Unbeaten Bricks determined not to slip in quarter-finals

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*Kilmurry Ibrickane’s Daniel Walsh. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill. 

FOR the second year running, Kilmurry Ibrickane completed the group stages of the Clare SFC with a one hundred percent winning record but manager Enda Coughlan is determined that will be the only trend that remains the same for their championship runs.

Table toppers in Group 3 for successive seasons, the Bricks were one of the seeded teams for the quarter-finals of the TUS Clare SFC and prepare to take on Doonbeg. They were seeded last year following their run of three back to back wins but exited in the quarter-finals to St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield by a single point.

Coughlan is in his first season as Kilmurry Ibrickane manager, a Clare senior footballer for thirteen years he is determined the same fate will not come their way in the knockout stages in three weeks. “It is a new competition, Kilmurry Ibrickane were seeded last year and got beaten in a quarter-final so it is a totally new championship. It is all about getting to the knockout, we could have got out of the group with a draw so the next three games are the games everyone wants to win, we’re out in three weeks and will prepare for that to give a better version of ourselves and see how we get on”.

Wins over St Breckans, Lissycasey and Corofin saw them seal top spot in the group. “It’s all about getting out of the group, we’re happy to have three wins but we have to plenty to work on, we had some good stuff today like getting three goals but we’ve plenty to work on”.

In their three championship encounters, the Bricks have conceded fourteen two pointers which is bringing with an orange warning. “The two pointers seem to be an issue, I don’t know is it that other teams seem to be very good at them against us or is it something we need to look more closely at, we have worked on it but we’ve more to do with it. We’re in a quarter-final and I’d have taken your hand off at the start of the year for that”.

While both netminders Ian McInerney and David Sexton have seen orange flags raised at either side of their goal, the Bricks have yet to concede a green flag. “Maybe they go hand in hand, I don’t know, we do a good bit of video so we will look at that, we’ll look into it, I thought we had it fixed for the second day but we hadn’t and we thought it was fixed today but it wasn’t so maybe I’ll have to look at myself and see what I’m doing wrong, hopefully we will be better in three weeks”.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, Enda emphasised the importance of seizing control of kickouts to dictate matters in modern day football. “We knew what we were going to face, Corofin won the last day, the one thing Corofin will give you is total honesty and we knew that, they competed on every kickout and we couldn’t get our own kickout away for a long period of the second half, we dominated their kickout at the start of the game and we were flying, we were getting goals and getting chances, we missed too much for my liking but we had the chances. It is all about kickouts now, whoever gets primary possession and gets the ball in their hands is nearly working a shot now, three quarters of the way into the second half we got a small bit to grips with our own kickout and worked it up the field and we got a goal, ultimately the goals were the difference, I don’t think they will be happy with their conversion rate because they missed a lot, we could have been well beaten today”.

Goals for the Bricks stemmed from powerful runs by Evan Cahill, Dermot Coughlan and Daniel Walsh. “We have that and we need it more. Conor Kearney in the corner and Ajay Daly in his first year, Andrew Shannon full-back they all did very well because out the field we were conceding too many shots. We need to get the full middle eight working hard for the hour, we have the lads that can score but we need it to be more consistent because we’re missing too much, there’s plenty to work on but I’m delighted at the moment”.

2020 Clare SFC winner Diarmuid King will miss the rest of the championship for Kilmurry Ibrickane with a knee injury but Coughlan is hopeful that Ciaran Morrissey who lifted the Jack Daly for the first time in 2016 will be back for the quarter-finals. “It is a little knock to his knee, hopefully we will have him back, Diarmuid King is gone for the year, everyone else should nearly be okay, you never know what will happen in three weeks, training is tough and we can pick up knocks there so we’ll assess it all and whoever is fit in three weeks will be fighting for places”.