Tony Kelly: It is hard to put finger on why Clare were 'below par' in their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Kilkenny.

It is hard to understand how the Banner were so "below par" during their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Kilkenny according to their talisman Tony Kelly.

The former Hurler of the Year admits Clare failed to get going against the Cats but he says they have not sat down as a group yet to figure out what went wrong.

"We were below par on Saturday. It's hard to put your finger on it right now as to why.

"We haven't really dissected it as a team yet, we probably won't do so until we meet back up for next year, whenever that is.

"Hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong for us - obviously a lot did go wrong."

Thwarting the attacking threat of Clare's Tony Kelly is almost impossible – unless you have the services of a phenomenal Butler at your disposal. #TheSundayGame #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/e6AUu0WQP6

Kelly was speaking to the media as he was announced as the PwC GAA/GPA Hurling Player of the Month for June.

The Ballyhea sharpshooter says this year Clare have shown signs of progression under their boss Brian Lohan and he is already looking forward to the next inter-county season

"There has been progression this year in terms of our performance levels for the majority of the year and getting back to a Munster final for the first time since 2018, and a semi-final, so there has been progression and that's down to the savage work that the players are doing and obviously Brian and the management are doing as well.

"You brush yourself down and look forward to a new inter-county season.

"That's the nature of it. We've had crushing defeats before, and you've just got to try and get better and keep going."

There has been a lot of talk around the championship structure this season but Kelly says he his happy with the current lay-out of the