Write us off at your peril!

FOR all the criticism levelled at Clare on different occasions this season, getting to another Guinness All-Ireland hurling semi-final represents a major achievement for Anthony Daly and his players.

Think back to the fall-out which greeted their heavy defeat by Kilkenny in the League final and again after something of a 'no-show' against Tipperary in the Munster semi-final.

Selector and former star midfielder Alan Cunningham provides a simple enough explanation. In essence, apart from the negative aspects of these two particular games, their team did enough in their other engagements to show that they could be just as serious contenders for the title as any of the other top teams.