Dónal Óg Cusack hopes Clare focus on their own failings rather than dwelling on the decisions of officials after they squandered a nine-point lead to lose to Limerick in the opening round of the Munster Hurling Championship.
Clare were cruising but Limerick scored three points in a row before the first of two Aaron Gillane goals came in the 60th minute, the forward appearing to get a touch on a long free from Diarmaid Byrnes.
A Donnacha Ó Dálaigh shot went under Eibhear Quilligan five minutes after that and in the 67th minute Gillane profited when Gearóid Hegarty's shot bounced off the post right into his lap for an easy tap-in.
The Munster and All-Ireland champions ran out 3-15 to 1-18 winners.
"Gillane's foot is inside the square," said former Cork goalkeeper Dónal Óg Cusack on The Sunday Game. "By the letter of the law, he was in the square.
"He also got a really good break in that the ball hit off the post and him in the chest but you could say that that’s the instinct that makes him one of the greatest attackers of the game that he was there for it.
"We watched it [back] on 10 different cameras so that should also be said, the difficult job the umpires have trying to judge a ball going at this speed.
"[The first goal] for me there was no doubt he was in the square and was interfering with it.
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"Having said that, Clare are going to be really disappointed. This is bread and butter for a full-back and goalkeeper and neither Conor Cleary nor Eibhear Quilligan will be happy with that.
"That’s the key thing here for Clare. There’s only one group of people Clare should be looking at today and it’s themselves, for that collapse in the last quarter, and not pointing towards those two possible square balls.
"For most of the game today they looked in control but then they got that shot into the jaw and it was like as if they panicked.
Going down the stretch, there was only one group of players on the field who had that championship mentality and it wasn’t Clare.
"Clare lost that game more so than Limerick winning it" - Jackie Tyrrell
Nine-time All-Ireland winner Jackie Tyrrell observed: "Somehow champions get the rub of the green. They're split-second decisions to make and could have gone either way. When Limerick got that goal, they sensed it and they made things happen.
"Listening to Brian Lohan, I didn’t get any sense he felt aggrieved so that is a positive. They haven’t time to dwell on this, they need to park that and learn from what they didn’t do today in that final quarter.
"How they lost their shape, how they allowed Limerick’s key players to grab that game from them. Clare lost that game more so than Limerick winning it.
"When you have the champions on the ropes, you need to put them on the canvas.
"They didn’t take their opportunities, defensively they lost their shape and it was a complete collapse in the final quarter."
Five-in-a-row chasers Limerick had looked to be heading for a comprehensive defeat until their late goal rush.
"I don't think they answered all questions, other than their mentality," said Cusack.
"They had that killer instinct when it came to the last quarter.
"As the game grew they got better, I think this game is going to bring them on,"
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