MAYHEM. A sea of bodies in the narrow passageway leading towards the Clare dressing room. All humanity is heading towards the Clare dressingroom. Everybody has a back they want to slap.

Ger Keane gave up the fight and backed himself up against a wall whereupon a mob of reporters beat him up with questions. Keane's contribution of eight points would have been wasted were it not for the pass - he supplied to Martin Daly deep into injury time. He reflected on it all calmly enough.

"John O'Keeffe actually said to go for the goal. I just gave it to Martin, he made the run and beat two or three defenders and slipped it under the goalie."

Ah Roy of the Rovers. He just beat two or three Cork players and slipped it under the goalkeeper. Talk on.

"It looked bad for a while alright. We came into it in midfield in the last couple of minutes though. I felt there was plenty of space in the forward line if we could just get the ball in. The frees went well for me today and we never really gave up.

"Even when we were six points - down we knew that we could look back at last year when we were seven points down and almost won. There was great spirit and fighting qualities in this team today.

Keane looked forward briefly to a Munster final which now looks likely to be played in Limerick. "Well I don't mind if we end up playing Tipperary in it. I don't care. Lots of people wrote us off. I'm sure it will be the same for the final, but that will suit us. This is the best day."

John O'Keeffe comes through the crush, enjoying a day in the promised land after many seasons in the wilderness. He is pouring out the satisfaction.

"You couldn't say anything about the heart of these fellas," he says as half of Clare shakes his hand. "The way they picked themselves up. I knew at halftime we were in serious trouble. We weren't winning enough ball.

"These fellas have hearts of lions though. They showed it with 14 men against the wind last year. We weren't bothered to be against the wind today in the second half. It was in my head that we could play better. We are a carrying team, a running team. They did it. They were fantastic. We held Cork so tight in the second half.

"Cork looked unbeatable for a while. They were cruising. We stood back too much in the first half. We didn't pressure them. Ger Keane was a revelation for us, he's unbelievable. His left foot is something else. Without Aidan O'Keeffe I thought we'd be in trouble from frees.

"It's great for sport to see Clare coming through. I think there is a newness about this team. A few new stars. They have proved that they are at their best in adversity when they can dig deep. They dug deep today."

Inside in the dressing room Martin Daly is sitting on the wooden bench, just outside the showers. Nobody has dug deeper. He still has his Clare jersey on his head is in his hands. He's not sure how he got here.

"We got a free. John O'Keeffe came in and said `Ger, you have to keep it low, thirty seconds left'. Ger (Keane) had it in his hands. I decided to get off my man as best I could to get the short free. I still can't believe it went in. I put the head down and it went in by luck. We had a bit of luck today, which we didn't have last year.

He sits there quietly shaking his head, not looking at all like the man who has just scored one of the most famous goals in Clare football history.

"We have done all the hard training. We bonded together. We were all together out there, good friends, great spirit. We knew we had it in us.

Even at six points down, even when Daly, among others, missed good chances in the first half. "Yes. You are going to miss a few chances but you have to keep going for them when they come. You have to keep going."

Another roar erupts across at the dressingroom door as more players make it to sanctuary. This is the happiest scene we have witnessed this summer. A great day for football.

Down the passageway Cork are slipping out quietly. Larry Tompkins smiles through tight lips and leaves behind just one sentence as he goes.

"We were beaten. That's just it."

Outside, Clare people are still dancing. Cruel, surprising world.