GAA: Jamesie O'Connor says Clare can claim Munster hurling title

It's a huge weekend of action with Sky Sports as Kilkenny face Waterford in the All-Ireland SHC qualifier but provincial championships are reaching their conclusion and Jamesie O'Connor casts his eye over his old team's chances.

One of the key things for me in the recent Limerick and Clare Munster senior hurling semi-final was the body language of Shane O'Donnell.

Shane is a great guy, he burst onto the senior inter-county stage in 2013 but we had known a lot about him at Clare from an early age. Those three goals against Cork in the All-Ireland final replay put him on the national stage and massive things were expected of him.

For the next few seasons, though, with Clare using the sweeper, Shane was often left on his own surrounded by two or three markers when the ball did land in his area. There were times when he was forced to come back out the field to forage for the ball when none were coming in.

Against Limerick he scored 2-2 and you could see the bounce was back in his step - he had space, he could take lads on again, and he did serious damage.

It's players like him that can make the difference in Sunday's Munster final.

Favourites

Cork are favourites and rightly so, they deserve that title but two things - it's really hard to win three games on the trot in Munster and I feel that Clare have a huge chance of winning this final.

History is with us and against Cork, I think, and I just have a feeling that we could win.

There are a couple of areas I would look at, though. Oisin O'Brien is back fit again and a call will have to be made on whether he is good to go to face Cork.

And if we are to win we will definitely have to inject more pace into our half back line because Cork will run at us from the start, they will look to lay down a marker, try to run us ragged and make a statement.

That's what they did against Tipp and that's how they got success against Waterford too.

On top of that, Clare will need Tony Kelly and Podge Collins to get back to the form that they are more than capable of. If the lads can do that, I feel that Conor McGrath, Aaron Shanagher and O'Donnell inside can cause massive damage.

Pressure

They are two young, quick teams and they have tweaked their game plans in the past year to good effect.

Cork are showing serious leadership, but how would they cope if they went four or five points behind? Would they be able to cope with that pressure?

Maybe this year's team would.

Conor Lehane has lifted his game to an incredible level this season, Seamus Harnedy took on the slack when Lehane was trying to deal with an injury that he carried into the Waterford game and they have a great launchpad from their puckouts.

They will be energised by their displays so far this season but to win a Munster title would be simply incredible - no one would have seen that coming.

I noticed in the past two games that their management team were on the field about two minutes before the start of the second half. That means they are leaving it to the players to make the final call, to take ownership of games.

It's working well, Damien Cahalane has been superb at full-back, a real revelation in a pressurised position, and he has spread real confidence throughout the team.

Clare's threat

The Clare full-forwards will test Cahalane provided they get quick, diagonal balls and that means the battle for possession further out the field, and the use of space will be crucial.

Who will get the dirty ball, who will make the better decisions under pressure?

It's a massive game for both sides.

Clare will feel that they are making up for lost time. 2013 seems like a long time away and these days, with pretty compact hurling careers, you have to make the most of your time in the jersey when you have it.

Clare won a lot at underage level and they will want to get back on the winners' podium again.

Cork will feel they owe them one from 2013 and they are probably still stung from the flak they have received over the past few years.

I think the game has caught the imagination of the public, I think there will be a massive crowd there and while Cork go into the game as favourites I really feel that Clare can win.

Sky Sports live GAA coverage continues on Saturday with Kilkenny v Waterford, live on Sky Sports 3 from 6pm with throw-in at 7pm. For those on the move you can get updates via our live blog at www.skysports.com/GAA or @SkySportsGAA