A broken down bus meant the Clare minor footballers didn't arrive in Thurles until 10 minutes before the scheduled 7pm start time of their Electric Ireland Munster MFC semi-final against Tipperary on Wednesday night.
The Clare panel had assembled at the West County Hotel in Ennis at 3pm but their departure was delayed by an hour and a half due to mechanical problems.
Suggestions on social media that no bus had been booked were rubbished by Clare manager Maurice Walsh who explained that the coach had broken down en-route to collect the squad.
It was close to 6.50pm when the bus reached Semple Stadium with the game's throw-in subsequently delayed by 20 minutes.
The problems with the bus, added to a rushed warm-up, hampered Clare in the opening half and they trailed Tipperary at half-time on a scoreline of 1-2 to 0-4.
Walsh’s charges were able to turn matters around in the second period, kicking the last three scores to win by 1-9 to 2-4. It goes without saying that the journey home was far more pleasant than the ordeal endured in getting there.