*Brian Lohan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
NOT WANTING to concede goals early on was the reason Clare played the opening half of the All-Ireland semi-final with a sweeper according to manager Brian Lohan who said they will dust themselves down and come back again.
Clare’s championship bid came to an end at the hands of Kilkenny at the semi-final stage for the second year in a row with three points separating the counties in Sunday’s penultimate encounter.
For the first time in Lohan’s tenure, Clare operated with a sweeper with Seadna Morey a late addition to the team instead of corner forward Ian Galvin.
Explaining their rationale for this move, Lohan stated, “Well look, I suppose last year we felt we played the game on their terms. They had the extra defender back and we didn’t make use of the ball the way we might and left a huge amount of space. We didn’t want to be out of the game at half-time. I know we were just about in the game and we didn’t want to be out of it again, conceding goals early on.
“And also, we didn’t want to push up on them, it’s hard enough defending their forwards. But to defend against that quality and that space, we just didn’t want to do that. We made a decision on that to go with the plus one, or the sweeper or whatever you want to call it and we went in, 15-10 at half time, so we were still in the game. Five points isn’t much in hurling. We changed it round, thought our players played really well in the second half”.
Management did not know until Thursday night that David McInerney would be available for selection. “Conor Cleary missed out on the quarter-final but we were hoping he’d be right and he was. John had to go through his protocol which he did as well. Fair play to our medical team, great people as well,” he said.
Trailing by five points at half-time, the Shannon man acknowledged the Leinster champions had the upperhand at this juncture. “Very disappointed in how we attacked the ball. Very disappointed in our shape, our structure. There was a number of things. Made it easy, I suppose – there’s nothing easy out there, but kind of made it easy as it can be for their defenders. Richie Reid was hitting ball for fun. Just too easy for them, and left our players with too difficult a job to do to defend … ball was too accurate going in, and against those forwards you need pressure on the strike. So, yeah, disappointed with how we played in the first half, for sure – and our touch”.
Speaking in Croke Park, the two-time All-Ireland winning full-back said the outcome was “very disappointing. We have to go and analyse it, look at it and see if we can improve”.
Kilkenny’s shot efficiency was 76 percent compared with Clare’s return of 23 scores from 39 attempts (53%). The greater accuracy of the Cats was telling, Lohan maintained. “I suppose the second half went so quickly I don’t know if there was a particular point in it. They do what they do up here. They took their chances, they were very accurate and efficient in the use of the ball. Got scores from all over the field which is what they do and we suffered because of that. Best of luck to them now in the final”.
A late chance of a Clare goal was undone when Peter Duggan’s well-executed volley was superbly saved by Eoin Murphy. “Eoin Murphy always seems to produce those really, really good saves. The standard of goalkeeping now, they’ve got so much pressure now with their puckout and their shot stopping as well. But some of these guys are just outstanding. A really good save from him. Unlucky from us, but it was kind of a half-chance for us. It was one of those that could have gone in, but we were a bit unlucky”.
On the field, Clare “found it hard to get breaks,” the manager commented. A goal from Mark Rodgers was disallowed in the second half with the advantage rule ending when Huw Lawlor caught the sliotar, seconds later he dropped the ball and Rodgers left it in the net. “He had blown the whistle. But didn’t seem to get a huge amount from the referee today. Found it hard to get frees”.
When it was pointed out to the manager that Clare had five yellow cards compared to Kilkenny’s one, he responded, “There’s a rule there that I can’t be critical of referees”.
After Shane O’Donnell’s sixty second minute goal, Kilkenny responded with the next three scores. “They’re a difficult team to play against; they’re good players; and they’re always going to get chances, they’re always going to get scores”.
As the dust settles on his fourth campaign as Clare manager, Lohan said they will dust themselves down and go again. “It’s an absolute pleasure to be involved with them. They give everything, every day they go out. I don’t know if it’s redeeming now but they’re tough guys, they work really hard. Disappointed with how they played in that first half but then they turned it around. The game is 70 minutes. They did their best.
“They just do that. It’s kind of a given for them. They just work and work and work. Do what they can, while they’re there, while they have the jersey. They love playing for the county. They love getting in there working – they do so much work. And sometimes this game – you get what you deserve, you get rewarded for the work that you do. Sometimes you don’t. So I’m disappointed for them. But look, we’ll dust ourselves down and we’ll come back again”.
