Galway rout sowed seeds for Clare win

CONCEDING nine goals to Galway in a challenge game helped inspire Clare to an unexpected win over Sligo in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers on Saturday.

"In hindsight, it was what we needed,'' Clare boss John Kennedy claimed when recalling the 9-13 to 0-15 scoreline. "We had a good meeting afterwards and on Tuesday night we refocused. It was what we needed.

"People say we had a good display against Kerry, but we weren't happy with the overall performance. We felt there were areas where we did well in, but where we needed to improve especially in front of goals. Certainly it brought us back down to earth."