Clare captain Tony Kelly has said that his All-Ireland final wonder goal may never have happened, only for a moment of improvisation before he hit it into the net.
In the 51st minute of an epic Croke Park showpiece against Cork, Kelly weaved his way through the Rebel defence before firing home to put the Banner 3-15 to 1-18 ahead.
In a contest that ebbed and flowed throughout, Cork eventually came back to force extra-time, before Clare saw it through by a score of 3-29 to 1-34 to claim their fifth All-Ireland title.
"You just play the situation in front of you," Kelly told RTÉ Sport after the game. "I was probably going to tap it over the bar only for a Cork defender came and I had to improvise. Luckily enough it went in."
After playing a key role on the turf, Kelly had the privilege of lifting the Liam MacCarthy Cup as captain, following in the footsteps of Banner legends Anthony Daly and Patrick Donnellan.
"From a personal or maybe a selfish point of view, that's the greatest thing I’ll ever do as a GAA player," Kelly said after raising the trophy aloft. "I’m just lucky and privileged to be asked to be captain."
Captain Tony Kelly with some superb individual play to score Clare's third goal
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 21, 2024
They take a grip on the game
📲 Updates: https://t.co/6NBQ3ae85V
📺 Watch live @RTE2 & @RTEplayer https://t.co/AKAre5FHdN
📻 @rteradio1 pic.twitter.com/1cB4krlVrT
Cork had threatened to get away from Clare by the end of the first quarter, after Robert Downey conjured up a superb goal of his own to open up a seven-point lead.
Brian Lohan’s men dug deep though, with goals from Aidan McCarthy and Mark Rodgers preceding Kelly's effort in a contest for the ages.
"Funnily enough, we had targeted that first quarter but they got a run on us," said Kelly. "The way hurling is played these last five or six years, six or seven points isn’t a massive lead anymore
"We were doing it in reverse at the start of the Championship in terms of starting strong and not seeing it out.
"The big thing in hurling these days is when you get your purple patch you have to make it count. In the second half we were on top, I think we hit a lot of wides on the Cusack Stand side to maybe push us out further but that’s all forgotten when you get over the line."
Shane O’Donnell, Kelly’s fellow survivor of Clare’s previous All-Ireland success in 2013, hailed Sunday’s victory as the best day of his and his team-mates’ lives.
"It's the greatest day of my life anyway and speaking for the lads, it's fair to say it's the greatest day of their lives as well," he said.
"Sometimes you think over the years, you might never get back and to see this is just incredible.
"We had a lot of turnover after we won (in 2013) so to bring a new group through and to celebrate like this is just incredible.
"This is the greatest thing you could ever do. Days like this are why you play sport for 20 or 30 years, hoping that you’ll get this opportunity.
"To do it twice, I wasn’t sure that we’d get back there but this group has been absolutely exceptional."
Clare needed this goal badly.
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 21, 2024
Aidan McCarthy is teed up by Shane O'Donnell to find the net, when Cork were totally dominant.
📲 Updates: https://t.co/6NBQ3ae85V
📺 Watch live @RTE2 & @RTEplayer https://t.co/AKAre5FHdN
📻 @rteradio1 pic.twitter.com/KDGS0InwHN
McCarthy was one of the younger players who collected a first All-Ireland medal, and he emphasised the contribution of everybody on the Clare panel, from those that started on Sunday afternoon to those that came off the bench.
"We just took it ball-by-ball, play-by-play and we just dug it out," said McCarthy "We had our backs to the wall in the first 10 minutes when we were seven or eight down, we just kept going and thankfully we got ourselves back into the game.
"It’s not a 15-man game anymore, it’s a 24 or 30-man game. We needed everyone today. In extra-time, lads were going down with injuries. An unbelievable effort by everyone. I can’t believe we did it."
