Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
Er, he can be
er from a very young age.”
He captained Clare under-20s last year but the seven-day rule meant he missed the Munster nal against Cork, which they lost by two points, having already graduated to the senior side.
Elevation
Guilfoyle was a little worried about his speedy elevation.
“He was pushed into the team fairly quick and you’d say, ‘Will he get thrown around?’”
In his senior Championship debut against Tipperary, he started well on Jason Forde but Clare were caught for goals and, once booked, Hogan was taken off 10 minutes into the second half.
Brian Lohan’s faith in him wasn’t shaken, however; he started each of their remaining six games.
“Didn’t dent his con dence,” says Guilfoyle. “Came back more con dent. Probably learned. As I say, he’s always open to learning.”
“You could have taken off anyone that day,”adds Collins.“even though Adam got taken off, I don’t think anyone would have been walking out of the stadium like, ‘That corner-back isn’t up to it’.
“It wasn’t a case of him running over balls. It was just that Tipp were
ring on all cylinders and we’d a few errors at the back and they weren’t Adam’s fault.”
Given the journey that Clare have been on under Lohan, it’s easy to in ate the importance of this year’s campaign and, indeed, tomorrow’s game with Limerick. But Hogan is around for the long haul, with good underage teams coming behind him.
Attacks
“Last year we had Eoghan Gunning playing corner-back for the minors and he was being compared to Adam Hogan,” says Guilfoyle, “and Adam Hogan, with the way he attacks the ball, maybe Lohan sees something in him he saw in himself.”