Behind the Banner

saturday evening late september the final act of the greatest summer in the history of hurling one man and his team traveled to croke park to fulfill their destiny the boys from county clare had lit up this extraordinary season but few had predicted that when the long whistles sounded on the 2013 championship lee mccarthy would be going back to the banner [Music] claire hurling was in the doldrums without a win in the championship for years expectations among the banner fateful were at a low ebb but when six mile bridge's favorite son came back home he began to sow the seeds for a new era of hope ranked probably ninth or tenth in the country um that's where we saw ourselves they were after getting a big beat in the championship my main objective was to get clear in my own head back into the top floor again all right he convinced me that claire hurling had to become respectable again we went to a game together in in salt hill where claire got a bit of a pasting by galway and we came away coming home in the car saying he said to me this can't happen [Music] i remember sitting down with davey in the woodlands in a dare after waterford and before claire he was talking about winning in all ireland within three years and i goes yeah it would probably take three years that was before i got to know these guys just the minute he came in you could feel this breath of fresh air and this it was like as if we he just breathed a new lease of life into clear hurling and suppose we got there a bit earlier than what he had planned [Music] i remember showing him a video of the homecoming of 1995. i remember saying this could be but as the team got ready for the 2013 season liam mccarthy seemed a long way from the dark winter nights you know whether i knew straight away that we'd win and i learned or not you know i didn't but um i knew that we'd be competitive again and something we kind of weren't for a few years yeah some shocking first week training was hectic i remember the first training session i went to after a while i was gonna get sick there's no other way about training you have to do the work there's no shortcuts he's fighting fight and fight it's kind of quick hurling i don't think anymore it's not a hobby it's not it's not something you're doing as a sideshow it's it's it's my lifestyle now it's part of everything i do it affects you know my job it affects my family it affects everything that i do the nights that are tough than the rain the nights you're looking out the window you think god is training tonight this isn't isn't going to be easy like but it's it's it's those nights that you make the sacrifices don't listen to yourself you're you're what's going into me come on that's good now that's excellent you know the snare around your neck come on you just kind of get through it like you try and you try and survive it and you try and find some sort of benefit in it like but really it's if davey's trying to break you coming out here like bringing you to the middle of forest in craclow at seven in the morning like well done good work when you're doing those things they're not fun like as in they're tough as we went down to cork to killer for an army camp and it was not an enjoyable few days like lads come back like cold and legs and bits and training the next day and stuff and it's tough but it was more of a then things like they're not really for fitness or anything like that it's just kind of doing something tough as a team kind of brings a team together and you're like glad this dragon lies through it like sometimes obviously better running than others and they're pulling them up the hill and stuff like that like and it kind of it creates kind of a family kind of bond amongst the team like that's important we know that we have a different point all right and you can see your gun for whatever you showed him wrong that's up yourself to do that every single one of you you know the challenge love a challenge and the first championship challenge for the banner was a showdown with davey's former charges the hard work of winter was done now the task was simple defeat the dasher i had great times no more effort i will never i will not knock that um i want to win some championship i'm very proud of that but i'm a claire man proudly our man and had a job to do and while i would have respect for watford my one thing to do is beat them these are gates where you always and shorter people cost you what you think of them by letting yourself go and give an everything you have that's all you can do just give everything you have to be as hard as you can and love this situation 20 seconds all the work is done it's you can tell you can nearly feel it in a great way to be comfortable like this know that all you have to do is just play to your potential not nuts really looking forward [Applause] [Music] it's john conlon driving it from outside the 45 meter line and another one's got over well this is the start that davey fitzgerald and his team have been looking for beautifully in here kelly's available and that's the quest for a first win in five years started well for claire but it wasn't long before waterford showed their quality the chance here but dylan oh what a goal for jack dylan honest championship devo exactly what the game has required four down at the break the banner had to up the ante in the second half this time he had knocked out and it's been taken there by kevin moran and they oh it's back in they've got something out of it shane o'donnell [Applause] amazing 114 to 111 in as far as dara conan and the big giant takes off again his dad was a great player this guy is a really talented fellow as well three points from dara conan and now they're looking for more pouring that ball in there this time it's mcgraw and he's finished conor mcgraw second ever championship goal for him it's caught beautifully by brendan bugler there'll be two minutes of added time at the end of all of this as column galvan tries his luck and he's got a beautiful point nicely done by the 20 year old from clown lara claire ended up winning by eight points you know having been four down at half time so there can be no argument by far the better team davey fitzgerald has masterminded a victory in the monster championship for claire for the first time since 2008. i think it was really a monkey off our backs um i suppose i'd been around a while and i don't think i'd been involved in a in a monster championship win and like that was massive to me and i suppose it just lifted a weight off my shoulders and maybe lifted away that flat shoulders that suddenly we can compete at this level and you know we can win monster championship games and you know we can beat teams like waterford one of the targets at the start of the year between winning most championship matches saw us was when we did win it and you know there was a lot of euphoria around and i think the place would have been too mad as far as i was concerned just for winning one match i mean and you know when people look back at it we didn't play that well you know you know we put on a bit of sport in the second half to win the match and we got a few scores after that but you know the place went a bit mad to tell the truth expectations were rising around the county inside the camp the management were doing all they could to make sure that nobody lost sight of the next hurdle the monster semi-final and their fourth meeting of the year with cork i'm asking every one of the turtle 70 to develop this game for player me and it's not for me because he deserves to be playing the bts we deserve to be in the big deal so we don't we have every bit as good as any of them on our country every bit but does that mean jack it doesn't it means we have to fight two and therefore you have to believe in yourself we're in this together when we're in here we're all here and money are ever on your own that person learned today no matter what the story is together [Music] back in the spring claire needed extra time and an astonishing 31 points to beat cork and stay in the top flight of the league and this rebel resilience came as no surprise to davey fitz i had gone see car coins or twice playing games and um i ran from before the league started i remember doing a press conference and i i said i think cockroaching to watch and it turned out that way [Applause] this family is sticking together and we're going for more let's check that out we've got this here with everton healing legs and everything but this would turn into a tough day out for the banner as kark's own young guns went on a scoring spree back first conor lahan and that is swinging inside the post it was a tough tough game it's tough tough last to take being honest and you know i suppose a lot of hype before the game you know people were saying clear clear again to monster final and everything else like that maybe that's right maybe they got into you know a few lads heads as well look sir that's anthony nash drops this in and over the bar against the brace cork just devoured us like they were just a different animal that day and they gave us a big wake-up call that's it over to this side there's a chance for court to get the first score of the second half the umpires have a quick consultation and that's over the bar no one really knew what to say how could how could you make yourself feel better after this was probably a poor performance and we it was we had a goal of reaching the monster finally we came up very short difficult fantastic score that was a big lesson that was that was something that was really we weren't going into it arrogant or cocky you know we didn't go in with a view that we were look we're just going to talk out there and we'll win it you have to perform every day you go out we're doing so much training i don't it's not acceptable to go out you know and and to have your peaks and troughs you know you have to perform to a certain level cork are on a rampage and it's another porch harnedy cutting through the center this day in limerick would be recorded as a procession for jimmy barry's boys but the view from the cleared dugout told a different story we wanted to win that monster semi-final no no doubt about it um i don't think we played as bad as people said we played we created a lot of chances there was no way there were seven rare points in that game not a whole i think it was just a matter of the defeat that we started had to look at ourselves and we never did ourselves justice that day and i suppose that was one thing that we decided we'd we'd never let happen again the disappointment of things knew maybe we weren't as bad but we could improve we could be better we could test ourselves and by god we were not going even our work behind us and it gave us maybe that bit of an edge to drive on harder and in hindsight maybe it was one of the best things that happened in hindsight it's the reason i believe our 2013 are ireland champions he was leashed into qualifiers the mood had been dark after the court defeat but the turnaround had begun the very next day with a now famous six-mile bridge summit where the refreshments were on the house yeah there's the famous my body and biscuits meeting now at this stage i think but um it was just we just got a call today after the game and david said look we'll come down to my house and we'll meet up as group and we'll just have a chat we were all kind of expecting a meeting of some sort like but at his house i was kind of surprised when he said when he called us there like he was just like well tell us what you think went wrong the last day and what we're going to do to make a right over the next couple of months because that's how long we're going to be in the championship game are you prepared to win the entourage [Applause] and the slither had barely been thrown in and davey soon realized that not everyone had left the court defeat behind we were questioned i can remember after two minutes out there and a fella stood up right behind me and roared with venom fischer having that clue you're ruining claire holland roaring at me now there's very little you can do about something like that um but this is only two minutes into a game such as i remember thinking to myself what a clown fellas like that my only message to abirum stop being selfish just support the team good and bad we wanted to show the clear people i suppose that day that you know this team wasn't finished for the year as the game unfolded claire were irresistible with scores coming from all over the park all except one corner i think every player about one scored that day ironically they don't have none of them as i think the only player that i remember that didn't get on the scoresheet yeah i got a i got slated for that but but i i i took that all in good one because i know everyone who was slagging was just it was just a bit of a joke [Music] basically i just don't think about scoring too much if i can keep my mind reasonably quiet that's that's my that's my job it was another man who would become a scene stealer in september who wrapped things up with a goal next up for the banner were wexford and the fright of their lights smartly down through the center collected beautifully by shane o'donnell he loves getting goals and he's got another one that's three championship goals this season on a saturday evening in simple claire were on top of the slaney ciders from the off and a comfortable victory looked on the cards looking for movement getting that movement from shane o'donnell if i mean totally honest with um i didn't believe we were on the range pressure whatsoever um i can't wait for all competitive to a good but we were five and six points up on by collins this is the way davey fitzgerald wants to see them play and colin ryan finishes this attack only three players were involved in it [Applause] dodged around a couple of would-be challenges before getting his shot in and putting it over the bar beautiful hurling by claire and john conlon claire maintained their lead in the second half but before long the wheels started to come off i think pudge in the second half there was one play i think i i'm not sure from the ground you have to punch anyway but pogba gave it to me straight in front of the goals and went shot and goalie saved it and it broke my heart like we needed the goal things were going bad we were really not playing at all in second half like we just shot down like sure the way it ended was just ridiculous back comes kiron kenny big one down to guinea jersey pulled only a goal between them and he's decided that's it it was actually a shock i could not believe when the whistle went that we were level it took me it took me two or three minutes to get my own head right after what the hell is after happening here if the claireman could scarcely fathom that they now faced extra time what davey said next was truly beyond belief david stood up and he goes uh if we if we win this game we'll win the ireland and uh when we're looking around and um colin galvin was looking at me and he kind of wants to ask what's this fellaini what we're here and extra time we're struggling to be an expert is this what i think we're going to compete there are definitely some heads looking around i'm sure if i was to examine uh some of the body language in their bus yeah it was a defining moment for us anyway and my god did they come out and turn it on like they showed us and the captain once again sets claire on another attack a third attack start of this second half conor mcgraw going this way slipping it inside mcinerney one-handed it's in the net mcinerney the substitute [Applause] beautifully in as far as conor mcgraw nicely crafted move now where is he going to finish here hand passed and another one by cajo mcinerney he's got two [Applause] well david fitzgerald has certainly got a great reaction from his players during extra time they're on their way to the quarterfinals claire they have had a 10-point victory after extra time that's where they really came good once again and they finish here with the final score line reading claire three goals at 24 points wexford one goal and 20. next up were last year's all island finalists galway the tribesmen have been humbled by the dubs in leinster and were fancied to bounce back against the banner and thurlis as usual davey had other ideas about since i took over here's what i want to do this is what i want to do and you'll make the mistake it'll be stuck in the back of that might be still because we keep coming back that's what defines people that's what defines character no we weren't fancy to beat galway and um we ourselves we couldn't figure that out like we thought we had a decent chance against them you're born to do this you're ready for this okay and i want to see he just let him go up there playing with that freedom you know what happened inside here a few years ago you know i was a clear person we felt walking over there if you get that snake if you get that snake girlfriend just doing stuff just keep going keep going keep going davey kept him this listen you don't realize how good you are you don't realize what what you can do this year and probably stop was yeah yeah she's he's thinking we can win an ireland i put no he was he was dead right you know he kept telling us it's the one thing he did all year he kept telling us that he believed in us because that's what we are unclear what warriors with the training we've done mcgraw now tight angle gets his shot in and he's done really well up towards joe canning breaks it down to himself comes kian dylan's after him can't get to him cunning strikes beautifully it was an evenly matched contest early on but it wasn't long before the men in saffron and blue began to find their rhythm lost his hurley hand passed across towards patch collins 20 meters out there's a score here and patch collins puts it over the bar and it all came from that long clearance and the brilliant catch by daryl conan yeah i suppose that was the day really people kind of really stood up and and started to take notice off of this clear team and the way we're playing conor mcgraw playing it back neat work clever play patch collins again and that's gone over the bar and he is reveling in the freedom he is getting around the middle of the park right now it is an enjoyable enough game for me i don't know where my mind was at as i was the way that i am i saw that backward hand pass was a bit flamboyant if i got over the sideline i could have been taken off it could have been the end of my ear so i was looking away penned out kelly off his left hand side down to a two man inside forward right conor mcgraw there has a support player doesn't need him it's mcgraw and mcgraw it's a goal for claire and they go once again ryan oh well for the bar it's gone not just a very good free taker turning over galway who 12 months previous had you know pipped i had gone very close to pippin kilkenny in the in an all-ireland final so like that was no mean feat and that was the day that this team really came of age and realized that we were good enough to be on the big stage claire's still ahead in this match by four points they look for another one bugler strikes and he's put it over the bar how about that for a rallying score this is so cool two minutes about a time about to be played we're into two and a half minutes the final pieces of action here and that is colin ryan from market on fergus who has got his ninth point of this game a thrilling victory now surely it is for claire and david fitzgerald goes and shakes the hand of anthony cunningham and now prepares for a semi-final and gets down the tunnel quickly and even after we beat galway it was how badly god would play it rather than how well clear played i thought i think i'll again we didn't get any credit for it but you know that's fine this journey is only halfway long and i'm serious about this i'm not going to get to see your highness award fines i am here to make you fulfill a dream now the dream can only be fulfilled if we could work harder than that can we bring in another notch against him right we have another fight oh boy come on we're going to take that fighting one you telling me anyone that championship is better than what we are you know i'm pretty mcdonald's and i love that all right i am not going to let you take the foot off the gas everyone here we are not going to take the foot off the gas and you can't have from today every time you come under pressure you can force your way over okay and carl mac that was for you today buddy all right [Applause] davies boys were edging closer to their dream as they made their way to the capitol for their first appearance in headquarters the recent triumph of their next-door neighbors was a vivid memory for the players it's all over limerick are the monster champions 2013 and nobody but nobody can take it away from them and you know at home that day i remember watching the monster final and um you know i was so so envious of those limerick guys i suppose as a clairman you'd only dream of having a day something similar to that and you get a message off brendan bugler saying that's how jealousy it is right now you see them running out in the field getting surrounded by their fans and it's just something something you dream of like you know listen we might get our chance against these guys you never know yet get the best out of ourselves i can guarantee you that would be good enough today i want you to shorten your body language how much you can prepare means you're right and i'll go you won't get involved in anything you just show everyone out there and hit me when i'm coming back all right get a score we get onto another i want you to use each other out there today don't know get out of hymen kyle and ryan out colorado 20k can you get back onto dara we traded each other face there's no tactics for me i love the buoyancy i've never worked with a team like me no matter what happens i've never worked with a team and the only thing i'm asking for my heart is achieving voting exercises the big days are what you want you know and we have had them i suppose few and far between and clear in recent years and it's what you live for it's you know you want the sixty or eight dozen people watching you um you want to be performed on a big day and it was it was brilliant i suppose that it was limerick too [Music] it's a great ball by colin ryan across here as far as pat goblin he punches the air with delight he gets the opening score of this game after two and a half minutes he's swept back by gavin o'mahony i'm here as far as graham mulcahy mulcahy well stopped by the goalkeeper for kelly does brilliantly and inspired by the heroics of the man from aina killemona the banner really let loose but it's uh tony kelly who gets it back and tony kelly puts it over the bar brilliantly done by one of the most gifted most crafty young hurlers ryan from his own 65 middle line dangerously in there all the way in collins goalkeeper on the ground to go like the younger lads just have no inhibitions they they just don't care what's going on they just hurl off the coffin i think it rubs off on everybody it's just fantastic to be part of it sort of brings you back to when you're seven and eight poking a ball off a wall and down the field there's no game plan there's no specific way you have to hurt beautifully on as far as tony kelly steals a march brilliantly past paul brown drives it and puts it over the bar this is a wonderful spell by claire trying to build on what they've achieved so far claire getting it back tony kelly beautiful pick up and an equally superb shot three points for kelly that's a great catch by tony kelly oh if he goes again quick look over his shoulder and see anybody near him nobody near him they can't get to it he's playing brilliantly but then he is a brilliant player four points for tony kelly two at each half as far as colin ryan and casually gracefully slotting it over for his 11th point and they're on their way to the all ireland final it's player who have beaten limerick it's a first clear final for 11 years what an amazing story what an amazing performance davey fitzgerald and john allen shake hands it was nice to get over for me personally i remember because i would have been in the school a lot of those number guys as well so it was kind of nice to get one over and it was like years ago it was kill kenny in the opposite corner this year it's going to be court i thought we played already against limerick i i didn't think it was our best display i i really didn't i i i thought we played okay i think we can be better than what we played against limerick okay the maturity he showed today was incredible such was we'll make him under pressure the fight and the courage he showed was unbelievable that's what hurling is about but he trained hard you worked hard you deserve that but the job is only half done the difference between playing another winning iron is the landing horses i showed you that little sniffer that started here we are 70 miles away but most of all the heart that we felt after clark beatles i can recall that night in six month grades and having to ring you that day and get you to my house and we have in that chat below and we were in a pretty raw place we're not here to take part in september we're not going to take part tonight we're here to make history all right final fever had gripped the banner county with thousands of the claire faithful filling cusick park to watch davey and the boys hard at work yeah it explodes it actually explodes and you know suppose people that would never have had an interest in ireland are still coming up to you know asking you how you are and and how things are going but it's great but in the inner sanctum nobody was getting carried away with the hype we had a job to do which is to be karka and that was our focus was to be the second sunday in september the most iconic occasion in irish sport watched all over the world for the boys and the banner though this was just another game of hurling [Music] the same thing as we've been doing earlier all right trust me trust me wake up tomorrow i feel it and i let myself go make it happen make it happen tonight no matter what happens even going out in the stadium like like a lot of people were saying to me don't look around no but the first thing i did when i came out is i looked around and took it all in and just said you know you know all right finally you know like johnny won't play many of them might say so enjoy it like and that was kind of the plan the stage was set for the fifth meeting of these now familiar falls they'd had some ferocious battles all year this one would turn out to be a classic it's the second old monster all ireland final the first for 16 years and brian gavin from opoli gets the match underway and it's called cool play from left to right in the first half and daryl conan has this opening shot looking at the first point and he's got it there's james harrington with a chance harned he's swinging it off his left and that one's got over the bar and it's the opening point for cork in this match back here as far as john conlon conlon 65 meters out from his target it's a lovely looking shot and it's got over the bar what a boost that is for john conlon right murphy but under pressure now and the pressure being exerted by tony kelly ever the danger tricky angle for him wonderful score beautiful point by tony kelly nash with five points already at this year's championship striking off the goalkeeper i think it went up too high in the air for the goalkeeper and now the goalkeeper for cork is out of position and here comes patch collins and patch collins drops this one over the bar a point for claire it was hectic it was just i suppose you know the ball is going from one end of the field to the other two scores i'd say every time he was an attack there was nearly a score and i think it's not iron and finally probably had everything conor mcgraw switching his legs this way and that and then over the bar that's a beautifully worked point that's this new clear hurling team at their very best claire were well on top of this game but they just couldn't shake off the rebels this time it's gone over the bar and another point from play for court this is one handed away by connor o'sullivan back out as far as a free patrick horgan nobody got near him he has a go he drives it beautifully over the bar a seventh for pat morgan hasn't scored so far emily han gets away o'connor is after him but lehan has the chance and he strikes a brilliant goal it's his first ever championship goal and he comes after 40 minutes and now cork will feel they're in with a renewed chance i suppose we were thinking like how well do you have to play it actually beat him as far as podge collins change of direction and then goes forward interestingly carrying it this way and that like an egg and spoon race finally hitting it beautifully onto the netting and over the bar how about that might come yet pat donald now donald 30 meters out plays it beautifully outside towards mcgrath there's work to do here and he takes a point beautiful score by conor mcgraw that's good mature play by claire so this is john conlon making a better angle for himself and a really good score by conlan once again claire pulled clear once again court came back this is beautifully cut by seamus harnedy first one i think he's caught and he puts it over the bar great plucky play here by seamus harnedy the 22 year old trying to break it down it comes down towards luka farrell and he is fairly well flattened free in from 20 meters out now anthony nash about to take this so nash 57 minutes into the game courtney the goal he's got it second ever championship goal for anthony nash and now it's a two-point game that's a brilliant piece of catching there by conor ryan he's had a superb match can he finish it off with a point here what about that wonderful score oh it's his first ever in the championship this morning stephen his first chance back in here as far as pac cronin a goal for cronin only chance he's had so far in this game and the teams are level with 64 minutes gone and you you couldn't put him away see according and there are going to be two minutes of added time now and we're into that as you can see already but the match tied tantalizingly so chris joyce cut in onto it here comes hogan can he be the match winner will this be the winner of the all ireland it's over the bar patrick horgan gets a tent i taught dollar and was gone from us jimmy barry murphy looks like he's done it my heart fell to the bottom of my stomach at that stage i thought it was over i went into the shop i just went looking for a ballers like we can't it can't end like this you know to win the championship a few years yeah the whistling mountain was 72 minutes in the clock you thought this is it meaning claire won one more chance my first heart was just give us a chance just give us a chance inside it comes here if you could pick any fella in the panel from the one to thirty four don't even only be thirty four so he was he'd really bring on david hit his try and hit the level inside it comes here i wouldn't be very comfortable up there now and in training it wouldn't always go over the bed when we do the shooting drills i defend off challengers back out it comes once again to donald donovan they would deserve a draw they get a draw yeah when they went over i was about to surprise everyone else i'd say and david how he arrived up there i have no idea no idea but by jesus i'm glad he did i think we'll be back here the referee has allowed the quick puck out to be taken it's still in play no longer it's all over and it's ended in a magnificent draw at croke park for the second year in a row the teams in the final have to come back and do it all again we had the game last with a minute ago and we leveled it so going in we were just absolutely thrilled that we had another shot at this and who gets to play in two hours of finals in a month you thought we were intense the last time by jesus you haven't seen that yet as the management turned up the heat the bit part player was making a case for a leading role this ball was like flying across me and i'd like just throw my harley at him and just come straight into my hand like and i was just like what is going on can't do any wrong that kind of thing when did we decide to bring shannon in it would have been a number of days before the final we're done shut up to be honest he left us with no other option but to pick him and we decided not to tell she ended until saturday and i said listen you're not going to start even though i knew he was starting everything we have out of us now the next day everything and they have everything right now this the might hit is what are we doing coming back we need to hit us for another one coming back as they made their now familiar trek to dublin for the replay the manager had a hunch on how this game would pan out i was talking to one of my friends the day before and i said i think there's going to be a lot of goals tomorrow we need to hit the net with just a couple of hours to go until throw in davey played his trump card i think he was the only one that didn't know he's down and he genuinely didn't know what he's saying we went to the same path and we just put around 5-10 minutes dave just called me over basically called me outside and just told me i was small but nervous but i was so excited i was so happy to start you can see his face light up and i i don't know why even myself i found it a bit emotional even telling him because um you think the world of this young guy and here he is you're throwing him in for a far not out of final and it was a big ask my god was he ready for what sit down for 10 seconds sit down okay i want you to think 40 seconds of what you want to do outside or take the next 40 seconds and see yourself attacking us see those says come on back see us let's go ahead see everything for the next 40 seconds now the main entrance here in your life and i want you to see it look see them in the 90s and saying what's let me say for a few that's all you can do 10 seconds okay okay 3d threats look after the fella around you pay for that jersey little things but it's what'll make us stronger out there the last thing i'll take you trust in each other wear that jersey with pride and it's going to be fine remember let's be more community said come on the banner versus the rebels take six the first ever saturday final their last meeting had everything this one would be even better the band haven't got off yet and eventually the referee just decides throw them all in and let's get on with it how did i find it i found it pretty good i suppose in as far as the man they brought in for this shane o'donnell in place of daryl conan trying the shot and that one has got over the bar two attacks two points pursued here by a couple of cork players one of them is daniel carney can he catch up with him want to run through the center here across towards o'donnell this is the man they brought in because of his real goal threat his fourth championship goal here comes colin galvin from 65 meters out conor o'sullivan comes across to try and cut it out but that first touch has to be good because conor mcgraw is in immediately he's got a support player as well and there's another goal and he's done it again amazingly shane o'donnell with two in the opening twelve and a half minutes it's no fluke he just puts the head down and he only wants one thing and that's a goal now what can antony nash do onto the 13 meter line and he's got to go somehow he squeezed it in drives it back in there two cork players go for the one ball and between them they've missed it and o'donnell is in for a hat trick o'donnell has got it horrible defending brilliant finishing by shane o'donnell and that point i just i spent let's say about five seconds i said yeah about five seconds lying on the ground just thinking this is insane and then i got back up and it was just going back into the game pudge collins feeding it here as far as tony kelly right on the sideline trying to get lucia and he does so succeeds brilliantly got a lovely bit of force behind that brilliant accuracy he's some player a fine scorer from the hurler of the year was not enough to stem the tide of a car comeback as the rebels incredibly clawed their way back into the game he's taking a long time over it pat hogan giving himself every opportunity and putting it over the bar uh claire clark really all the momentum with him now what a comeback game looked over earlier on in the first half and now there's only a point in the game is that pat horgan puts over another one they came out gunning for us like and they spent 10 or 15 minutes dominating the game like scoring a will like and we were just trying to get some sort of foothold towards shane o'donnell gets away from shane o'neill on to what he comes threatens danger and kneels on the ground and o'donnell composes himself and fires it up and over the bar three goals and two points now for shane o'donnell point of this final and who now could get the latest and he has and now that might certainly begin to settle things down claire knew by now that nothing is ever settled against this court team here's a chance [Applause] there was a bunch of people who gathered around 45 and got a lucky pick up to bring me out of the bunch but emerging from it and he means danger he's got a player over [Applause] here 62 minutes are gone if i hadn't scored it i think i'd have been shot back and claire for not passing inside to shayna daniel if it hadn't worked out and claire come again and tony kelly takes off kenny's after him can't get to him kelly tries to knock it over the bar and succeeds three for him another one for fair they lead by four up as far as shane o'donnell got one point in the second half to throw the three one he got in the first 35 minutes leading the court defensive mary dance and putting it over it's a dream day for him claire were now six ahead of cork surely they had them beaten now they're still going cork still looking for it and they've got it stephen now there were just three points in it with time ticking away another court goal would mean extra time and he gets the ball away far enough 40 seconds to go down to the man who was left out daryl conan they're ahead by three claire looking to try and put it over the bar very tight angle this is he might get a chance here he does he walks it all the way in i think to be quite honest it was only when derek stuck the ball in the back of the net that we really realized that you know we had gone six points up i just looked up at the clock and i think there was 72 minutes gone or something at that stage and i was just looking at it going god there's absolutely no chance they can get two goals now here again [Applause] fitzgerald has done it it's taken a replay it's taken a magnificent match one of the great finals and he could scarcely believe it but he's achieved wonders with this young team they've come from the bottom of the pack in the last few years 1995 for me was so special i i always said to myself afterwards i'd love just one more go out to see what it was like and now so happy for the boys that they got that as well it was unread for me to experience it the second time davey fitzgerald center stage the greatest moment in my life with all my best friends on the pitch like and i still haven't he still hasn't clicked in what i actually did personally but it doesn't really matter like we won the old ireland in in a loser's dressing room in 2002 i couldn't get up off the floor it's the deflation i know everyone says a great year you did put but it's not it's it's a winner's game it's such a weird feeling you feel like you're watching yourself doing it you feel like you're you're disconnected from it you feel like it's it's been played out in front of you and you kind of it takes you a while to process it it was actually me there and i was i was going up to going up the [Applause] david fitzgerald has done it with his wonderful wonderfully talented group of young players i had seen petty on and doing that in my own mind like no one would have known that i i would have over the last number one strength of him doing that [Music] vancouver [Applause] it's the equivalent of winning like something like that with your family like my brother was on the panel and we lifted lima cars together and like it was it was just a special moment i like i i couldn't control myself i burst into tears you know it went like you know which wouldn't be which wouldn't happen to me too often just looking around everyone just couldn't believe us looking up into the stand was people crying laughing jumping around it was just it was unbelievable and myself and pedal connor were talking about it and we were just saying they're sitting right like play our learning champions if you look two or three years ago we were we were nowhere like [Applause] [Music] i just kind of thought to myself what's going on here like how have we really done this i remember meeting paul can arkham he just he's like do you believe this is like not not for a second [Music] [Applause] yeah i wouldn't i just didn't want to leave crow park lights and fans all the claire fans roaring at you like lee mccarthy throwing around the pitch like it was just something that you had to just take a minute to yourself like to get your head around [Music] [Applause] uh and that was only the start of the session as the all-star wing back made good and a promise to the team doctor poryquay i was inside the dress and taking the whole thing in and next thing this accordion appeared [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this cup was coming home for the fourth time in our history in 129 years or whatever it is fourth time [Music] you see i'm dumb smack this unreal i just can't believe the tournament but i wouldn't expect any place else on six months [Applause] i've seen all the faces that run all your club games since you were sincere eight and nine and even when we're leaving cattle there was a kid on the road and liam foley his name and he couldn't come down to the pitch and he was waving the bus and we brought the name mccarty out to him and took a photo in him and to fought her and sent me a letter to say how much it meant to them like it was like when lily mccarty for them and it's great to see so many young kids now we're on there with claire jersey and the same as we were inspired by the 95 97 teams i could hope this uh kids will be inspired by this team now and harlem will remain strong and we won't have to wait as long again for our next hour and after this i suppose the more people you meet the more it dawns in you what you've done for claire hurlin or what you've done you know for a county that you know maybe doesn't always get this and can you wake up some more and then you'll realize that it wasn't all a dream you were all ireland champions coming down in the bus and you have the bonfires out and people just like kind of packing their cars up and decided you encourage you just to wave to the bus when you go by and it's just it's just absolutely crazy [Music] [Music] so [Music] i don't even know what normal is anymore like it's completely different like completely different to just see the joy that it's that has brought to so many people when when our when our bus opened up bus turned the corner there at the general hospital and you looked out onto the fairgreen and you seen 30 000 people you knew that what you're after doing what you have to be involved in had done something special for clear people and you know that's tradition that's love [Music] the dream is alive but the one thing i'm certain about is that we're all ireland champions 2013 and that can never ever be changed that is that's fact [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Bob Kelly

Views: 201,952

Keywords: Hurling Documentary, GAA, Hurling, Clare, Clare 2013, Tony Kelly, All Ireland, Clare v Cork, Cork, Shane o donnell, Behind the Banner, Banner, Clare v Limerick, Torpey Hurleys, Joe Canning, Dublin, All Ireland 2013, Davy Fitzgearld, Brendan Bugler, St Flannans College, Clare Hurling, Harty Cup, Jack Browne, Peter Duggan, Colm Galvin, Ian galvin, Pa Kelly, David McInerney, John Conlin, Colin Ryan, Gaa, Ourgame, OTB GAA, Off the Ball, Aaron Gillane, Cian Lynch, Patrick Horgan

Id: gQq3uTcKCE8

Length: 56min 30sec (3390 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 31 2020