Lohan: ‘We’re not going to have any complaints. We came up, we gave everything we had’

The Banner came up just short after an intense tangle with neighbours Limerick. 

Limerick manager John Kiely and Clare manager Brian Lohan shake hands. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

They emptied the tank. Clare manager Brian Lohan was in no mood to moan about black card controversies or anything of the sort after their semi-final defeat.

Nickie Quaid’s foul on Peter Duggan resulted in a penalty, but several Clare players appeared to be frustrated there wasn’t more. Referee Thomas Walsh issued a yellow card rather than a black.

Look, we’re not going to have any complaints,” said Lohan after the two-point defeat.

“We came up; we gave everything we had. We felt that we needed 110% from all our players, and we probably got 110%. But we probably needed 115%.

“It was one of those kind of days; it was one of those kinds of performances. So we’ll have to congratulate Limerick and we will look forward to the All-Ireland final.” 

Clare led by five points at half-time after a superb opening half. In the end, they scored just 1-3 in the second half with Tony Kelly’s point their only one from play.

“We had a really good week in training. There was a whole load of energy, there was a whole load of ambition and desire in the group. We felt we were in great shape, knowing that we would have to get everything right and give 110% or 115% or whatever it was.

“Our lads, as they generally do, gave everything that they had. And just a smidgen short.” 

There were a number of surprises on their side. Tony Kelly started on the edge of the square, John Conlon was a late change to the named team and lined out in midfield, while Conor Cleary came out to tackle Gearóid Hegarty.

We spend a lot of time on match-ups,” said Lohan. “We have a really good backroom team. We’ve a very intelligent bunch of players who spend an awful lot of time, not just on their technical skills and physical skills and mental skills, but they do an awful lot of analysis as well.

“So, we worked as hard as we could to get the most out of ourselves in the way that we play. Look, I can’t fault any of our guys.” 

Limerick’s response to Kelly’s penalty was to hit an unanswered 1-5.

“We had our peaks and they had their peaks and they probably got just a little bit more from their peaks than what we got. So, our endeavour and our work rate and everything was excellent and I couldn’t fault anyone. But sometimes you just maybe have to give a bit of credit to the opposition.”