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Davy Fitzgerald in his home town of Sixmilebridge last night. INPHO/James Crombie
Key Meeting

The night the Clare hurlers drank MiWadi and ate biscuits in Davy’s house

The Clare hurlers regrouped in June after the disappointment of their Munster semi-final defeat.

DAVY FITZGERALD HAS pinpointed the Monday night after their Munster semi-final loss to Cork in June as central to the revival of the Clare hurlers season.

Fitzgerald brought the 19 Banner players who had been in action in that game in the Gaelic Grounds to his home.

And he revealed how significant that meeting was as the team drank MiWadi, ate biscuits and discussed where they had gone wrong the day before.

“Everyone was down and I asked the boys to come back to my house which was probably different to any manager.

“I wanted to show them that they’re like my family. I said it to them, people who are special to me come into my front sitting room and sit down and spend time with me.

“I remember going down the street and buying the Mi Wadi orange and biscuits and having them on the table when they came in. If Joe O’Connor, our sports scientist, knew I did that he’d be cracking with me!

“I didn’t charge it to expenses, no I managed to scrape it out for that one! We spent three hours in my front sitting room that night. I remember all the cars being parked out the front and the back.

“We had an unbelievable chat that night. I had the forwards at one end and I had the backs and I got them a bit of paper and said, ‘Write down what you think’.

“Then we talked out the points in the sitting room. I was trying to think to myself afterwards, this is unreal. I wanted to find out what was in their heads and I wanted to kill it there and then and get back on the horse and go again.”

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Davy Fitzgerald with the Liam McCarthy Cup in Ennis last night
Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

The meeting proved constructive as Clare parked the disappointment of that loss and embarked on a backdoor journey that would ultimately end with them claiming All-Ireland glory.

“It was an unreal experience to be in the house that night. We all felt terrible but we discussed it and we reckoned we came up with seven goal chances that we had that we created.

“We reckoned we were not that bad. We thought Cork were a really decent team but we knew there was flaws that we needed to address.

“We just vowed that we’d go back and work harder than ever. And they did. They’re a great bunch to talk to. To me it was a special night.”

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