near the end.

John Donnelly had a storming last quarter, while Martin Keoghan was close to their best forward, even though he only came on in the 29th minute, he was a menace up front in picking off four points. Kilkenny have plenty to ponder selection issue after a league where they cast the net wide, utilising O’Loughlin Gaels All-Ireland club finalists, unearthing Shane Murphy in defence, and witnessing the leadership of David Blanchfield grow.

Even in defeat, manager Derek Lyng found positives as his team kept battling in the last quarter.

“Today was another step up as well and they’ll take learning from that. Like, lads just don’t fall into a team and start winning all around them. It’s a learning process. We’ll learn from that. There are lads who maybe didn’t have the best of days today but they’ll have better days for Kilkenny.”