I didn’t lead Clare astray, although it crossed my mind!

IENDED up in an unusual place on Sunday evening after the match. Whilst chatting to my old friend and former Galway full-back Sean Treacy, the Clare bus pulled up alongside us. Seán is now part of Brian Lohan’s backroom team but was presumably heading for the supper in St. Anne’s country as he has the honour of being married to a Wexford woman.

I was volunteered to hop on to the bus to direct the Banner men to Whites Hotel which suited as my car was parked down town.

Given the misfortune bestowed on us earlier by Brian Lohan’s men, my dark side kicked in and I was tempted to bring the boys on a little tour maybe out towards the Slob, hop out and tell them to keep driving and they would eventually come to their destination on the right.

Given the larger than life frame of Mr. Lohan who was sat directly behind me, sense prevailed however and I brought the boys on the direct route.

Sunday’s game was strange in that there were several times during the 80 minutes or so that I was hugely confident that we would win, and yet nobody could deny the merit of the Munster men’s victory.

When John Conlon was red-carded after 29 minutes, we were in a great position just three points down with the wind at our backs for the second 35. My father always had a theory that, in a tight game, playing into a stiff breeze can take a lot out of a team, and in many cases most damage can occur in the last seven or eight minutes before half-time.

So, it came to pass with Clare, despite the numerical disadvantage, extending the lead to eight before the break.

We started the second-half well and my confidence further grew when we trailed by only one point with 16 minutes left. A mixture of things (some self-inflicted) conspired to see the saffron and blue over the line.

Firstly, our long-range shooting (which was a reasonable strategy) didn’t fully go to plan, with ten second-half wides versus the opposition’s two. Given this stat, we should have directed more ball to our inside forward line but again it’s easy judge from the comfort of the press box where the only decision you have to make is whether to choose a Mary Foley sandwich or bun with your half-time cuppa.

To be fair, huge credit must be given to the Tony Kelly-inspired opposition who refused to give in, and in truth they held out comfortably enough in the end.

There are many aspects to Kelly’s play that make him exceptional, including movement, accuracy and striking, but his intelligence in leaving the last free almost on the corner flag when running down the clock summarised for me what is a very complete player.

I’m sure Davy is not panicking yet however, and there were aspects that we can be pleased with. Kevin Foley was outstanding all through, and some of Rory O’Connor and Conor McDonald’s finishing was high quality.

Jack O’Connor’s crossfield sideline and resultant point from Mark Fanning was worth the admission money alone, and this result will be long forgotten by the time Galway and Dublin come visiting with the sun. We can comfortably compete with the big boys and it shows our ambition is spot on when a narrow defeat in February can disappoint to this extent.

Finally, it’s always great fun to be in the South East commentary team, but there are times Mr. Spratt can bamboozle with a question.

Sunday’s teaser went as follows: Do the first and second teams in Division 1A play the second and first teams in Division 1B, or do the first and second teams in Division 1B play the second and first teams in Division 1A this year lads?

I’ll let you work it out yourselves, but people sometimes wonder why there are pauses on radio. For the record, the top team in each group qualifies for the semis, and second and third qualify for the quarter-finals.