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*Daire Culligan in control for Lissycasey. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
LISSYCASEY survived a late Corofin comeback but remained resolute to commence their Clare SFC in a successful fashion.
Lissycasey 1-15
Corofin 1-11
Venue: Clarecastle
Nine points in front by half time and twelve ahead by the thirty ninth minute, Lissycasey looked to be coasting at their leisure but they were made sweat over the line when Corofin finally kicked into gear.
Jamie Malone kicked a brace of two pointers, opening his account in the final ten minutes with Seannan Kirby also on targe to see Corofin reduce the arrears to two points.
However Lissycasey landed three of the final four scores to ensure they left Clarecastle sitting joint top of Group 3 alongside Kilmurry Ibrickane.
Though they will be rightly frustrated with how poor and passive they were for large stages of the game, Corofin’s revival could yet prove invaluable if scoring difference comes into play later in the championship.
Quick thinking, capitalising on their opponents’ mistakes and a strong collective attack left Lissycasey in a comfortable position throughout the opening half. They recycled the ball and had runners off the shoulder in attack, allowing them make inroads on Corofin. The recycling was clear to see when Darragh Killeen and Daire Culligan teed up Niall Kelly and again when Conor Finnucane laid the ball back in the direction of the on-rushing Darragh Killeen on nine and eleven minutes respectively.
They led 1-8 0-0 with twenty three minutes played as the game bore out as a drab affair, two Gearoid Cahill points, one from play and one from a free ensured there would be some Corofin contribution to the scoreboard by half time.
Daire Culligan was the scorer in chief throughout for Lissycasey, he had 1-1 inside the opening four minutes. The goal arising after Lissycasey took a quick free after Corofin were punished for overcarrying.
Indeed Lissycasey’s lead could have been even greater by the interval, Niall Kelly had palmed the ball to the back of the net but referee Gary Twomey and his officials adjudged him to have been in the square.
Starting where they left off at half time, Lissycasey pushed further ahead on the restart with Killeen, Culligan on the double and Shane Griffin fleshing it out to 1-12 0-2 by the thirty ninth minute.
Cillian McGroary kicked Corofin’s first score of the half on forty two minutes, this would be the start of an unanswered 1-8. Colm Breen had a well-taken goal, Malone had the two pointers with singles from Cahill, Kirby and Malone to leave Lissycasey on edge.
Steady heads were neeed and Lissycasey weathered the storm with Darren Keane, Griffin and Culligan splitting the posts to see them prevail. During the closing stages, Jamie Malone was shown a black card and with that the Corofin challenge evaporated.
Smart on the ball for the most part and flooded with options both in terms of where to distribute the ball and personnel to come into the fray, Lissycasey delivered a strong opening half. Their main concern will be when they completely lost their grip on the game, largely stemming from their inability to retain their own kickout and the breaking ball.
Aaron Griffin’s form in saffron and blue over the past two seasons has marked him as one of the county’s top forwards, despite his absence Lissycasey remained full of firepower up front. The decision to substitute Conor Finnucane early in the game rightly raised some eyebrows and may have contributed to them loosening their control of the game.
Shane Griffin really stepped up in the absence of his namesake to bring energy to attack, Daire Culligan provided the firepower with Darragh Killeen, Mikey O’Neill and Cian Meaney prominent for their energy and ability to get on breaking ball while Aaron Killeen was solid at corner back.
Whether it was the year in the Clare IFC or featuring in the Garry Cup, it took Corofin too long to get to the grips of senior football. They left themselves with a mountain the size of Mullaghmore to scale, the opening half display could come back to bite them but the manner in which they pulled back scores will also aid their cause if mathematics comes into play.
Diarmuid Cahill’s scoring ability was greatly missed from their forward unit while the physicality of Damien O’Loughlin and Cilléin Mullins was sorely missed in defence. For them, Darragh McGroary and Colin Fitzgerald were consistent over the hour, they’ll need Jamie Malone and Gearoid Cahill to be more influential for greater spells in order to pick up wins in the subsequent rounds.
Scorers Lissycasey: D Cullligan (1-6 2f), S Griffin (0-3), D McMahon (0-2), D Killeen (0-2), N Kelly (0-1), D Keane (0-1 1f)
Scorers Corofin: J Malone (0-5 2TP), G Cahill (0-4 2f), C Breen (1-0), C McGroary (0-1), S Kirby (0-1).
All photographs by Gerard O’Neill.
Lissycasey:
1: Thomas Collins
2: Aaron Killeen
3: Daire Hill
4: Michael Meaney
6: Darragh Killeen
5: Connor Meaney
7: Cian Meaney
8: Ben Skerritt
9: Matt Shea
10: Mikey O’Neill
15: Conor Finnucane
14: Shane Griffin
11: Daire Culligan
25: Niall Kelly
13: Diarmuid McMahon
Subs:
12: Darren Keane for C Finnucane (38)
23: Enda Finnucane for O’Neill (43)
21: Michael Kelly for Meaney (46)
26: Philip Talty for N Kelly (50)
19: Conor Hill for Skerritt (59)
Corofin:
1: Oisin Tierney
2: Cian O’Loughlin
3: Colin Fitzgerald
4: Christian Cummins
20: Marc O’Loughlin
5: Fionn Clancy
7: Kevin Keane
9: Darragh McGroary
8: Cillian McGroary
11: Cian Doolin
10: Gearoid Kelly
12: Evan Doolin
13: Seanan Kirby
15: Jamie Malone
14: Gearoid Cahill
Subs:
26: Colm Breen for C Doolin (HT)
28: Cillian Clancy for D McGroary (46)
18: Michael Cahill for C O’Loughlin (46)
19: John Rees for Fizgerald (62)
Referee: Gary Twomey (Ennistymon)
