REIGNING CATS AND DOGS
O’connor: Lohan will be delighted to see warrior spirit in Banner
PATRICK O’CONNOR says manager Brian Lohan is always looking for the ‘dog’ in his players.
It would have been easy for Clare to fold up the tents when they trailed Kilkenny by four points with three minutes left at Nowlan Park on Sunday.
This opposition and venue are considered the ultimate test of a team’s stomach, and turning the game to be in a winning position is a huge positive for the Banner.
David Mcinerney may have missed a gilt-edged chance to fire over a winner just before full time was called, with the sides sharing the spoils, but Lohan’s unbeaten League record was maintained.
“There aren’t many teams that do leave Nowlan Park with points, but I thought we had chances to win it too,” says O’connor. “But the League is all about seeing guys and seeing what they are made of, and no better place to come and test lads and no better scenario.”
Lohan (right) has rejigged the team in his first year in charge, with plenty of power up the centre and younger players sprinkled throughout the side.
“We were four down at the height of it, so to see what was in lads – we know it’s in the likes of Tony Kelly and David Mcinerney and all those guys.
“Then you see Liam Corry thundering into it, Aidan Mccarthy and a few newer names is what it is really about.
“Regardless of the points today, they’ll be long forgotten but a few of the plays from those lads will live in the memory going home.
“You saw the kind of player he (Lohan) was and what is fascinating for me is to see him and the way his mind works,” O’connor adds.
“He always refers to it as a dog, he puts us through our paces at training. Who is going to come out with the ball when we are tired and fatigued and Sean Treacy and James (Moran) are the same.
“They all just look for who is putting their shoulder to the wheel and gets tough, and ultimately it doesn’t much tougher than Nowlan Park against Kilkenny.
“Hopefully we saw some of the stuff that we’ve been doing on Tuesday and Friday nights out there, particularly in the last 10.” Aaron Cunningham and Aron Shanagher came on and made big impacts for the Banner down the stretch, and helped the visitors recover from a sucker-punch goal scored by Ger Aylward after 43 minutes.
“That’s the first goal we’ve conceded all year and aside from that we kept it fairly tight back there,” O’connor adds.
“So many times we just got the rub of the green from lads being honest and going hard at it. In fairness to Kilkenny they were never going to lie down there, this is their home patch and they have a very proud record here.
“But I’d say Brian Cody is the same and he’s delighted with what he saw from lads.”