Munster in our own hands now, says Clare star Kelly

Following a perfect start, Clare are now focused on reaching a Munster Final as they prepare to welcome Limerick and Waterford to fortress Cusack Park over the next fortnight.

That’s the view of back-to-back All-Star Tony Kelly who on Sunday became Clare’s highest ever championship scorer with 9-240 in just 45 appearances after raiding for ten points against Cork to surpass Niall Gilligan’s previous record of 21-197 (in 56 championship matches).

“We’ve our eyes on the Munster Championship like every team in it so we’re not going to get away with this win. It was a great result and we’ll enjoy it but we’re fortunate to have a week to regroup and prepare for Limerick in two week’s time.

“It’s in our own hands now where we want to go in the Munster Championship and it’s all about replicating those performances so far and even bringing them up a notch or two.”

Having been last of the 11 counties into championship action, Clare made up for lost time by brushing aside the challenge of hosts Tipperary last weekend before emulating that ravenous start against Cork back in Thurles to effectively seal their place in the All-Ireland series at a minimum.

“It was a great start last week and we backed that up that result this week and it’s all about getting results in this round-robin.

“I mean you could play all the lovely hurling you want and not get out of the group so you just need to be in that three, no matter what order, you just need to be in that three first and foremost and then after that you can assess whether you’re in a Munster Final or heading towards the preliminary Quarter-Finals.

“We’ve a good start made but we’re only halfway there. We’re playing Limerick on Sunday week and we’re going to have to go up another notch or two to beat them.”

“They are the standard-bearers in the country for a reason so we know that that performance today won’t be good enough.”