Lohan happy with Clare's 'resilience, bit of toughness' after bouncing back to beat Wexford
Ireland Autographs Geczo Hurling Signs The Over All Final Manager Quarter Lohan Victory Clare After Picture: ©inpho/laszlo Wexford Brian
Brian Lohan complimented the resilience of his players after bouncing back from a third Munster final loss with another All-Ireland quarter-final victory.
“We’re back to where we wanted to be. We were under pressure to get back winning after we lost the last day. Pressure on our lads. They responded well, as they always do. Showed a bit of resilience, bit of toughness and came out with the result.
“We’ve a great bunch. We’re carrying a panel of 40 players and they’re a very competitive, very ambitious bunch. We’ve done a lot of things well this year but we haven’t jumped the biggest fences. That’s what we have to get to. We’ve a big fence coming against us now. We have to take that on and see can we deal with it.”
Asked about Rory O’Connor’s sending off, Lohan expressed sympathy. “When you have a marquee player like Rory O’Connor, he’s just a really good player. Nobody ever likes to see hurler being sent off. It was the opposite side of the field to me so I didn’t see – I was following the play. But nobody likes to see a player go off.”
Next to Shane O’Donnell, Tony Kelly was Clare’s best player as he confirmed he is well and truly back to form after his ankle surgery in December.
“He had a fairly serious operation and it’s taken him a while to get back. Tony needs matches, he needs to get out on the field. Today was the opportunity for him to start and rebound. He didn’t play poorly in the Munster final but just rebound and get to the level he is capable of. So, delighted for Tony.”
Clare face Kilkenny in a third straight All-Ireland semi-final on July 6 (3pm throw-in TBC) and Lohan acknowledged the Division 1 final win over Derek Lyng’s side mattered a lot to his group.
“Any time you win is good. Inter-county hurling is about winning matches. We won those games. They were big targets for us, in the league and in the league final.
“Given the opposition and that there was a trophy at stake, that was a big deal for us. It mightn’t be a big deal for a lot of teams but it was for us. So we were delighted with that. It’s another challenge now.
Lohan suggested Ryan Taylor might be available for Saturday week’s clash with The Cats. “He’s been working really hard. He’s had the cruciate. Has trained well the last week in particular. Looking forward to seeing how he’s going in the next two weeks.”