Brian Lohan: 'League is league and championship is championship'

Trailing by 12 points, they somehow managed to turn it around and achieve parity in front of 20,778 engrossed spectators against 14-man Cork.

Sun, 20 Apr, 2025 - 17:26

Therese O’Callaghan

There was no panic in the Clare dressing room at half-time. After all, they are the All-Ireland champions and have proven to have that winning mentality.

Trailing by 12 points, they somehow managed to turn it around and achieve parity in front of 20,778 engrossed spectators against 14-man Cork.

League and championship are just poles apart.

“Even though it looked bad at half-time, we felt it wasn't that bad,” manager Brian Lohan said. “The breeze was tough enough, deceptive enough. When it's going straight down the field here, it can be a difficult breeze to play against.

“We hadn’t played well in the first half and made a couple of mistakes. There was no sense of panic. The breeze was significant enough and we did feel if we could get goals without panic we were going to be in this game and that is how it turned out.

“There's so much involved in the puck-out now and winning that puck-out. The same as it was hard for us in the first half to win our puck-out, it was always going to be difficult for them to win their puck-out.

"Up against such a good team, to produce what they did in the second half, we're just delighted with them, It was a real roller coaster of a day, typical Munster championship and just obviously delighted with our lads, with the fight that they had and their composure and all that, just thrilled.

“I thought we showed an awful lot of intelligence and great attitude, obviously, and didn’t panic. Just kept trying to keep the scoreboard ticking over. With the quality we have inside, we are always dangerous. We were dangerous in the first half but we didn’t get the return. In the second half, we got the return.

"All these points in the Munster Championship - wins, draws - they’re all really hard. You lose your concentration for any period of time and you're hurt badly. We lost our concentration in the first half and we conceded 2-3, 2-4. But then our concentration was excellent in the second half and we were able to turn it around.

“The lads just give so much and have done so for a number of years. We don't always win but they always give that bit of fight. We're delighted with that and that's really what our supporters are looking for.”

It was a question asked all week, had Clare been prematurely written off?

"That's fair enough. We hadn't played well all year and Cork had played so well in all of their matches. But league is league and championship is championship so we always felt that we had a shout and we had a chance. That's how it turned out.

"They just showed great relief and great resilience. The question was if we were going to be in that situation, did we have the guts and the composure to turn it around? We got an answer today so we're delighted with our group."

Peter Duggan’s goal - Clare’s third - a minute before the PA announced at least six minutes of second-half stoppage came in the midst of a 1-6 run.

"He was excellent,” Lohan said of his towering forward. “He was really excellent. Excellent in the first half and he was showing the whole time. He was a brilliant out-ball for us, as he was in the league.”

The Banner’s incredible fightback started with an unanswered 2-1 in the first six minutes of the second half.

“We were a bit soft in the first half. Look, fellas were disappointed with themselves and how they played. Fair play to them, they turned it around and a much better performance from all our lines on the field in the second half.”

Peter Queally and Dan Shanahan were two interesting spectators in Ennis. Their reign will begin next Sunday with Clare coming to Walsh Park.

"Every game is such a big game and all the games are so difficult to win. It's a change of focus now. First, we'll relax, obviously it was a draining game, but we'll relax for the early part of the week and try and tune in for Waterford."