McGrath savours Clare’s amazing run

By Stephen Leonard

SHANE McGrath insists that unity and belief within the Clare football team has helped bring about their fairy tale run this year’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

The Thomas Davis man has been a part of the Banner set-up for the past five years and scored a point in Saturday’s 2-12 to 1-9 triumph over Roscommon in Pearse Stadium that saw Colm Collins’ side through to the quarter finals for the very first time.

“A lot of young lads have been bled into the team and the unity there is very strong,” he told The Echo.

“Colm Collins said from Day One when he took over that he wanted us to get to an All-Ireland quarter final and that the players were good enough to do it.

“He instilled that belief and confidence in the team.

“This is my fifth year involved with the squad. The hurlers have been the Number One team for so long, but there’s a great sense of excitement around the county after what we’ve achieved and it’s great to be a part of it all” he added.

After having cruised past Sligo in the qualifiers the previous week, Clare came up against a Roscommon outfit that had been denied the provincial title by Galway.

While they did ship a couple of early points in last weekend’s Round 4A qualifier, Clare fought their way back to lead by five points at the break thanks in no small measure to first-half goals from Jamie Malone and David Tubridy.

A goal by Enda Smith together with a Diarmuid Murtagh free reduced the gap to two points, but Clare pulled away again thanks to a couple of timely points by Eoin Cleary as the Banner set up a clash with Kerry in the last eight this Sunday.

“After beating Sligo we were on a bounce and they [Roscommon] were on a low after losing the Connacht Final to Galway, so it was probably the best time to play them,” said McGrath.

“But no matter what mood they’re in, it’s always going to be tough against Roscommon.

“The lads had a great first half and even when we allowed them back in again we were able to push on and fully deserved our place in the quarter finals,” he stressed.

Now looking ahead to the challenge of The Kingdom, McGrath added “We’re under no illusions about what we’re up against.

“Kerry are one of the top sides in the country, but we’ll be looking to put it up to them” he insisted.