“This is not the end of Clare,” says Fitzgerald

THERE isn’t much to say after losing an All-Ireland. Losers' dressing-rooms are filled with crestfallen men, too emotionally shattered to analyse properly what went wrong, words just don’t sound right. They are usually locked.

That’s why Brian Cody, in his moment of triumph, could be found banging on the dressing-room door. He wanted a way in to offer some consoling words for Clare’s defeated warriors. As Clare milled around outside their dressing-room, one of their oldest warriors spoke of the lesson in all of this for the young guns unearthed in the twists and turns of their season.

“Take nothing away from Kilkenny, they are a super team, but we are not too far away ourselves,” DavyFitzgerald says. “Some clown said it to me afterwards, is that the end of ye now? Well, anyone who took a look at that game would know that’s not the end of Clare. We are still going strong and our younger lads learned from this day. Kilkenny lost two All-Irelands before they won one, and our younger lads will have to learn from this defeat. They have to know what it is like to lose. We will rebound stronger again from this.”