New breed of Banner are force to be reckoned with

HELL-BENT on hurling heaven. It's not 1995, when they were determined to atone for over 80 years of frustration; it's not 1997, when they wanted to prove that the first one wasn't a fluke.

Make no mistake about it however, this Clare side is on a mission. They have had enough of not having enough, are sick to the teeth of being told what a great team they WERE, what an unlucky team not to have added to those two All-Ireland titles.

Tired of being told that they should have won in 98, maybe even in 99, when they were caught in the Munster final by a super-charged young Cork side; tired of being told that they are, in fact, a tired team, worn out, finished. Patently, obvious to every one of the near 60,000 crowd in balmy Croke Park yesterday, they are not. Nearly finished alright - the finished article, as close to perfection as any fifteen that took the field through any of those glory years. The irony is that in any other season, we wouldn't know that.