Brian Lohan hails 'really good bunch' with another date with Kilkenny looming for Clare

Clare manager Brian Lohan was more than pleased with the way his players responded after losing the Munster final, when comfortably accounting for Wexford in Saturday's All-Ireland hurling quarter-final at FBD Semple Stadium.

The Banner ran out nine-point winners, outscoring the Yellowbellies 2-10 to 0-04 during a 20-minute period in the second half. Things were a lot tighter in the opening half, with Clare's David McInerney receiving a black card. A second yellow for Wexford's Rory O'Connor, for a late tackle on David Reidy, saw the Leinster side reduced to 14 just before the break.

For Lohan, on the back of third provincial final loss to Limerick, it was simply a case of getting a performance, one that seals another semi-final date with Kilkenny on 6 July.

"Any time you lose you want to respond; the players' attitude over the last two weeks has been excellent," the Banner boss told RTÉ Sport.

"Really good bunch of players, never have any problems with them, never any hassle. They come to the field, work really hard, great spirit in amongst the group. We felt we would get a performance coming down here; we just didn't know how good Wexford were going to be. Wexford were a little unlucky with a couple of decisions but that happens in games and we'll move on now to the semi-final."

Lohan is now relishing a crack off the Cats, where Clare will be looking to atone for the last-four losses in 2022 and '23.

"It's great to be going up there; the further you go in this competition the standard gets better and the quality of the teams gets better and better, so really looking forward to it, looking forward to the next two weeks and hoping that we can put our best foot forward and see how we go."

HT: CLA 0-15 WEX 1-10

Rory O'Connor sees