This article is from page 127 of the 2007-11-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 127 JPG
AS CLONLARA captain Paul Collins waited to collect the cup from Munster chairman Seamus O’Gorman, he smiled and shook his head in disbelief. In his acceptance speech, he confirmed this incredu- lous feeling by stating that it has been an unbelieveable year. That feeling was echoed all over Cusack Park by the 2,000 plus crowd who were still coming to terms with what they had just witnessed.
Clonlara have done so well this year that they have actually sur- prised themselves by getting this far. Collins himself may have missed the semi-final against Tipperary champions Lorrha due to a family bereavement but in typical Clonlara fashion, he slipped seamlessly back into the side on Sunday as if he had
never been away. Two vital first half blocks emphasised his importance to the team and set them on their way to a first Munster crown. An achieve- ment which he still finds difficult to sink in.
“The whole thing is just unbelie- veable,” said Collins. “How do you describe it? It’s like a dream and we are just waiting to wake up.
“It was strange today compared to the other matches where we tended to get out ahead then drop back and lose it and then having to fight hard to get back in it. But today thank God we got out in front and we stayed out in front. There was always a danger that they could come back and we could run out of time but thank God, we had the luck on the day.”
Luck certainly played it’s part but essentially Clonlara deserved this title more than Dromin-Athlacca. In
what has been one of the most excit- ing runs in the competition’s history, Clonlara were just too strong for the Limerick champions and played with an added spring to their step after famous wins over Carrigtwohill and Lorrha.
“The previous games stood to us,” agreed Collins “It’s great because there was no pressure going into the Munster competition. It’s a great competition and it lets lads play their own style of hurling and it’s a bit freer. It showed there when we were hurling well again today.”