Clare's latest golden generation challenged to emulate Kelly and Conlon 

Clare's All-Ireland U20 match-winning panel featured 13 players who togged for their 2023 minor win

Clare won their first All-Ireland U20/U21 title in 12 years with victory over Galway. Pic: ©INPHO/Stephen Heaney

The present has been spectacularly taken care of. And so Terence Fahy turns to the future.

The 10-point rout of Galway represented Clare’s fifth All-Ireland at this age-grade. The John Conlon-led class of 2009 fed into the Liam MacCarthy success of four years later. The three-in-a-row class from 2012-14 fed into both the 2013 Liam MacCarthy triumph and the next senior success of 11 years later.

The bar has been set incredibly high for the latest Banner group to collect the last piece of silverware before senior graduation.

“It was Tony Kelly's team that won this title last. We saw what they contributed to Clare hurling, so the onus now will be on these lads that they have to work hard and they have to try and go up the levels into the future,” said winning Clare boss Fahy.

“Tony's team won, John Conlon's team won, and those lads aren't going to stay going forever. This team has won now, so hopefully they can keep going.” 

The trajectory of the latest winning group has thus far been flawless. Minor champions in 2023. U20 champions in 2026. Sunday’s matchday panel contained 13 players who togged for the minor decider three years ago.

Robert Loftus and Daniel Costello were extended panel members for the minor win. On Sunday, they were at full-back and midfield respectively.

The point is proven that this group is coming through, and at pace.

“It is a measure of them as players that their hunger is intact, as is their pride in preparation and desire to represent the jersey. It is a huge testament to that. That's the really satisfying piece.

“Yes, there is lots of talent there. But talent alone won't get you very far. There was a huge strength of mentality that you could see in this championship from this group, and we'd be very proud of that.” 

A group that is representative of an incredibly healthy underage system. Outside of the two cups they’ve put on the table, there were four consecutive All-Ireland minor semi-final appearances from 2022 to last year and three Munster U20 final appearances from 2023 to this year.

Not every team enjoys such a gloriously perfect day as panned out on Sunday. Fahy is conscious of such. He commended those working away on “quiet fields”, without whom perfect days such as Sunday would never materialise.

“Our senior team for years now in the Munster round-robin has been very consistent. We have been very consistent in the Munster round-robin. The minor team in recent years has been very consistent in the Munster round-robin. You're not going to win every day, but that's what you want to be. You want to be consistently chipping out performances. That only comes from structures and support.

“We have massive support from the county board and people in the background in the shadows. There's huge people working away on quiet fields. That's where this performance came from.”