Raising the Banner

Very mixed feelings about today's Munster hurling championship game which Clare won at a canter.
First it's great to see the Banner back in business in Munster, their first championship win for five years and they will relish the prospect of playing against neighbours Limerick in the semi final.
Clare were hungry, energetic and the fact that they scored 28 times will do their forwards' confidence no harm at all.
The Bannermen played in a manner which we associated with good Clare sides of the last 15 years, they made up for finesse with strength, fitness and a fierce competitive spirit.
Griffin and Carmody had a field day up front with O'Flaherty weighing in with some good scores on his championship debut.
Diarmuid McMahon also excelled at half forward and all this created so much more space for Niall Gilligan who too often must have felt like the Lone Ranger in the Clare attack in the last six or seven seasons.
I also thought the fact that Frank Lohan had a quiet day at centre full back said much about Clare's dominance out the field as Waterford struggled to create goal chances.
If Clare has any concern at the end of this game it must be about the fact that a Waterford team which had thrown the towel in at least 20 minutes from the end still conceded 22 scores.
It's true that this was a very open game but John Mullane roasted both the full backs put on him and Limerick boss Richie Bennis will feel that his forward line will give Clare more problems than the Decies did.
However, this is a young hungry Clare side, its tails will be up from this victory and manager Mike McNamara now has time to work on further improvement.
Clare will not fear Limerick or feel any sense of inferiority as they might if they had to face Tipp or Cork at this stage.
Limerick came from nowhere last year to reach an All-Ireland final.
The Bannermen know that they have a long road to travel before they are serious contenders for the All Ireland but there is nothing like a championship win to boost a side's confidence and it can only be good for hurling if the Banner was to rise again.