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*Keelan Sexton on the attack for Kilmurry Ibrickane. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
KILMURRY IBRICKANE are keen to clamp down on the concession of two pointers while also focusing on maintaining a one hundred percent winning record.
Two wins from two has Kilmurry Ibrickane qualified for the Clare SFC quarter-finals before a ball is kicked in the final round of the group stages this weekend.
Pleased to have successive victories, Kilmurry Ibrickane manager Enda Coughlan maintained they had “plenty to work on”.
Round two saw them trail Lissycasey 0-10 0-6 at half time having played against a “tricky breeze”, though they were behind they were level on the amount of scores got with Lissycasey landing three two pointers in the opening half. “Lissycasey are a good team, they beat us by eighteen points in Quilty a few weeks ago so we knew it would be a battle but I thought we were sloppy, we conceded two pointers again, we looked to be lacking energy in the first half but in fairness to the boys they regrouped at half time and in the third quarter of the second half, I thought we played some decent stuff. We’ve plenty to work on but we’re happy to have two wins”.
Of the 0-19 conceded by the Bricks in the first two rounds, they have shipped a total of ten two pointers. Coughlan stressed that they had to up their workrate to cut down on the concession of orange flags. “We’ve to work harder around the arc, on the flipside we haven’t given up goal chances. If you win things are good but if you lose they become an issue, we have a lot to work on and I have a good backroom team with me so we’ll work hard with the group of players and prepare for two weeks time”.
Offering a glimpse of what they can do was the second half showing versus Lissycasey where Kilmurry Ibrickane completely dominated, outscoring their opposition 1-10 0-2. “We got momentum and they found it hard to get it back, Evan Cahill had a great game at midfield, he caught serious ball and that gave us a platform, that is what he can do and if we get that out of him every day, he’s had two great games, he is a big man for us around the middle and the game has gone to a place where big men are needed around the middle, thankfully he gave us a platform and the boys rowed in behind him and we got the scores”.
He was frustrated with the lack of options given to goalkeeper Ian McInerney for their kickout. “It is a difficult wind, I thought our movement for Ian was awful, they hung him out to dry, it is something we have to work on, we won’t get every kickout away but in the second half we got more movement and kickouts away, we got a decent grip on their kickout, if you win the kickout battle then you have more possession and you have a great chance of winning the game”.
Form in the group stages will be taken with one pinch of salt by the Bricks who finished top last season before bowing out in the quarter-finals to St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield. “It is in our own hands but as I said to the lads we played great stuff in the group and went out in the quarter-final and got beat, it is all about getting out of the group because only three teams are knocked out after the group stages so it is basically a new championship again”.
