Bruised Banner must keep self-belief, declares Griffin

DIFFICULT times for Clare hurlers, faced by a variety of challenges and uncertainty about their prospects in the Munster championship.

Over the last few years they have lost a stream of star players — iconic midfielder Colin Lynch being the most recent, forced out by a back problem — and it means that Niall Gilligan is the only link with the All-Ireland winning team of ‘97. To, to add to their woes, they were recently relegated.

“This is my ninth year with Clare, barring the season of 2007 when I was cycling (across Canada, raising finance for charity),’’ says key forward Tony Griffin. “Looking around the dressing room, it is a very different team. There is no Seanie McMahon, no Frank Lohan and no Davy Fitzgerald. And it’s only in the last three years that most of those players bowed out.’’