First win in the bag.

Those crazy people in the picture waving sticks around the place are our version of athletes trying to kill each other to win the game. Bloodsports are the best sports. The team that hits their oppenant the most without getting sent off win the game. My team is in the yellow so we are obviously winning at this point.

The reality is almost as fun as thirty lads run around trying to hit the ball with their sticks and score the mst points. Now if a player does get in the way and take a belt of the hurley then so be it.

This might not mean much to most users here on Hive but there are a few hurling fans out there who know what the championship means to everybody here.

They would also know how hard it is for a team to go to Thurles stadium, Co Tipperary and come back with a win.

For a Clare fan we have only done it once in the past 92 years just back in 2018. Before that win we had lost the last 15 in a row against them in th echampionship across all venues.

We're the underdog in any version of the story.

Our team has only been very good for a small patch in the 90's and a freak run in 2013.

So watching the match yesterday it was something special to not only beat them but to beat them off the pitch. I don't know if clare just hit them too hard and fast in the first few minutes which threw them off their game or whether they are just that bad this year but they fell apart.

We had a good lineup for the game and our strongest in a good few years. When I saw the team that we had starting I was very happy and a little confident of the win. The only problem being it was the first match of the series and you never know what way it's going to play out.

We had a few players back on the panel that were badly missed and Peter Duggan was a revalation after coming back from Australia after getting all the fun out of his system. It obviously worked for him as he was unmarkable.

This is an oldie but a goldie from his last year playing.

For once we started well and stayed playing well. The players made good decisions and the passes went into their hands. They fought for everything and put huge pressure on Tipp.

This almost never happens for our team and it was worth the watch and the rewatch later that night.

We don't get too many good days like this so we have to make them count. The game was over by half time and the second half wasn't much to watch to be fair but it was still enjoyable. Tipp made an effort at coming back into it but 13 points was just too much to ask and clare kept the distance between them to the end.

As they say.

a great day for the parish.

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