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*Lissycasey’s Conor Finnucane. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
PLAYING knockout football was always the aspiration for Lissycasey’s senior side this year and their focus now switches to having the freshest squad available for their last eight encounter where they meet local rivals Kildysart.
A second round loss to Kilmurry Ibrickane was sandwiched between wins over Corofin and St Breckans to send Lissycasey through to the quarter-finals of the TUS Clare SFC, finishing second in Group 3.
David Considine, Lissycasey manager told The Clare Echo that their 2-14 0-11 victory against St Breckans saw them play with some maturity. “Lissycasey have played St. Breckans so many times be it in league or championship and there has never been much between the teams and today was no different. It was really tight today and the first half was very tight. If you won a breaking ball there was no guarantee you were going to come away with possession because there were so many players around that area. The second half was a bit more pleasing for us as we played with a bit more maturity and we held on to the ball slightly better than in the first half, and some gaps opened up and we took our chances. It was the last game in the group and there was a knock out feel about it”.
Niall Kelly and Shane Griffin were on target to give Lissycasey a 1-1 0-0 lead in the opening stages of the third round. “We had a great start with 1-1 and we probably left another goal and maybe two or three points behind us. Playing into a breeze, if you go that much ahead it gives a bit more comfort and the team playing with the breeze might force two pointers to try and get back into the game. Breckans were always going to come back into it which they did. Our second goal killed their momentum”.
Now looking ahead to the quarter-finals, Considine noted the benefit for Lissycasey in welcoming back Clare forward Aaron Griffin to their fold. He entered the fray in the first five minutes of the second half to make his first appearance of the championship. “We have three weeks to get ready. We were down a few today and we picked up a couple of niggles. It was lovely to have Aaron (Griffin) back today, he has trained really really hard to get back from the injury. You can see the lift he gives the lads. He will have another three weeks training under his belt now”.
“Ultimately you want to be in knockout football and to have your squad fresh and have as many as possible to choose from and give management a good headache. It’s up to our S&C coach and our physio and the management to try and have lads physically and mentally ready for the challenge in three weeks time,” Considine added.
