Sam Mulroy and Ciaran Downey fire Louth past brave Clare in Portlaoise thriller
LOUTH manager Ger Brennan felt the huge support of the Louth supporters in more than one after nervously holding off Clare in Portlaoise.
Brennan said it was like a home game in the stands as he praised the crowd.
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Louth overcame Clare in a tense clash on Sunday afternoon
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Sam Mulroy was the star as he helped get the Leinster champions over the line
He said: "It was probably nine to one in favour of Louth in the stand today."
He added that the fans have become part of the team:
"Even though we keep giving them heart attacks – and myself a heart attack on occasions – they are our 16th man."
"The aim today was to win at all costs. It doesn't have to be pretty – and today it wasn't – but we got over the line and we're in the hat for tomorrow morning. That was the main aim."
Two goals from Ciarán Downey and Sam Mulroy while Clare's Manus Doherty was in the sin bin made the difference, according to the Louth boss.
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Brennan said his team found their feet after a sluggish start.
The Loth boss added: "We found a bit of a rhythm after they took an early lead and that's been like our starts in the League and Championship this year – slow to get up and running."
"It didn't take as long today and that's a bit of an improvement," he continued.
"When Clare went down to 14 men we made hay and that probably got us over the line. We just didn't kill them off in the second half."
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He praised Clare's effort but said his players stood firm.
"Clare put a lot of pressure on our lads in possession, but we came out by three points in the end and we're thrilled."
From the other side, Clare manager Peter Keane was full of admiration for his players' resilience.
Keane said the spirit shown in the second half was typical of their season.
He said: "Oh, you couldn't but be proud of them."
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"By Jesus, somebody said there they died on their backs and they died with their shoes on."
Keane pinpointed the black card spell as the turning point.
He added: "It wasn't looking good at half-time.
"We struggled big time during the black card. We conceded something like 2-4 in that window and that really hurt us."
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But he remained proud of how they fought back.
He concluded: "Down eight at half-time, a kick of the ball in it at the end... It's one thing I've seen with these lads all year – they have tremendous heart and their fitness is very good. You'd have to be very proud of the lads."
Eoin Cleary's goal gave Clare real hope, and he might have had another soon after — but chose to fist over.
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