Anthony Daly: Brian Lohan wasn’t getting carried away. It was a win. Job done. Move on.

Sun, 18 Jul, 2021 - 18:00

I was sitting at a desk in front of a TV monitor deep in the bowels of Croke Park on Saturday afternoon when Ray McManus, the renowned Sportfile photographer, was suddenly standing nearby. In that very moment when Gary Cooney scored the game-clinching goal for Clare in Thurles, Ray pressed click.

I’d a wad of notes in my left hand but I raised my right arm and clinched my fist, shaking it in delight to acknowledge Clare having effectively put the game to bed. Ray approached me and asked if he could put the snap up on the Sportsfile Twitter feed. Of course, I agreed. ‘Get in’ ran the caption under the photograph.

It pained me that I couldn’t be in Thurles, but I was on RTÉ TV duty for the Leinster final and Joe McDonagh Cup decider. Before I sat down to watch the Clare-Wexford game, I was speaking to Aidan Synott, a Wexford man who works for RTÉ. I said to him that it was going to be a game defined by patches of dominance for both teams.

Clare got their first patch right at the start when blitzing Wexford. When Wexford got five successive points just before half-time, Aidan approached me with giddy excitement. “We’ve got a grip,” he said. “If we get the next two points after the break, we’ll win the match.”

I wasn’t subscribing to that theory. “Even if Wexford do get early scores, Clare will get a patch at some stage soon afterwards,” I replied. Wexford got the first three scores, which was their eighth successive point in the match, but Clare responded with four points in-a-row.

Given what was at stake, especially considering the background hype and tension coming into the game, it was always going to be a nervy, tight, claustrophobic affair. It was, but Clare’s early charge ensured they always had enough breathing space to stay alive in such oppressive heat.

Clare were sloppy at times, but the sweltering conditions was bound to affect concentration and energy levels as the game progressed. Clare got punished on a couple of short puckouts but one trend I’ve noticed in recent weeks is that fellas are much sharper on snapping those short restarts – especially if the puckout is marginally off – when they’re fresh in the first half. But when the pressure is on and minds and bodies are starting to lag late on, the punishment on coughing up that possession seems far more severe.

Over the 70 plus minutes, Clare had more standout performers, with Cathal Malone and Rory Hayes again the pick of the bunch. He doesn’t often score goals, but the amount of unheralded work Malone does is invaluable; the amount of ground he covered on Saturday was off the charts. Hayes also underlined his rising status as one of the best corner-backs in the business. You can’t beat pace and Hayes has bags of it.

Davy Fitz started Cathal Dunbar, which was inspired with him scoring five points from play, but that depleted their impact off the bench, and Clare’s bench had a bigger impact; Mark Rodgers got two brilliant points, Cooney got the goal, while Jack Browne made a huge difference around the middle of the field.

The main talking point afterwards was Conor Cleary’s challenge on Rory O’Connor, which was a potential penalty/sin-bin decision. I had the luxury of having a monitor in front of me and I was able to look at it a number of times. By trying to shield himself, it looked as if O’Connor flicked Cleary’s hurley up onto his own helmet.

It’s not biased but Rory went down too easily. There is a tendency for players to do that, especially when the prize for winning a penalty in that situation is colossal with almost a certain goal and the opposition reduced to 14 for ten minutes. As we saw in the Clare-Tipperary match, it can be game-changing.

The Wexford crowd were clearly up in arms over the decision. You could hear the boos on the TV but, from talking to friends who were down there, Clare supporters outnumbered them almost 3-1. In the last ten minutes, you could hear the Clare crowd driving on the lads.

Davy had his say afterwards but Brian Lohan was dignified, honest and forthright – as you’d expect him to be – in his post-match comments. It was a huge win for him and his players, but Lohan wasn’t getting carried away. It was a win. Job done. Move on.

Typical Lohan.