*Lissycasey’s Connor Meaney. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
IT’s been five years since the winners of the Cusack Cup have left a meaningful dent when it comes to championship and Lissycasey are looking to put an end to that trend.
St Joseph’s Miltown won the league and championship double in 2019, no team since has managed to equal this feat and worse, they haven’t got beyond the quarter-finals.
After prevailing by six points in the 2021 decider, St Breckan’s were dumped out of the championship at the quarter-final stages by neighbours Ennistymon. A maiden league title was secured by Ennistymon last year but they failed to get out of their group.
One club that has proven ability when it comes to doubles is Kilmurry Ibrickane who claimed both titles in 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017. The man who led them to their success in 2016 and 2017 is none other than Aiden ‘Horse’ Moloney who enters his second year as manager of Lissycasey.
Although a depleted Ennistymon flopped in the Cusack Cup final, Lissycasey still impressed on their way to a 1-9 0-2 at the end of June. The success is in the rear move but has been a lift, seeing as it was the first senior title for the club since 2007. “There’s no doubt it has been parked at this stage, it was a good success for us, there’s no doubt it was important for the younger lads in the squad, we’ve a lot of U20s now on our team, winning a trophy was good for them, winning is all about winning and hopefully it will become a habit,” Moloney outlined.
Clare GAA Chairman, Kieran Keating in his speech on that June day in Miltown Malbay observed that when Lissycasey last won the Cusack Cup, they went on to win the championship.
Horse didn’t think their ten point Cusack Cup final win prompted clubs around the county to view them as a more serious threat. “Ennistymon had their eye on a different prize, I thought they were and they’d admit themselves they didn’t do themselves justice, 0-2 was a poor return from them, we’ll take it but we know if we met in the championship it would be a different story”.
Year one of Moloney’s tenure with Lissycasey saw them defeat Ennistymon in the group stages to guarantee a preliminary quarter-final where they recorded a ten point win over Doonbeg but in the space of six days their championship was over as St Breckan’s had seven points to spare when they met in the last eight. “St Breckans’ are at a higher level than Doonbeg which is fair to say, they have some serious pace in their team which we couldn’t deal with, it is down to us as a management that we couldn’t deal with it, they’ve some serious quality players, they didn’t do well in the Cusack Cup but if you’ve five or six on the county then you’ll struggle in the league which is fair to say is the case for teams across the board. The top teams are giving their top players to the county and the Cusack Cup is not the competition it used to be because of that”.
Different positional roles have been embraced by players since the ex Clare footballer has taken over in Lissycasey, most notably Connor Meaney’s development as a centre back and the experienced Niall Kelly adapting to a sweeper role.
Youth is paving the way forward for the club, Aiden maintained. “I’ve got a good response I have to say, they are a honest crowd and they want to do well. We lost a lot of players through emigration and guys choosing to play hurling before I came in, we had to build more or less a new team, the minor management over last two years have given us some great young players, I think the way forward for Lissycasey is to bring them on and go with the younger players and I think if they do in the not too distant future Lissycasey will be a force to be dealt with”.
Tricky ties lie ahead for Lissycasey, first up they face neighbours Kilmihil before two of the leading championship contenders Kilmurry Ibrickane and Éire Óg cross their path. “Ourselves and Kilmihil in the first round, we both know it’s a must-win game and that is no secret, we’re not looking past it, it is such an important game, it really is a make or break game for us and Kilmihil can say the same thing. Kilmurry Ibrickane have the strongest panel in Clare and Éire Óg if they get all their players back then you have the two strongest panels in the county both in our group”.
Round Two will see Horse come against his native Kilmurry Ibrickane, a team he captained to Clare SFC success in 2002 and managed to glory in the championship in 2016, 2017 and 2020. “There will be a lot of scratching of the head, I’d a few great years with them, five years over two stints, in total including replays we played in seven county finals and we won three of them, we had a very successful time and I’ve a lot of good friends there but I’ve a job to do and I’ll be using all my strength to bring Lissycasey up the ladder and playing Kilmurry Ibrickane the people will realise that.
“It is not unusual anymore, it will be an interesting game, Kilmurry Ibrickane have some really good talent and a lot of good talent coming through, it will be a good exercise but as I said we can’t look past Kilmihil, if we win in the first round the pressure is off in a way but if we lose against Kilmihil then the game against Kilmurry Ibrickane in the second round becomes a different kettle of fish altogether”.
With an array of scorers up front and pace to booth, Lissycasey have youth and energy on their side mixed with plenty of talent. They are certainly dark horses but the rugged nature of championship will require them to show their mettle if they are to fulfil their promise.
Management: Aiden Moloney (manager), Pakie Keane (selector), Danny Lynch (selector), Jimmy Collins (selector).
Captain: Conor Finnucane.
Key Player: Aaron Griffin
One to Watch: Daire Culligan
Fresh blood: Michael Kelly, Ben Skerrit, Daire Culligan, Ryan Griffin (back from Australia)
Departures gate: Matt O’Shea (transferred).
Treatment table: None.
Titles won: 1 (2007)
Last year’s run: Eliminated in the quarter-finals, losing by seven points to St Breckan’s
Schedule:
Round 1 vs
Round 1 vs Kilmihil (August 3rd)
Round 2 vs Kilmurry Ibrickane (August 17th/18th)
Round 3 vs Éire Óg (August 31st/Sept 1st)
