Experience was the difference, says Lohan
The Wolfe Tones man highlighted the crucial difference between the sides in Semple Stadium: “Experience was the difference out there. Cork have it in abundance and we need to get up to their level if we are to compete with the best. Cork have been at that level for a good number of years and it showed when we looked like getting back into the game. They had the ability to step up a gear and motor on.
“We now go to the qualifiers and hopefully we can pick up some experience along the way. We didn’t come up here to make up the numbers. But we could never get into the game and that is the most disappointing aspect for me.
“When we had the opportunities we needed to take our scores. You have to punish teams like Cork when you get the chances. Otherwise you’ll pay for it, and we did.
“Despite Cork dominance and our poor performance there was never much between the teams, but we could never threaten the Cork goal like they did. We got one chance of a goal and took it but we needed a couple more and they never looked like coming.
“Given how poorly we had played we were still only five points down at half time. When Cork got their goal we responded with a like score which should have given us the impetus to drive on but we just couldn’t.”
But Lohan also pointed to the positives that Tony Considine and the side can take from the tie.
“We’ll take a few pluses from the game. No one gave us a chance going into the game, yet with five minutes of normal time to go we were still in with a chance of winning against what is regarded as one of the best teams in the country. Overall we can have no complaints. Cork were superior on the day. It’s back to the drawing board for us. The qualifiers will give us three more matches and we’ll surely gain the necessary experience from those.’’
The two time All-Ireland SHC winner added: “Summer hurling is coming up now and Clare are not out of the title race just yet.”
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