Clare manager Brian Lohan said he was delighted to see his players respond in the second-half of yesterday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final showdown with Kilkenny.

After being five points down at half-time, the Banner men were able to overcome a second goal from the Cats early in the second-half and kick on for the 0-24 to 2-16 win as they kept their opponents scoreless for the closing 17 minutes at Croke Park.

Speaking to RTE Sport afterwards, Lohan said his group were eager to avoid a third consecutive loss to Kilkenny at the semi-final stage and earn their county’s first All-Ireland final berth in 11 years.

"You don't want to be the nearly guy or the nearly team all the time," he stated. "There was that pressure – to lose three in a row up here, on the back of three in a row in Munster – but sometimes you just get fed up and it has to stop some time.

"Sometimes it's just a case of enough is enough, we have to respond, we have to give our supporters something to cheer about. We can't let them down again.

"Things turn around when you work hard and our lads work hard. Our big guys stood up. The game is over 70 minutes, it's not over 35 minutes and you have an opportunity to reset and change things. We did that and our players responded and we're delighted."

On the final against either Limerick or Cork in two weeks’ time, the Banner boss added: "Every team that gets to an All-Ireland final, wants to win it. That’s part of the deal that there’s pressure to win all the time. We started out this year, having been in two semi-finals. We’ve an ambitious group. They want to win All-Irelands. They want to win Munster championships. They haven’t done that so that’s the pressure but we are ambitious.

"We don’t be shouting about it but it’s there at the same time."

Player of the match David McInerney and Clare manager Brian Lohan react to finally getting the better of Kilkenny in a semi-final in Croke Park
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