*Andrew Shannon clashes with Diarmuid Ryan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
“FAST FOOTBALL” has been central to Kilmurry Ibrickane reaching a first Clare SFC final since 2021.
David Egan is in his first season in charge of the West Clare side and he’s under no doubt about what has helped them on their route to the decider where they will face Éire Óg in Cusack Park on Sunday week.
A three point win over champions Cratloe in Saturday’s semi-final secured their place in the county final. “We dug deep for that, there’s a great bit of character in the lads, fair enough we got a cushion but we let it go, there was big character to not let Cratloe get in front at any stage today, we didn’t let them get ahead of ourselves which shows the good resilience in the squad so if you’re working hard, training hard and trying to do all of the right things it’s great to see it coming off on the grass, there’s patches in that game where we were excellent and patches we need to work on but I’m happy with the overall win but not the overall performance”.
By producing a blistering start where they kicked 2-2 without reply, The Bricks laid a solid foundation for their victory. “We had some start, when we play fast football we are hard to stop which you saw in the Miltown match and patches again against Lissycasey, that is our template and what we need to build for the next two weeks, really focus in on ourselves, I said it to the boys when we sit off teams then teams seem to find pockets in us and that is another thing we need to work on. For me going to county final with workables and bodies to come back is something I’m really excited about”.
He added, “That first fifteen minute period when we moved the ball fast, that is what I’m happy about, we needed a couple of big wins around the middle and Evan Cahill jumped up for a ball in the second half with ten minutes to go, we needed that kickout and he stood up to the plate, character is what I’m happy about”.
Egan said they should have made changes to try quell Cratloe’s strong start to the second half. “We petered out of it a small bit in the third quarter, I’ll put my hands up maybe we didn’t bring on the legs quick enough or the experience quick enough, we brought Michael O’Dwyer on for the last three minutes, maybe we should have had him on earlier to calm things down a bit, I put my hands up there, there’s loads for me and the lads to work on which is great going into a final”.
Among the other areas he was frustrated with included a black card for substitute Aidan McCarthy on fifty four minutes. “I was disappointed with that. That is one thing we spoke about, we don’t like to see happening and I said I don’t want to see anyone beside me when the game is ongoing, we have to address that, the rest of the boys dug deep for him and got us through”.
Having studied Cratloe at length, the Offaly native said it was important that they were ready for any comeback produced by Colm Collins’ side. “I watched Cratloe on several DVDs including the one where they were six points down against Éire Óg last year and ended up winning, if you watch that over and over again you can see their character, their pluckiness and their football ability, they are very clever footballers, they really play to their strengths, we tried to nullify their strengths and we did it. They are a good team, they are county champions, they are going to play to their strengths”.
Captain Dermot Coughlan who sustained a fractured foot in the quarter-final win over St Joseph’s Miltown missed the semi-final tie. The Clare footballer could yet feature in the county final, Egan hinted. “I’d say it will be very hard to tell that man he is not playing in a county final, recovery or no recovery, it will be hard to tell him he is not playing”.
