Banner dream built on belief

Tony Considine (TC): “You two have both been involved with Clare teams at various levels over the years, how does this team compare with those?”

John Minogue (JM): “The U21 teams of the past few years – with which we’ve both been involved – have shown great character. They were beaten by Cork down in Thurles three years ago but that was a battle up to the end. What really brought the character out in this team though was last year, when they went down to Páirc Uí Chaoimh and beat Cork. That was a rousing display, involving players like Nicky O’Connell, Donal Touhy and guys like that. We knew we had a decent bunch that evening, leaving Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Any team that can go down to Cork and come away with a win, has to feel satisfied. And fair play to Cork, they put their hands up afterwards and said well done.”

Cyril Lyons (CL): “Two things stood out about them this year – first, their level of self-confidence, then their unity within the group. Those were things they built up over the last few years. As a group they seemed to relish every challenge, they rose to it, it seemed to give them extra energy.”