Laois impress Davy but Clare experience counts

Laois 2-19 Clare 2-23

The All-Ireland champions were far from their best but like Limerick the previous week, much of the credit for that should go to Laois and the system of play they have adopted under Seamus Plunkett.

Certainly, Fitzgerald was very happy to give them the plaudits, revealing that he had seen plenty of the Laois men. His initial feeling was that his players might have underestimated them, despite his warnings, and that they were lucky not to have paid for that error.