Clare manager Colm Collins has hailed the performance of his substitutes that helped the Banner to a two-point win over Offaly in Round 2 of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.
Reinforcements in the Banner side scored a combined four points in sweltering conditions at O'Connor Park, as Clare booked their place in Monday morning's round three qualifier draw.
Gearoid O'Brien hit two points after his introduction, while Kevin Harnett and Gavin Cooney both posted one point each when they came into the action.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport after the victory, a delighted Collins said that Clare subs combined to make a vital contribution to the team's overall display.
"They did really well for us and I thought some of the Offaly subs did really well. I'd be delighted with that, it was a day for subs and to use your bench because of the heat, it was serious.
"It was tough for both teams but beautiful [conditions], an absolutely beautiful stadium. It was a lovely day for football and both teams went at it to play football and it turned out to be a great game. We were lucky to shade it at the end by a couple of points. We're delighted to be in the pot for Monday morning."
After suffering a 22-point defeat to Kerry in the Munster SFC semi-final, this result against Offaly is a welcomed boost for Clare. But they made a slow start to this clash and were made to work for their victory against the midlanders.
A Ruairi McNamee goal gave the hosts an early advantage, and they were leading Clare 1-03 0-02 after 13 minutes.
Jamie Malone settled the visitors with the game's opening goal after they were denied a penalty, and the teams were deadlocked at the break.
Offaly reclaimed the lead by the 44th minute before Clare rallied once more with four points in succession to ultimately propel them to victory.
"We would regard Offaly as one of the big football counties," added Collins, "they've a great history and any time we come up here it's a tremendous battle. We didn't expect anything else only that today. It turned out to be that and we're delighted to come out of the right side of it in the end.
"We missed a few chances which probably would have left us kind of comfortable at half-time but that was the nature of the game, I think Offaly would have had a couple of misses as well.
"I think at one stage there was a ball kicked over the bar. It was so close to the goal, it was almost even hard to do so I think you could say there were chances at both sides of the pitch missed."
Clare will learn the identity of their opposition in the next round of the qualifiers when the draw takes place on Monday morning on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland at 8.35am.
A win would see them go on to meet one of the beaten provincial finalists, with Tyrone, Cavan, Armagh, Monaghan, Leitrim, Mayo and Kildare also joining them in the draw
"It's great to be there. We'll see who we get in the morning and do our level best to try and get a performance the next day. You'd never know where that could take you."
