Mark Rodgers: 'To right those wrongs and finally get over the line was brilliant'

'This team has probably been on a journey over the past couple of years and we've suffered a couple of crushing defeats'.

AMAZING FEELING: Clare’s Mark Rodgers with his grandmother Ann. Picture: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Mark Rodgers didn’t raise a green flag during his first two championship campaigns with Clare. When he finally broke his duck in the 2023 opener against Tipp, he broke it on the double. Between then and Sunday, he had added four more.

Alongside them were notable green flag misses, though. Potential game-changers not taken. There was his shot blocked by Kilkenny’s Conor Fogarty in the first half of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final. There was his off-the-post effort in the 58th minute of last month’s Munster final, at a time when Clare trailed by five.