JOHN MEYLER was quite candid in his post-match analysis of what happened in Ennis on Sunday.

He pointed the finger at his own side’s display rather than anything to do with the opposition.

“I’m just disappointed with the result,” said the rain-soaked manager at the back of the covered stand.

“I’m disappointed with the overall performance today. Clare started with a whirlwind and got a goal and a point in the opening minute – we responded with our goal but then they got three or four points after that.

“They got ahead of us and managed to stay ahead of us for the whole match. It was just that our energy wasn’t there. Our focus wasn’t there, it was just a poor 70-minute performance, that is just not good enough.

“We now have an opportunity to go really back and train again for the quarter-final or whatever the next stage is but really, it was just a poor performance overall.”

While Meyler was not in the mood to pass the buck outside of his own camp, he was prepared to agree that the torrential rain that greeted the side on the resumption was not conducive to his side’s position.

“The conditions just mitigated against good hurling which we wanted. We were slipping, the touch just wasn’t great and then Hoggy got the goal and I thought we would just get back into the game but again, they replied with three points.

“Credit to Clare, they did really well. We have qualified for the top three in Munster but Jesus, we have a lot of work to do after that.”

Many in the stands had one eye on the other Munster championship game but not the manager, who was clearly focussed on one game at a time.

“No (I didn’t hear about it). Someone said to me that the final whistle had gone and Tipperary were ahead by four but look, I didn’t even hear that. I am just disappointed with the performance.

“We need to have something to focus on so now. We have a game in two or three weeks’ time and we will try to focus on that.

“We will have a chat afterwards and clear the air.”