O'Curry's centre back Sean Haugh is looking forward to the club's return to the senior ranks next year following last Saturday's dramatic IFC final victory over Kilmihil.

"It's just a great relief that we held on at the end," he said in the Clare Champion.

"I thought we weren't going to hold on. Kilmihil have a lot of quality players like the O'Connells, David and Timmy Ryan. They were always going to come back at us. On another day, they might have caught us. We'd a bit of luck on the day as well."

Haugh feels the men from Carrigaholt, Querrin and Doonaha - who were relegated from the senior ranks in 2010 -were more focused this year after failing to bounce back at the first time of asking last year.

"We came down here last year and we found it very tough. Maybe we weren't up for it and took it for granted. But this year, since January, we've trained as hard as ever. We've a few great young lads coming through. The main thing is to try and keep them interested and not to lose them. Tom Downes has come on in leaps and bounds as well. He's a serious athlete and a serious footballer." Tweet

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