*David Lernihan wins the ball in the air for Kilmihil. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
LEADERS SHOW THE way on the biggest of occasions and Kilmihil midfielder David Lernihan certainly fell into the bracket on Saturday last.
Lernihan produced an excellent performance from the middle of the park as Kilmihil sealed their return to the senior ranks with a one point win over Kilrush Shamrocks in Doonbeg.
Against the elements in the opening half, Kilmihil crucially went in at half-time on level terms. Central to this was David’s influence at midfield, winning a total of five kickouts from Sean Scott Cafferky restarts when the pressure was beginning to mount.
He told The Clare Echo, “As a midfielder that is part and parcel of the game, you have to reach up into the sky and get them, sometimes it happens and they stick, today they stuck and it got us over the line so I’m happy”.
Securing promotion back to the top tier, twelve months on from their relegation was the goal from the get-go for Kilmihil, he said. “At the start of the year this is where we wanted to be and this is the feeling we wanted to experience, we’re here now and we’re going to celebrate it then we’ll look to next year and back to senior which is where we should be and where we want to be, we’re there now so we’re happy”.
Injuries have hindered David’s involvement for the club in recent years, he underwent keyhole surgery in 2021 and was absent from their senior campaign last year due to injury. Getting back on the field has been an experience he has relished. “Injuries have plagued me even this year was tough but that is part and parcel of the game, you will get that but these are the days you’re going to be playing in and you need to be fit and healthy to play this game”.
Since August, he has been working for the Ladies Gaelic Football Association as a National Development Officer. He was a coach to Evan Talty for his final year as Clare intermediate manager in 2022.
When Kilmihil/Shannon Gaels won the U21A championship in 2019, Lernihan was captain and getting a further taste of silverware with Kilmihil was a joy.
Keeping faith with their system was how they earned the win, the UL graduate maintained. “We stuck to the way we play, that is the way we wanted to play and dictate the game we way we play it, we stuck to that and regardless of how it went we wanted to stick to our own game plan, it worked but Kilrush battled hard and made it challenging especially at the end of the first half they put it up to us but we knew if we stuck to the game plan as we had done all year that it would get us over the line”.
