Brian Lohan: 'We have to get up to Cork's level'

Clare's march to the 2024 All-Ireland hurling final has been a bit of a "mixed bag", according to their manager Brian Lohan, who also feels that his side will have to improve even more if they are to "go with Cork" in next Sunday's decider.

In his fifth year at the helm, Lohan has finally guided the Banner to within 70 minutes of winning the title they last claimed in 2013, when the Rebels were also the opposition, with victory coming after a replay.

Eleven years on and counties collided again on hurling's biggest day. Their last meeting was at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on 28 April, with Lohan's men prevailing by two points in the Munster round-robin. That got their campaign up and running after the loss to Limerick in Ennis, a game where the hosts led by nine points at one stage in the second half.

The reigning All-Ireland champions would again be Clare's conquerors in the Munster final, but wins over Wexford and Kilkenny, the latter success coming after a strong performance in the second 35, secured their ticket in Sunday's showpiece.

As for Cork, there was no margin for error after consecutive defeats in the province, and they responded in kind, going on a five-match unbeaten run to set up another date with the blue and gold.

Assessing Clare's season so far, Lohan told RTÉ Sport's Marty Morrissey: "There are five teams in Munster and you're doing well all the time if you can get out of Munster.

"We progressed through the round-robin fairly well, losing one game (against Limerick), but played reasonably well in that game even though we made a couple of mistakes. Obviously we lost the Munster final but we rebounded back.

We had a good display against Wexford, obviously there were areas that we needed to improve on. And then