Suspicions that All-Ireland champions Kilkenny will be given a stern test of their credentials this year were given further credence by Clare at Semple Stadium and Davy Fitzgerald admits his side will savour the win.
Twelve months ago the Banner capped off a disappointing National League campaign by suffering a one-point defeat to Kilkenny in the relegation play-off in Nowlan Park and would subsequently bow out to Cork in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
What a difference a year makes as the winning habit picked up in 1B, the addition of Donal Óg Cusack to the backroom team and further competition for places in the squad has helped the 2013 All-Ireland champions advance to a League final for the first time since 2005 with a nine-point victory over the Cats.
“We’ll take today and enjoy it"
Aaron Cunningham and Conor McGrath sparkled in attack and while it is early days in the season, the Clare manager was pleased with how his team performed in Thurles.
“It’s nice to see the enthusiasm back up, but it’s mid-April,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“We know that will be massive ammunition for Kilkenny going forward in the championship. They’ll come back fighting more than ever.
“In saying that I’d love to have that opportunity against them later in the year, but we’ll take today and enjoy it.”
Relegation in Kilkenny’s backyard last season was a big setback for Clare but Fitzgerald is of the opinion that the loss has stood to his youthful side.
“Last year it was tough to swallow below in Kilkenny because I felt we deserved more than we got out of it but we took our medicine," he said.
“We had a lot of medicine to take last year, but we’ve come back fighting hard."
Waterford lie in wait in the final and there are various sub-plots at play for the May 1 showdown.
Fitzgerald managed the Deise for four seasons after leading them to an All-Ireland Final in his first year in charge in 2008, while the two sides will clash a little more than a month later in the Munster championship.
The Clare boss only saw 20 minutes of the opening game at Semple Stadium but was impressed by what he saw as Waterford proved far too strong for Limerick with a blistering second-half performance.
“I thought they played really well. They are the form team at the moment. They have come through a really hard Division 1A and come through it fairly well.
“It’s [the final] going to be a good game.”
