Selector David O’Brien backing Clare victory after flurry across the Mersey

Even as Philippe Coutinho injected hope into Liverpool’s chances of reeling in Borussia Dortmund in their Europa League quarter-final second leg at Anfield last week, Clare senior football selector David O’Brien was momentarily distracted.

Although on Merseyside, O’Brien was regularly checking his phone for news of David Tubridy’s appeal against his straight red card, issued in the closing minutes of Clare’s defeat to Kildare on April 3 in Newbridge.

While all around him Anfield rattled out You’ll Never Walk Alone with increasing fervour, O’Brien nearly broke into a chorus of My Lovely Rose of Clare, when he heard that Tubridy’s card, had been rescinded.