*Liam Keane powers away from Odhran Flynn. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
LISSYCASEY had it much easier than expected to record a successive comprehensive victory to seal their place in the U21A final.
Lissycasey 1-20
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 1-5
Venue: Clareabbey
Back to the scene and setting of the 2024 U21A decider which featured the same sides, Lissycasey were the stronger side by a considerable distance. It took extra time for Doora/Barefield to prevail when they met in the final two years ago but early on it was clear, such an additional spell would not be required to determine a winner.
Once again Lissycasey got the business done at their leisure, they’ve brushed aside the challenge of Ennistymon and Doora/Barefield with no fuss, recording winning margins of thirty seven and fifteen points respectively while amassing 6-42 in two hours of championship football.
Boasting an excellent attack where county minor Liam Keane has shone alongside the talented duo of Daire Culligan and Diarmuid McMahon, a debut year at senior level is really standing to Ben Skerritt so far as U21 football is concerned as he has made his presence known in midfield with his partner Daire Hill also impressing.
Defensively they weren’t troubled and they are able to call on the solid anchors of Darragh Killeen and Michael Kelly if required with all six backs offering little space to their opponents.
Neutrals from clubs dotted across the county travelled to Clareabbey expecting a tight affair but it never materialised. Lissycasey led by eleven points at half time and a Doora/Barefield backlash didn’t come to the surface in any shape.
Ten of the Doora/Barefield starting fifteen have played senior football over the past two seasons and a defeat of this scale is very worrying. It doesn’t mean The Parish should be forgotten about as a football force but for the players on the field it’s a clear sign that more needs to be done to compete with the likes of Lissycasey, never mind beat them.
They were second best all over the field and similar to Ennistymon a fortnight ago, they didn’t lay a glove on Lissycasey and were lacking when it came to aggression and desire.
Lissycasey had five points on the board before Doora/Barefield opened their account on seventeen minutes via Liam Clune.
Immediately after conceding their first point, Lissycasey hit back with a goal. Ben Skerritt won a mark from the resulting kickout, they worked the ball to Diarmuid McMahon who showed the appetite to want to go for goal and brought with it an excellent finish to send the umpires reaching for the green flag.
To their credit, Doora/Barefield worked the ball up field and pulled back a goal. Óige Fanning sending the ball across the goal which was palmed to the net by Clune.
Hopes of a resurgence quickly evaporated when Lissycasey finished the half with an unanswered seven points including a Skerritt two pointer and three Liam Keane efforts as they duly punished sloppy Doora/Barefield blunders.
Daire Culligan, Darren Keane and Daire Hill became the chief Lissycasey scorers across the second half with Tom Curran putting a small bit of activity on the non-existent scoreboard for Doora/Barefield.
All photographs by Gerard O’Neill.
Along with the lack of a scoreboard, there was also no orange flags for Chris Maguire’s umpires to work with in Clareabbey which maintains its standing as one of the best pitches in the county.
Awaiting Lissycasey in the final is a Kilmurry Ibrickane outfit that will ask them questions, something neither Doora/Barefield or Ennistymon have done. Without question, they head in as raging hot favourites but handling that hype is the first challenge for Martin Daly’s side before a ball is kicked.
Exiting on a whimper will hurt Doora/Barefield. Senior finalists in 2025, they recorded just championship win in 2026 while also suffering relegation in the Cusack Cup. With a high crossover of senior players in this U21 side, they should have fared better and losing by fifteen points will underline that The Parish are not coming close to their potential and some of their senior players are certainly stagnating.
Scorers Lissycasey: D Culligan (0-7 2f), L Keane (0-5), D McMahon (1-0), D Keane (0-3 1f), B Skerritt (0-3 1TP), D Hill (0-2).
Scorers St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield: L Clune (1-1), T Curran (0-3 2f), C Daly (0-1).
Lissycasey:
1: David King
2: Aaron Killeen
3: Conor Hill
4: Michael Kelly
5: Aidan Weaver
6: Darragh Killeen
7: Caelum Killeen
8: Ben Skerritt
9: Daire Hill
10: Aaron Clohessy
11: Evan Cleary
12: Darren Keane
14: Daire Culligan
13: Liam Keane
15: Diarmuid McMahon
Subs:
19: Kris O’Callaghan for L Keane (50)
18: Seánie Connellan for D Keane (50)
17: Ben Wragg for C Killeen (50)
20: Shane Cotter for D Hill (59)
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield:
1: Kuba Ruminowicz
2: Charlie Hannan
3: Eoghan Boyle
5: Odhran Flynn
15: Darragh Fahy
6: Diarmuid Boyle
4: Liam McAllister
8: Cian Ó Breasláin
7: Colm Daly
10: Eoin Óige Fanning
11: Eoin Lahiffe
12: Odhran O’Connell
9: Conor Daly
14: Liam Clune
13: Tom Curran
Subs:
21: James Rafferty for Hannan (27)
19: TJ Moore for O’Connell (32)
18: Connor Price for McAllister (38)
17: Killian McIlroy for Fanning (47)
22: Martin Frawley for E Boyle (55) (inj)
Referee: Chris Maguire (Wolfe Tones)
