Clare must not starve their hungry hitman again

Today’s game is all about the opposing full-back and full-forward units, writes Donal O’Grady.

A photograph was published in 1966 of the great Edson Arantes Do Nascimento leaving the pitch at Goodison Park. ‘Kicked out of the tournament,’ read the caption, or words to that effect. The image has stayed with me over the years. In that front-on photo, in a split-second, a sadness was captured on Pele’s face. He cut a lonely figure as he walked off with a raincoat or mackintosh draped over his shoulders. Brazil’s greatest forward seemed abandoned, almost, by the game he always graced with consummate skill, intelligence, poise, and sheer class.

As the Clare team trooped off after their recent Munster final loss, my mind wandered back to that photograph. I couldn’t help think that if that same photographer was present near the tunnel area in Thurles, he might have captured a pained frustration on the countenance of Shane O’Donnell.