*Lissycasey manager, Aiden Moloney. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
LESSONS FROM their opening round loss to Cratloe were put into practice by Lissycasey as they picked up their first win of the 2023 TUS Clare SFC.
Lissycasey were deserving winners on a margin of 0-13 0-07 at a rain-sodden Cusack Park on Friday evening to make matters a whole lot more interesting in Group 4.
Aiden ‘Horse’ Moloney celebrates his first championship win as Lissycasey manager as they overcame last year’s finalists. “It was a win we needed, we felt we left the last game a little bit behind us, we worked on a good few things since and we could see them out there today. The workrate was doubled if not tripled from our first game, we were disappointed with our workrate against Cratloe but I have no complaints with today”.
Just two points separated them and Cratloe a fortnight ago. The outing helped Moloney and his management of Packie Keane, Jimmy Collins and Danny Lynch to determine their best fifteen while they were boosted by the return from America of Clare forward, Aaron Griffin. “Anytime you play the first round of championship I would say you never know your best team, it is only after a first game you get to know. We had Aaron Griffin back today which was a big bonus to us and we had Niall McCarthy back from injury, they are two big players for us, I’d be full of praise for everyone, from the goalkeeper to the subs that came on, everyone did their job and put in a huge shift which is all we could ask for, going forward if we can that workrate we’ll never be unhappy”.
A three-time Clare SFC winning manager of his native Kilmurry Ibrickane, Moloney pointed out that opted to make big moves following on from the Cratloe defeat. “Francie Hayes was our starting full-forward the last day and he was full-back today, we’ve a lot of young lads, a lot of inexperience and we try to protect them with experience around them and a strong spine in our team but those young lads are all good footballers, they might not be old enough, ordinarily we might have to wait another year or two for them but under the circumstances they’ve been called into action”.
Of their six point win over Ennistymon, he commented, “It wasn’t pretty at times but I actually thought there was some good football played, our lads held the ball well and supported each other well, we carried the ball into the wind a little bit in the second half and got our rewards, our goalkeeper came up to hit three great frees and it kept our scoreboard ticking over, that is all we wanted and once we didn’t concede a goal I think we were there or thereabouts all the way”.
He continued, “We had a good game plan, we tried to press them up high, our midfield were strong in the middle and we turned over a lot of ball today, our lads were very tenacious in the tackle, a stronger Ennistymon team might have done better in the wet conditions but I think our lads wanted it a bit more today”.
Final round results will determine who progresses from Group 4, a win over Kildysart is likely to push Lissycasey through to the quarter-finals but a lot of football must be played before then. “If you drop off at all you will be punished, there’s no easy games in this championship, everyone is there to be turned over, we know where we are, we’re delighted with the win but we need to get a win the next day to get through to the quarter-final hopefully. We’ll take no one for granted, Kildysart will be fighting for their lives just like we are, it is going to be a tough game for both”.
