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*Jamie Stack gets a shot off as Conor Kearney looks on. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
STRUCTURES and transitioning from attack to defence hurt St Breckans as they conceded four goals when falling to a nine point defeat in the first round of the Clare SFC.
For the third time in four seasons, St Breckans suffered an opening round defeat in the Clare SFC but their nine point loss was far greater than the two and one point defeats of 2024 and 2023.
It is also the third time in four years that Kilmurry Ibrickane have come out on top against the Spa. The margins were generally tighter such as their 2-10 2-9 first round showdown of 2023 and their 0-18 0-15 clash last August in the group stages.
One constant between their meetings has been the influence of Dermot Coughlan for the Bricks, as St Breckans manager Patrick O’Neill noted. “In the first half they did awful damage, they got through us very easily, we weren’t set up on the low block too great, we were very slow to wheel around, we weren’t tracking runners, a full year on and Dermot Coughlan is still causing problems for us”.
O’Neill acknowledged that defensively they struggled while their change from attack to defence also proved costly as they conceded four goals. “We were a lot slower from our half-forwards and full-forwards that could go back, we weren’t getting back there fast enough, we were closing up angles that didn’t need closing up, we needed to work around the middle more. It is very bad to take positives from it, there wasn’t much positives to take away from it but if you take away the silly goals and three of them came from our errors, that was as clear as day, if you eliminate them we were kicking more points than them but it is disappointing, there’s answers there but trying to correct them is another thing”.
Disappointment will cloud their first round outing but their ability to kick two pointers through Jamie Stack, Padraig Kelly and Eoin Byrne allowed them come from nine points to two points down in a quick spell of the first half. “We have exceptional players, Jamie Stack is an unbelievable two point kicker, Padraig Kelly did well tonight, I don’t think we created enough going forward, we created off the loop but I don’t know did much ball go into our full-forward line at all, it was non-existent at times”.
He did manage to take some inspiration from their 2023 loss to the Bricks when the North Clare side then managed by Declan O’Keeffe responded to the loss by reaching a third-ever Clare SFC final and a first in 27 years. “When you’re playing the likes of Kilmurry Ibrickane you have to take every opportunity, we didn’t and we dropped a lot short even with the wind, we got a good few two pointers with thw wind but we left a lot short too. We can’t dwell on it now, it’s only two weeks before we have to go play Corofin, that is a massive game, we’ll regroup, two weeks can do a lot, it wasn’t two long ago that Kilmurry Ibrickane beat St Breckans in the first round of the championship and we went all the way to to a county final, we’re a long way off that at the moment though, a bit more soul-searching Páraic,” he told The Clare Echo.
