*Clare manager, Brian Lohan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
SHOOTING EFFICIENCY was the big let down for Clare in their Munster final defeat to Limerick, manager Brian Lohan has said.
For the second year in a row, just one point separated Limerick and Clare in the provincial final with Declan Hannon once again raising aloft the Mick Mackey Cup.
Speaking after Sunday’s Munster final, the All-Ireland winning full-back commented, “The stats are even, the puckouts, breaking balls except for the shooting efficiency. Theirs is way better than ours. Our shooting efficiency let us down. The game is about putting the ball over the bar and when you don’t put it over the bar you don’t win”.
At the time, Lohan admitted he did not see the incidents seconds before the final whistle where strong claims that both Tony Kelly and Adam Hogan were fouled yet no free was awarded. “Didn’t see the incidents. There’s always talk”, he said when questioned on the matter.
Management knew on Thursday that first choice full-back, Conor Cleary would not be lining out in the final, Lohan confirmed. “He is just a great guy. He made every effort to be there but he just wasn’t able to play and this was confirmed for us on Thursday. Conor just wasn’t right”.
“We will leave that in the hands of the physio and the doctor,” the Shannon man said of the possibility of Cleary lining out in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
Aaron Gillane’s showing was another areas the Clare manager was questioned on. “Aaron Gillane is one of the best forwards in the game at the moment. He is one of the best there has ever been in Limerick. It was a really tough challenge for anyone that is marking him. He was very good today,” Brian stated.
Attention will not yet divert to their quarter-final but it will be a big challenge, the former county captain maintained. “It’s a bit early to be thinking about the next game. We will take a couple of days and try and focus again”.
“You just don’t know, you could be gone in the next game. We will try and get ourselves right for the next game and see what pans out,” he concluded.
