Most teams have done it at some stage.
We play the game on our own terms. We go out when we’re ready.
Clare had just come from nine points down and fought back from being blown away by Galway in the first 15 minutes at Croke Park so you can forgive them for feeling a little emotional and wanted to get themselves under control.
Led by Tony Kelly, the Banner clawed their way back into the All-Ireland semi-final, they reduced the arrears to two at one stage and sat just four points adrift at half time with the game very much on.
At the break though, they regrouped and took their time.
They had let the first quarter of an hour pass them by and they conceded the sort of damage that, on its own, could’ve killed their dreams and they did it all with sloppiness, with nerves, by allowing the champions to squeeze them and take every initiative going.
At half time, it was important that they took their time and ensured that the remaining 35 minutes wouldn’t be wasted – not one of them.
Clare dressing room at @CrokePark pic.twitter.com/CkEjA0jeqt
— Clare Senior Hurlers (@ClareSenHurlers) July 28, 2018
So Clare sat in the changing room well beyond the 15 minutes break.
The linesman came in and had a word with them and Clare sat on. Another knock banged on the door as the squad members lined the hallway but the Clare match day team were not to be seen outside of the confines of their dressing room.
In the end, it was just over five minutes extra they took with their interval break but it was enough to have pundits label it unsportsmanlike and for the Galway contingent at Croke Park to greet them with boos upon their reemergence onto the headquarters soil.
https://twitter.com/darryoh/status/1023251228141252608
Clare acting the maggot here. #GALvCLA
— Lucy O’Shea🌸 (@lucyoshea) July 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/GalwayPlayer/status/1023251275775913986
As it was, it didn’t backfire. They came out to boos from Galway, sure, but their own support were on their feet roaring mad to get them going and Clare stayed in the All-Ireland semi-final and made the champions fight for every inch as they brought the scores back to level and contested another classic in the hurling championship.
And what they didn’t do was let any of it pass them by.
