Clare senior hurling team manager Brian Lohan. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
Brian Lohan was delighted Clare demonstrated resilience under pressure during an exciting All-Ireland SHC Semi-Final against Kilkenny at Croke Park.
Eoin Cody and Billy Ryan netted goals for Kilkenny in either half, but Clare still found a way to survive. Even though Ryan's second period goal steered Kilkenny six clear, Clare responded admirably.
"I suppose there were two sucker punches really," Lohan reflected. "There was the goal that was scored and then there was the Eoin Murphy save from Aidan McCarthy, that was another big potential turning point.
"But in fairness to our lads they showed a bit of resilience and they showed a bit of maturity and got the point and got the next point and then got the next point and played the game based on the next ball all the time.
"I think Kilkenny didn't score from the 58th minute on so we reeled off six points in a row."
Since the Munster Final loss to Limerick, Clare have overcome Wexford and Kilkenny. "We just decided to, if we won the Munster final we were going to take a week off," Lohan says.
"We lost the Munster final and we just said we needed to reset, we took a week off and it left us vulnerable for a quarter-final. We maybe wouldn't have had the hurling.
"It also meant that if we did get over the quarter-final we were in good shape and we had been able to reset and since that game against Wexford it seems like our year has just started. There was great energy in training, really good energy in training for the last two weeks.
"Our players have a brilliant attitude and a great bunch to be around. very good atmosphere inside the camp for the last couple of weeks."
Having lost at the penultimate stage of the championship to Kilkenny in 2022 and 2023, Lohan acknowledged that Clare's Allianz Hurling League decider triumph over the Cats was significant. "We put a big emphasis on it at the time," Lohan says.
"We needed to beat Kilkenny, we had lost two in a row to them. They do set the standard.
Obviously, Limerick are setting the standard for the last while but Kilkenny traditionally do set the standard. If you can beat Kilkenny, whether it's league or championship, it's a good sign.
"And it's a good sign for us when we did beat them and we were delighted with that. We do see them as standard bearers and when we're rattling them, we're happy with that."
