Niall Ó Ceallacháin lamented Dublin’s first half performance after their narrow defeat to Clare in the Allianz Hurling League Division 1B final.

Trailing by 2-5 to 2-15 at the interval, the Dubs left themselves with too much to do after the restart and eventually lost on a 3-20 to 2-26 scoreline.

“The first half wasn’t near where it needed to be,” Ó Ceallacháin told the media at the TUS Gaelic Grounds.

“There was a big breeze – there absolutely was – but our levels of performance weren’t where they need to be in that first half and we got punished heavily. Went in 10 points down; to be honest, it could have been more by half-time.

“Second half, we were really, really good. Got on top. Our levels of energy, our aggression, got to the point of contact every time.”

The Dublin boss added: “It seemed in the first half, Clare were taking very handy ball all over the place. We weren’t basically at it.

“We found in the second half, then, that wasn’t happening. We were breaking the ball, getting the ball to ground, really good on the ground and got a bit of energy and momentum from that. And we certainly could have won the game.” 

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