game against his own-native county of Clare. The game, which took on a derby-type feel to it, was an exciting and close one, however, victory went to the Claremen. The final whistle saw scenes resembling that of an All-Ireland final win with hundreds of Clare supporters bursting onto the pitch. A huge victory over Antrim allowed Loughnnane's team advance to an All-Ireland quarter-final meeting with Kilkenny. This would be the first meeting of Loughnane and Brian Cody, two of the greatest managers of the modern era. For sixty minutes both sides were neck and neck with no team taking too much of a lead. On several occasion it looked as if Galway might pull away and win the game, however, Kilkenny's Eddie Brennan scored two goals in the last ten minutes to give Kilkenny a 3–22 to 1–18 victory. Following the game Loughnane entered into a war of words with Brian Cody after the former accused Kilkenny of striking late with the hurley and then referees letting them away with it. When Loughnane took the Galway job he famously promised to quit if he failed to deliver the All-Ireland within two years. Galway had gone unbeaten in the National Hurling League and pipped Tipperary to a semi-final spot. Galway defeated Cork in this game, resulting in a league final showdown with Tipperary. The team has been a lot more settled compared to this time last year especially in the area of defence which is considered Galway's greatest weakness. Loughnane himself has adopted a much lower media profile with less of his trademark outbursts and wasn't even present for the launch of the National Hurling League. His side went out of the All-Ireland in the qualifiers after failing to beat Cork in July 2008. Following a county board meeting on 19 August 2008 Loughnane agreed to stay on for one more year as Galway manager. This decision resulted in some players expressing unease about his style and tactics. Amid accusations of 'player power', Loughnane was voted out of the job in October 2008. Managing St Aidan's National School Loughnane enjoyed considerable success as manager of St Aidan's hurling team. In 2004 Loughnane lead the team to their first Division one Cumann na mBunscol title. Media involvement Loughnane spent a number of years as a hurling analyst in the media. He wrote a column in The Star newspaper and regularly appeared as