McGrath: Lohan engendering Cody-esque spirit in Clare

Ex-Tipperary midfielder Shane McGrath believes that Brian Lohan is engendering an unbreakable spirit in Clare after their win over Cork in FBD Insurance Semple Stadium yesterday.

Outsiders at the outset of the Munster Championship, Lohan's team are now in an enormously strong position following their second successive win in Thurles.

Clare rocketed into an 11-point lead in an extraordinary first-half display, Cork mounting a scoring burst to reduce the margin to six by the break. While the margin was only two in the finish, Clare were in command throughout, Darragh Fitzgibbon's late goal reducing the deficit deep in injury-time.

Afterwards, Lohan, in his third year in charge, saluted the Clare supporters in the Stand opposite and received a rapturous reception. McGrath saw it as evidence of the bond between supporters, management and players in Clare currently.

"He's not the most emotional guy on the outside. But obviously he has the respect of the players, they like him and what he's about," McGrath told the RTÉ GAA podcast.

"I just loved seeing him going up to the crowd, not too flamboyantly, but he knew they were behind him.

"He could feel that all week in Clare coming up to the game, when a lot of people felt they were outside the top three.

"They have their best team back on the field. For the first time in a long time, you can look out on the pitch and see Tony Kelly, Peter Duggan and Shane O'Donnell all on the field at the same time. The confidence they give the rest of the team is massive.

"They go 0-02 to 0-01 down and in the next 25 minutes, they out-score Cork 0-14 to 0-02. They have this talent on the field now. It's not all on Tony. They can get the ball to five or six shooters now, whereas they couldn't in previous