Shane O'Donnell returned to action with Clare as a second half substitute in the Allianz Hurling League Final on Saturday evening. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
Shane O'Donnell was thrilled to make a return to competitive action in Clare's dramatic Allianz Hurling League Final win over Kilkenny.
Saturday's lively encounter in Thurles went the distance with O'Donnell contributing in the second period for the Banner.
The Éire Óg, Ennis clubman was involved with David Reidy in creating Clare's second goal, which was scored by David Fitzgerald.
“Very handy, I was just saying it there," O'Donnell laughs about the instant involvement.
"You wouldn’t dream of a better touch, 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 make some impact when you come on and without much effort from me, it had a big impact for the game so yeah, it was a nice way to start the second half."
O'Donnell only recently returned to full training with Brian Lohan's panel. “So, I’ve kind of been battling with a small bit of a longer term injury but I came back about six weeks ago, started to get back into some running with the physios, that kind of thing, and basically build it from there," he explains.
"So, maybe two or three weeks doing that and then edging back into hurling training basically, as if you’re coming back from injury is kind of how it works so you don’t jump straight into 100% training and blow the hamstring."
Considering Clare's Munster Final losses to Limerick and defeats to Kilkenny at the All-Ireland Semi-Final stage in 2022 and 2023, how vital was it to secure silverware? “Yeah, I think it’s important, but I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on it to be honest with you," O'Donnell responded.
"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.
"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 so 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."