After a third consecutive Munster final defeat to Limerick, Ursula Jacob felt Clare weren't able to handle the big-game pressure and wonders have they got it in them to pick up the pieces in the All-Ireland series.
In the end, the Banner went down by six points in Thurles, with the reigning provincial and All-Ireland champions the deserved winners.
Next up for Brian Lohan's side is a date with either Wexford or Laois in the All-Ireland quarter-final on 22 June.
💬 "Can Clare recover from this? It's a huge blow"
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 9, 2024
Ursula Jacob on the challenge for the Banner to pick themselves up again after the Munster SHC final defeat
📺 Watch the #SundayGame live: https://t.co/AKAre5FHdN pic.twitter.com/kXZ3ZcXs1D
Assessing their latest provincial final setback, Jacob, speaking on The Sunday Game, said: "It's a huge psychological blow; it's a seventh Munster final loss since they won their last one in '98 and a third final defeat to Limerick. The big question now is: can Clare recover from this? Looking on today's performance, have they gone back a little bit?
"They couldn't handle the pressure, maybe today. There was more pressure on Clare and they struggled in the key moments today and they'll be very, very disappointed because Limerick by far were the better team overall and they fully deserved the win."
Also on the programme, Joe Canning, when asked whether Clare can still have a big say, feels that accentuating the positive is the only way to go for Lohan and co.
"It all depends on what way they look at it. They can look at it as a poor performance in the Munster final after losing to Limerick again, or look at the chances they missed and take positives out of the creation that they had.
💬 "Can Clare recover from this? It's a huge blow"
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 9, 2024
Ursula Jacob on the challenge for the Banner to pick themselves up again after the Munster SHC final defeat
📺 Watch the #SundayGame live: https://t.co/AKAre5FHdN pic.twitter.com/kXZ3ZcXs1D
"Brian Lohan and these lads will try and put a positive on it as much as they can; that probably is the only way they can go about things if they want to progress further in the championship.
They have to try and put out a positive spin and fix little things. At the end of the day they didn't feed Shane O'Donnell as much as they should have; he's their best player all year. Tony Kelly didn't get to the pitch of the game because Shane O'Donnell wasn't involved as much. It's not Shane O'Donnell's fault or Tony Kelly's fault, it's coming further out the field."
