Shane O'Donnell suffered a hamstring injury on the Tuesday night before the All-Ireland senior hurling final.
The Éire Óg Inis player said he feared he wasn't going to be able to play in the final after picking up the injury on the week of the game.
O'Donnell paid tribute to Clare's medical team for helping him make it to the pitch after the late scare.
The 30-year-old played a key role in Clare's triumph, setting up their first goal for Aidan McCarthy at a time when the team needed inspiration.
Cork had roared into a 1-7 to 0-3 lead after eleven minutes and Clare looked to be in serious trouble.
Clare needed this goal badly.
Aidan McCarthy is teed up by Shane O'Donnell to find the net, when Cork were totally dominant.
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But like he's been doing all year, O'Donnell came up with the big plays. His role in setting up McCarthy was impressive as was his point with the very next play when he bought a yard for himself a trademark dummy.
He also had a hand in some of Clare's other scores as the teams went into the half-time break level, 1-12 apiece.
O'Donnell was quieter in the second half, suffering a shoulder injury that required medical attention at one stage but while he battled on at that point, he was eventually forced off after 80 minutes.
Speaking on The Sunday Game last night, he said he knew his 'race was run' in extra-time but that he wasn't concerned because of the quality of the Clare bench.
"All year we've had brilliant impacts from our subs. The fact that we had twenty more minutes for them to influence the game, I felt extremely confident anyway at the end of normal time. I knew my race was coming to the end but but that didn't concern me either."
That he got through 80 minutes was perhaps an achievement in itself, given the hamstring injury he told Off The Ball about on Monday.
"I thought I wasn't going to be playing at all," he said.
"I pulled my hamstring on Tuesday in training. I got a scan Wednesday saying that it was a 1A which is the mildest strain you can have.
"But you're still talking five days to recover.
"So it was 50:50 if I was going to be playing, and if I was to play, that you'd be aware of it.
"It all worked out brilliant, didn't hold me back at all yesterday, but earlier in the week, it was like went from the highs of the dream of building up to an All-Ireland to having 24 hours thinking 'my hamstring is done.'"
O'Donnell fought through the pain barrier, and was named as The Sunday Game Hurler of the Year later on that night.
