Pat O’Connor: Clare must prove our Munster pedigree

When it comes to the Munster championship, the Clare hurling panel can be divided into three groups; those who have won a provincial championship game, those who haven’t, and Pat Donnellan.

The latter stands as the sole member of the current set-up to have played on Munster final afternoon and rather shockingly, he is the sole member of Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor’s panel to have more than one provincial championship victory under his belt.

That Munster final was way back in 2008 and in the intervening nine years, Clare have played nine games in the Munster SHC. All but one ended in defeat. The win, which stands in dreadful isolation, was a quarter-final triumph in 2013. And of the 31 players to see game-time during this year’s league, only 11 featured four years ago at Semple Stadium as Davy Fitzgerald’s charges advanced at Waterford’s expense.