Clare ready to build on win

Clare 2-21 Offaly 0-15: Davy Fitzgerald’s Bannermen, similar to the under-construction main stand which provided an appropriate backdrop to this Division 1B contest, are very much a work in progress.

For 15 minutes of their league opener at Cusack Park yesterday, the home outfit clicked, could do no wrong.

For the remainder of the contest, though, they spluttered and stuttered with a short-passing game that contributed handsomely to their wides tally of 15 and possibly double that figure in turnovers in the opposition half of the field. Many was the occasion when instead of striking at goal, the Clare player in possession opted to dwell on the sliotar and seek to find another saffron and blue shirt in close proximity.