Fans inspired Cork past Clare, declares Seamus Harnedy

Cork attacker Seamus Harnedy paid tribute to the Rebel support for helping him and his team over the line in their All-Ireland qualifier win over Clare on Saturday night.

“We were delighted; at 17-15 down a lot of teams could have folded, so we’re delighted to show that kind of form,” he said.

“The crowd were magnificent for us and they definitely helped us to kick on there towards the end.”

Harnedy has warned that Cork have “more in the tank”. “The conditions were greasy, there’d been a lot of rain in the previous day but we knew how it’d be, we stuck to our guns. Both teams were a little erratic and we’re delighted to be in the quarter-final.

“We’d like to think there’s a lot more in the tank, it’s great to be heading back into training - if you were finished on July 11, it would have been a very long winter.

“Your heads would be down with a defeat, particularly after losing the league final and the championship to Waterford, there were always going to be questions asked. I know the characters we have on the team, they never give up.” Harnedy’s fitness is improving after a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

“It’s great, they’re putting me through my paces down in Páirc Uí Rinn and it’s great to be in the mix again.

“Match fitness is the thing — I was a bit tired last week (against Wexford) after 50 minutes and it was the right move to take me off.

“Every week I feel a bit fitter and a bit stronger, so it’s great to have another 70 minutes under my belt — and more importantly, to have the win.” His teammate Aidan Walsh stressed the character Cork showed in their win. “We knew that there’d only be a puck of a ball between the teams, and at times we didn’t play very well.

“Halfway through the second half, Clare got ahead by a couple of points and it looked like they were going to push on from there, but we showed great character.

“We just never gave up. There’s a fierce group of lads here in the dressing room, and everyone who came off the bench made a difference.

“All we want to do is keep the momentum, to keep improving, and whoever we’re playing in the next round, we’ll just look forward to it.

“This is where we want to be. We’re delighted.”

Cork drew on their good performance in the previous round against Wexford.

“We never underestimated Wexford, we knew well what they could do after what they did to Clare down in Wexford Park last year. We knew that would be a massive test and we took a lot from that game — we improved a bit from that game on Saturday night and there’s still loads of areas for improvement, but we’re just delighted with how the game went.

“Conditions were tough, it was a pure dogfight, but those are the games you want to be involved in, the games that you want to win. It’ll be great going back training tonight, just two weeks to the next match again.”