Anthony Daly: Ballygunner's system was rocked but they trust it completely

JOB DONE: Ballygunner's Ian Kenny celebrates after the final whistle with Philip Mahony

At the final whistle on Saturday evening in Thurles, I got chatting to Derrick Lynch of Clare FM and the gist of our conversation was how proud we were of Ballyea as Claremen. We all fight for our own clan, to defend the honour of our own tribe, but when the Clare flag is flown on the battlefield, we take pride in how that flag is represented.

The red and black flags of Ballygunner were fluttering strongly in the breeze by the end of the game but the players decked out in black and amber colours were a credit to themselves, and to the saffron and blue. Ballygunner are an incredible team and were deserving nine-point winners, but Ballyea probably couldn’t have done any more than what they produced.