*Dermot Coughlan in action with Connor Meaney. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
NOT THAT they were out of the race but Kilmurry Ibrickane are certainly back in contention for the Clare SFC after picking up their first win of the championship at Lissycasey’s expense.
Kilmurry Ibrickane 1-9
Lissycasey 0-9
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis
Certainly they didn’t roar back into contention but they came out the right side of an at times drab affair with Lissycasey on Saturday evening.
Earmarked as one of the ties of the weekend, the game lacked a certain spark but maybe that is expected when both sides are likely to advance to the knockout stages, one of whom via a preliminary quarter-final and the other directly to the last eight, provided Éire Óg as expected take the top spot in Group 1.
Keelan Sexton kicked 1-3 for the winners, he’s coming back to the form of his which has lit up the championship over the last decade and he will only get better the longer the Bricks stay in the competition.
Losing both Aaron and Shane Griffin to injuries early on was a killer blow for Lissycasey. The fact that the duo are members of the county senior football panel, Aaron a constant starter this season, only further underlines their importance to their club team who were forced to juggle things around and adapt their game plan such as taking Niall Kelly from his sweeper role and reverting him back to the half-forward line.
Having managed Kilmurry Ibrickane to Clare SFC glory in 2016, 2017 and 2020 as manager along with lifting the Jack Daly as their captain in 2002, Aiden ‘Horse’ Moloney found himself in the opposite camp as he led the line for Lissycasey.
Lissycasey led by one at the interval, while they could have been further in front, they equally could have been in arrears. A missed penalty from Conor Finnucane on eight minutes followed a double chance from Aaron Griffin, who was denied first by the post and then by netminder David Sexton.
Sexton stepped up to save Finnucane’s spot kick in the aftermath. Their next chance of a goal came in their final attack of the half. Finnucane won the ball and Mark Killeen lost his footing, he tore towards the goal but got swallowed up by two Kilmurry Ibrickane defenders forcing him to recycle the ball back to Michael Kelly who opted to fist between the posts rather than to go for the jugular.
Daryn Callinan from a free, Keelan Sexton and Shane Hickey were the first half scorers for Kilmurry Ibrickane who as a collective didn’t leave their mark on proceedings in the opening half.
Matters improved from their perspective on the restart, the first score of the second half saw Joshua Moloney make a tremendous run to make himself an option for Daryn Callinan before he then landed a nice score from distance to level matters.
Callinan pushed the sixteen time champions in front after Shane Hickey made the hard yards to tee him up.
It took eight minutes for Lissycasey to contribute to the scoreboard in the second half, captain Conor Finnucane adding to his tally before his counterpart Dermot Coughlan did likewise at the other end.
Niall Kelly who was now further up field following Shane Griffin’s departure equalised on the forty fifth minute but Kilmurry Ibrickane regained the lead via a Keelan Sexton point on forty seven minutes.
They carved out their biggest advantage of four points on fifty one minutes when Sexton dispatched a bullet of a penalty to the back of the net. Dermot Coughlan did well to weave between the Lissycasey defence and offloaded to an on-rushing Sexton who was deemed to have been taken down and the penalty awarded by referee John O’Connell.
Substitute Cathal Talty made the gap five points on their next attack before Lissycasey hit back with two Finnucane points. Sexton and Daire Culligan then traded scores.
With twenty seconds remaining, Lissycasey had a free, 25m from goal, the task of getting a goal out of it always seemed unlikely but Finnucane lined up himself and went for power, but he missed the target, it trailed wide and the final whistle sounded.
From their two championship outings, Kilmurry Ibrikane have yet to set the world alight but they have no need to reach for the panic button as the main aim is to come good for the knockout stages and first of all to be there, this result has them on course for that. What may cause some worry is that two of their leading lights, Dermot Coughlan and Daniel Walsh have yet to come near their potential in this year’s championship, for them to be vying for honours they will need this duo at their best.
As mentioned, Keelan Sexton will get better with every game he plays which is a note of optimism for David Egan’s charges who also had strong showings from Joshua Moloney, Darragh Sexton, Andrew Shannon and Shane Hickey.
What might have been is definitely a question that will be on the lips of Lissycasey’s contingent. The second part to that thought is of course, how the result could have been altered were both Aaron and Shane Griffin able to stay on the field for sixty minutes. This was the toughest test of the year so far for the Cusack Cup champions and they’ll know it’s a game they could have got something out of. Ryan Griffin, Connor Meaney, Conor Finnucane, Darren Keane and Michael Kelly did well for Horse Moloney’s side.
Scorers Kilmurry Ibrickane: K Sexton (1-3 1’Pen), D Callinan (0-2 1f), S Hickey (0-1), J Moloney (0-1), D Coughlan (0-1), C Talty (0-1).
Scorers Lissycasey: C Finnucane (0-4 1f), D Culligan (0-2), K Normoyle (0-1 1f), M Kelly (0-1), N Kelly (0-1).
Kilmurry Ibrickane:
1: David Sexton
6: Evan Cahill
4: Mark Killeen
2: Conor Kearney
8: Andrew Shannon
9: Diarmuid King
5: Darragh Sexton
15: Dermot Coughlan
11: Daniel Walsh
10: Shane Hickey
7: Martin McMahon
12: Joshua Moloney
26: Joe Campbell
13: Keelan Sexton
14: Daryn Callinan
Subs:
24: Michael O’Dwyer for McMahon (36)
19: Cathal Talty for Campbell (42)
21: Darren Hickey for Moloney (60)
Lissycasey:
1: Killian Normoyle
3: Michael Kelly
29: Ryan Griffin
5: Daire Hill
12: Niall Kelly
20: Darragh Killeen
6: Connor Meaney
7: Cyril Sheehan
11: Enda Finnucane
8: Darren Keane
10: Luke Griffin
9: Shane Griffin
13: Daire Culligan
14: Aaron Griffin
15: Conor Finnucane
Subs:
24: Cian Meaney for A Griffin (15)
19: Francie Hayes for S Griffin (37)
21: Fionn Cotter for Sheehan (46)
4: Niall McCarthy for L Griffin (54)
Referee: John O’Connell (Cooraclare)
