Shane O'Donnell: League title will be forgotten if Clare lose to Limerick

Shane O'Donnell insists that Clare won’t get carried away by ending an eight-year wait for a trophy with victory in the Allianz Hurling League.

The Banner had lost two All-Ireland semi-finals in a row to Kilkenny but came good in the Division 1 decider on Saturday night, which should boost confidence ahead of a Munster rematch with their provincial final conquerors Limerick in a fortnight.

Manager Brian Lohan said after the game that he felt the win was "crucial", though that may have been based more on the opposition than the prize on offer.

The Clare fans flooded onto the pitch at Semple Stadium to watch Conor Cleary collect the cup but the players’ celebrations were notably restrained.

"It’s important but I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on it to be honest with you," said 2013 All-Ireland winner O’Donnell.

"We’ve kind of talked about it as well, if we looked back to 2016, the last time that Clare won the league, and then we went out in the first round of the championship and we lost [to Waterford].

"I think anyone in a county set up at the moment would take that swap, losing the league final and then winning the first round of the championship.

"If that happens in two weeks, nobody’s going to be remembering that we won the league and patting us on the back so I think we need to keep it in context."

O’Donnell came on at half-time for his first appearance of the season. He was immediately involved in the action, playing an exchange of passes with David Reidy that led to a goal for David Fitzgerald.

"You wouldn’t dream of a better [first] touch," he said. "Someone just literally hands it to you, they take it off you, do all the leg work and it ends up in the net.

"It really did settle me. You’re kind of thinking you do want to