being sent-off after a huge melee. Lynch received a three-month ban for his part in the game and Loughnane was disgusted at the decision. In spite of that Clare captured a third Munster title in four years. The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final saw Clare draw with Offaly. More controversy was to follow when Clare played Offaly in the semi-final replay. Clare were winning by two points when the referee, Jimmy Cooney, blew the whistle with two minutes of normal time left to be played. The Offaly fans were outraged and staged a sit-down protest on the pitch. The result wasn't allowed to stand and Clare were forced to meet Offaly for a third time that year. They lost the second replay, however, it has been said that if they won they would have captured a second All-Ireland title in-a-row. 1998 marked the end of the success for Loughnane's Clare side. In 1999 Clare reached a sixth Munster final in seven years, however, in spite of aiming to retain their title a young Cork team caught Loughnane's side off guard and defeated the most dominant team in the provincial championship. Clare later drew with Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final, however, they overcame the men from the West in the replay. Kilkenny provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final, however, 'the Cats', under new manager Brian Cody, defeated Clare by 0–19 to 0–16. Loughnane decided to remain in charge for one more season to see if he could gain revenge. The plan came unstuck in the Munster semi-final when Clare suffered a particularly heavy defeat by Tipperary. Loughnane resigned as manager of Clare shortly afterwards. Managing Galway In September 2006, the Galway senior hurling team, devoid of a manager after the resignation of Conor Hayes, issued a press release indicating their desire for Loughnane to take the vacant managerial position. Although he had already stated his disinterest in the position, he remained the favourite candidate to succeed Hayes, before Loughnane himself withdrew for the contest. In true Loughnane fashion, however, he re-entered the managerial race again and was named successor to Hayes. After stating in 2000 that he would never take charge of an inter-county team again Loughnane was back. Loughnane's first game in charge saw Galway take on Laois in the first-round of the qualifiers on 30 June 2007. A comprehensive 3–20 to 1–14 victory gave Loughnane hope for his next