Emotional Brian Lohan pays tribute to “stoical courage” of his Clare champions

STOICAL COURAGE: Clare captain Tony Kelly and manager Brian Lohan lift the Liam McCarthy cup

Clare manager Brian Lohan has hailed the “stoical courage” of his team to come back from Munster final and All-Ireland semi-final woes to land last year’s Liam MacCarthy Cup.

An emotional Lohan insisted at Saturday’s medal presentation in Dromoland Castle that the players were not to blame for a couple of the county’s provincial final losses.

He referenced a comment his former Clare manager Ger Loughnane made about the team he played on 30 years ago and how he has used it with the current Banner group.

“You might look to the NFL or you might look to other sports or rugby or whatever it is and you look for inspiration but sometimes the inspiration is there right in front of you,” said Lohan. “There was a phrase that Ger said about us when came into The West County (Hotel) in ’95. He said the team played with stoical courage.” 

His voice momentarily breaking, Lohan continued: “That always stayed with me. That phrase of stoical courage. That has always been in my head. It just has been in my head. If I was to put anything or get anything into the group it was that thing about stoical courage.

“We probably see it because of the defeats, because of losing those three bloody Munster finals, losing those two All-Ireland semi-finals. It was just a case that ‘Right, we lost but we’re not losers and if we keep at it and maintain that resilience we will get there.’ 

“Look, we lost a couple of Munster finals but it was no fault of those guys there that we lost them. We never complained, we just got on with it.” 

Speaking to compère Marty Morrissey, Lohan was asked about his initial feelings at the final whistle in last year’s epic extra-time decider against Cork. “I just wanted to go over and show a bit of respect to Pat Ryan because I think he did a brilliant job with Cork and he’s not a loser because he lost the game. He’s just lost the game.” 

Lohan returned to the decision suggested by selector Ken Ralph that Clare take a week off after losing the Munster final to Limerick and how it paid dividends. “These guys came in (then) and they just wanted to work.

“They were so disappointed with how they played in that Munster final. They were just so sick of it and they decided they were going to and momentum started building from there and they produced that they produced.“ 

Lohan spoke of how Tony Kelly and John Conlon set the tone for the squad and lauded his character of his players. “We’ve got a really articulate bunch. We’re got a bunch that really proud of what they do on the field but also what they do off the field. They’re just tremendous.”