Tony Kelly on All-Ireland win: 'It makes you appreciate it more'
As Clare ended their 11-year wait for an All-Ireland, one player who was key to both Liam McCarthy wins was captain Tony Kelly.
A young player in 2013, Kelly showed all his quality and experience in an incredible performance as Clare defeated Cork in a classic All-Ireland hurling final.
In those years, Clare, and indeed Kelly, went through tough times. Between 2013 and 2018, Clare did not play a game in Croke Park, while close defeats in All-Ireland semi-finals to Kilkenny in recent seasons had to have been tough to swallow.
While Munster rivals Limerick got all the attention as they dominated hurling, Clare must have wondered when their time would come.
For Kelly, he never stopped believing.
“You have to believe that you can compete or get to the business end of the Championship.
“From the start of the year, that is what the goal is - to put yourself in that position. Whether it works out or it doesn't - for one reason or another - every year is different. You've no guarantee next year that we are going to get to the business end of the Championship.
“We've been fortunate the last few years, that we've been knocking around Munster finals and getting to Croke Park. In those years from 2013 to 2018 we hadn't been back, for one reason or another.
“We didn't play well enough, we didn't have enough lads playing well enough, we were beaten by better teams. That Galway team, Tipperary, Cork. So, you have to believe.”
A 19-year-old when Clare won the All-Ireland in 2013, Kelly won Player and Young player of the year.
As one of several young players on the team, who enjoyed underage success, the Clare forward could have been forgiven for thinking more Liam McCarthy cups were on the way.
After being made to wait 11 years, and now