Brian Lohan and Eddie Brennan had very differing views on how many red cards should have been shown in Clare's narrow All-Ireland qualifier win over Laois today.
The Banner lost captain David McInerney for an off the ball incident shortly before half-time in which Laois' Mark Kavanagh was also shown a yellow by ref Thomas Walsh.
Speaking afterwards, Clare manager Lohan said McInerney had assured him red was unwarranted.
"I didn't see the incident myself but I spoke to David at half-time," said Lohan.
"He was jostling, as fellas jostle, and it was the linesman on the far side (James Owens) that made the call.
"Very disappointed. I thought the game was played in an excellent spirit with players working hard."
His counterpart Brennan thought Clare were lucky to finish with 14 men, however, appearing to refer to an incident in the second half when Aron Shanagher's hurl caught Laois sub Colm Stapleton.
"There were a lot of high tackles there today," said Brennan.
"It's something that's very topical and one, in particular, in light of the fact there was a man on the line for Clare already, I think the officials bottled out of it.
"That happens. Sometimes you get them and sometimes you don't."
Nonetheless, the former Kilkenny star says he was "so proud of the effort" after his team rallied from 0-16 to 1-06 down at half-time to lose by just one.
"The way we played in that second half was phenomenal," he said.
"Our first half hurt us because we had a lot of turnovers. We hunted in packs but handling errors gifted Clare a lot of scores. But we got that right in the second half and came with a late charge.
"A couple of missed frees, these are the little things that add up. By the same token, Enda (goalkeeper Rowland) had to make two good saves in the first half."
Lohan admitted that he was "delighted to get through it" and be in the draw for the second round with Tipperary, Wexford and Cork.
"It was a real tough game," he said. "Fifty minutes of the game with 14 men, particularly with the style of play Laois play with, that possession game, demands a huge amount of work.
"We conceded three goals. Maybe we were unlucky, they got three shots at goal, and sometimes you have days like day.
"There are excuses but it's not good enough I suppose.
"We're happy to be still in the championship and we'll just see what happens from here on."
