It’s already been a year of much progress for Clare footballers. This spring saw promotion to Division 2 and a terrific win over Kildare in the decider. And while Kerry ended their interest in the Munster championship, the Banner did chalk up a respectable 0-17.
Their subsequent back-door trek has so far produced a positive return with wins over Laois and Sligo. Next up is a date with beaten Connacht finalists Roscommon. Victory there would see Clare reach the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final for the first time.
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Reflecting on the Banner’s summer campaign, goalkeeper Joe Hayes, while wanting to play things down, is keen nevertheless to accentuate the positives.
Speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podacast Jones’ Road, Hayes said: “We are playing football at the end of July, so we’re in a very good place,” he said.
“However, there is nothing to get carried away with yet. We got a fair old trimming down in Kilarney and that’s still fresh in the memory. You can't look past the next game, that's when you'll get in trouble.
“Our thing after the win over Laois was to look to the next game and that was Sligo. Now we must focus on Roscommon.”
Yet, the Banner custodian admitted that he didn't tune in to the Round 4A draw that was made on RTÉ Radio 1: “I didn’t care who we got once we were playing football at the end of July. I didn't listen to the draw this morning, I was still in bed."
Looking ahead to the date with the Rossies, Hayes added: "You can say that Roscomon have six days to prepare but they'll be playing us trying to make amends for their performance against Galway. There could be a massive kick in them."
Hayes also paid tribute to his manager Colm Collins and the work he has done since taking over in the autumn of 2013.
"Colm Collins took the job when no one wanted it. He got a good back-room team starting off and put down some goals. The first one was to get out of Division 4 and things have taken off since then.
"Colm has really moulded a good squad at the moment. We have 16 senior teams in the county and have a very strong and competitive intermediate championship. Colm goes to all the games and tries to pick the best panel. Everyone is working hard and we're now getting the rewards."
Hayes also outlined what it meant to the side to win silverware following their Division 3 success against Kildare last April.
"When we got to the league final we put more emphasis on trying to win the cup. We trained awful hard ahead of the game and set up as best we could.
"It was great to win at Croke Park. A few of us have McGrath Cup medals but to win a national title at Croke Park made everyone's day."
