McNamara aims to raise Banner again

MIKE McNAMARA was in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Monday to witness Clare’s morale-boosting win over hot favourites Cork in the Munster U21 semi-final and would settle for the same result on Sunday when his side face the Rebels in an All-Ireland SHC quarter-final.

1-20 to 1-11 was the final scoreline in the U21 match, and this on an evening when Clare were shorn of several star players who had opted to spend their summer in the US while Cork had several players on display who will figure in Thurles. And yet, Mike knows only too well, that Monday will have absolutely no bearing on Sunday. If anything, it may even offer additional motivation to a Cork side already bristling at having had their hunger, their desire and their ability questioned this year, after a loss to Tipp in the Munster semi-final and a hard-fought win over unrated Dublin.

They gave the first answer to those questions on Saturday evening with a rousing 14-man win over Galway; Mike wasn’t the only one impressed.