Clare's Diarmuid Ryan was delighted that some of the new faces brought into the panel rose to the occasion as they got their Allianz Hurling League campaign off to a winning start with a hard-fought three-point victory over Cork in Ennis on Sunday.
A strong second-half showing, punctuated by a Rebel rally and bookended by a Séadna Morey goal, proved enough for the Banner to get over the line in the Division 1 encounter and with a fixture against former Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald's Waterford to come next Sunday, 25-year-old Ryan is hopeful that they can build on a good start whilst blooding newcomers, including league debutant Gearoid Sheedy.
"It's very important. Teams want to blood new players but you want to win every single game and you can't beat momentum going into a championship," he told RTÉ Sport.
"We've blooded a few new there today and they were fantastic. They got to see what it was like playing in Cusack Park in the league in a really competitive fixture and they did absolutely fantastic and maybe the next day now it's another chance for someone else to step up and that's what the league is really about."
Ryan was also pleased with how he and his Clare team-mates dealt with the periods of Cork pressure throughout the game before Morey's intervention eased any nerves.
"They were coming in waves and their bench had a huge impact. They were bringing on really quick, pacy players and they all made an impact when they came on," he said.
"But it wasn't that we ever panicked. Séadna popped up with a really important goal there towards the end and we were lucky to see it out from there then."
