All-Ireland minor finalists Clare and Kilkenny have already met three times in challenge matches this year, but joint-Clare boss Donal Maloney believes those games will have little bearing come Sunday.

The Banner go into Sunday's final as rank outsiders, despite having beaten the Cats in one of those challenge matches.

"We've played them a few times. They were very accommodating and have a good side. We might have won one of them but that was way back at the start of the year. Those games will have very little bearing on Sunday," he said.

Maloney, who described Kilkenny's 19-point demolition of Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final as "the most complete performance I have seen in a long time", praised the composure his players showed in their semi-final win over Dublin.

"I think myself and Gerry (O'Connor) were panicking more than the lads on the field," Maloney reflected on Clare's one-point win.

"We took them into the dressing-room after the game and they were quite relaxed, they always thought it was going to be okay. We hurled very well at times but Dublin still had a late chance to sneak it." Tweet

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