“Getting Into The Next Round Was The Main Objective”

Derrick Lynch

When the final whistle blew in Nowlan Park on Saturday afternoon, the first instinct for everyone with a saffron and blue persuasion was to head straight for the exit in case anything changed.

Daylight robbery might be too strong a term to describe what had unfolded over the previous few hours, but given that legitimate late claims for a Laois penalty had been turned down and just one point separated the sides, there was certainly a huge sense of relief of having gotten away with a win that could have easily swung the other way.

During his playing days, Brian Lohan was renowned for his no nonsense approach to defending and that same attitude continues in Lohan the manager. After getting the job done, there was not much time for hanging around after as he reflected on the win.

“Very relieved to hear the final whistle. It was a tough struggle all day and a tough game, particularly going down to 14 men for nearly 50 minutes against that kind of game and that sort of intensity that Laois bring” he noted.

The sending off of David McInerney was an obvious talking point after the game, and when asked if he had seen the incident, Lohan admitted he hadn’t but turned the question back on the assembled reporters. No definitive answer was forthcoming and the Wolfe Tones man outlined his surprise that the “whistle barely blew for the first 25 minutes and then he sends David McInerney off”.

Getting into the hat for the next round was the ultimate goal for the travelling Clare contingent and the manger agreed that it was pleasing to get that done, despite the poor patches during the game.

“Getting into the next round was the main objective. I thought we played reasonably well but we conceded three goals and any time you do that against opposition like that you are going to be under pressure. They were three poor enough goals to concede so that is something to work on. We are delighted with our lads overall. They worked really hard in difficult circumstances against 15 men so we have to pleased with that” he concluded.