Brilliant Lixnaw rise to the occasion
AN emotional afternoon in Hermitage Park last Sunday and a famous victory for Lixnaw in this quarter-final of the Munster Intermediate Championship.
Short as many as six players, all of whom would have been in contention for a starting spot, Lixnaw faced an extremely difficult task in their efforts to reach the penultimate stage of the competition.
Once more the scoring returns and the overall input of Shane Conway was central to this success, but essentially it owed much to the team’s collective resolve and resilience, especially their rearguard unit, which was the platform on which they built the foundations for victory.
This was a game that was contested with all of the fervour one normally associates with championship encounters and one that was delicately poised with scores at a premium for periods.
Lixnaw were 0-2 to 0-1 in front after three minutes, and while the encounter was deadlocked on two other occasions inside the opening six minutes, the visitors having gone in front initially with the very first score of the game, were in front on just one other occasion, that being in the seventh minute, when they led by just the bare minimum 0-3 to 0-4.
Thereafter, Lixnaw always retained a scoring advantage, and while Cashel remained within touching distance such was Lixnaw’s level of intensity and endeavour that they were always likely to succeed in a contest which required determination and discipline in equal measures.
A neat finish from Ross Bonnar pointed Cashel into an early lead after just two minutes, but with John Buckley operating in a withdrawn role to good effect, Lixnaw were in front 0-3 to 0-2 three minutes later with Conway having converted two of those scores from play.
After Cashel’s impressive midfielder Eoghan Connolly had briefly edged his side in front with a pointed ‘65, Colin Sheehy, alert and incisive, struck for a crucial goal in the ninth minute when he latched onto a ball that broke invitingly for him from a melee of players in front of goal, and he converted clinically low across the face of the goal. The score put Lixnaw back into the lead, 1-3 to 0-4, and it was a lead they never surrendered.
With Conway on target with a few superb scores from different angles and distances, Lixnaw extended their lead to 1-6 to 0-6 by the end of the opening quarter, and it was largely due to the defensive input of Darragh Shanahan and Pat Corridan, both of whom provided a solid anchor and a physical presence being part of a defence that afforded very little time and space to Cashel’s attacking formation.
The industry of such as John Griffin and Brendan Brosnan in the midfield sector was also a key component, and while Eoghan Connolly and Michael Coleman also offered a lot for the visitors in this area, Lixnaw with players withdrawn from their full forward line enjoyed some superiority with added numbers in the sector.
With Shane Conway registering eight first half points Lixnaw enjoyed a 1-9 to 0-7 advantage at the interval, but Cashel restarted with greater urgency with James Cummins and Eoghan Connolly in particular providing the impetus for them.
Connolly opened their second half account with a point within a minute of the restart, and, when the resourceful Ross Bonnar found the net with a goal in the sixth minute to reduce the deficit to just a single point 1-10 1-9 the momentum was now fully in favour of the Tipperary side, with questions being posed about Lixnaw’s capability to respond and stay afloat.
Hardly surprising that it was Shane Conway who stepped up to the mark with two magnificent scores to restore a three point advantage 1-12 to 1-9 by the 40th minute. They could well have consolidated their situation even further in the 41st minute, when a goal chance opened up for Colin Sheehy.
However, his pass to an unmarked player on the edge of the square wasn’t capitalised upon with the advancing goalkeeper smothering the final effort. It looked at the time as if it might be a key moment, given that just two points seperated the teams, 1-12 to 1-10, at the end of the third quarter.
However, Colin Sheehy and Shane Conway delivered crucial scores, and when Conway converted another pointed free in added time, Lixnaw, four points in front, had done enough to secure the victory.
Eoghan Connolly’s point, in the 63rd minute proved to be a consolation score, with Lixnaw sealing the success with some admirable input in defensive situations.
Short on quality at times with Lixnaw posting ten wides in an overall match tally of nineteen, the contest certainly didn’t lack excitement or entertainment with the prize on offer being another home fixture in the competition.
Lixnaw have had little time to relax and reflect, but this win and performance should stand in good stead to them for next weekend’s provincial semi-final.
LIXNAW: Martin Stackpoole, Michael Quilter, Stephen Power, Raymond Galvin, Ger Stackpoole, Darragh Shanahan, Pat Corridan, John Griffin, Brendan Brosnan, Shane McElligott, Ricky Heffernan, Brian McAuliffe, Shane Conway (0-13, 7f), John Buckley (0-1), Colin Sheehy (1-2) Subs: Jason Wallace for S McElligott, Jamie Galvin for R Galvin
CASHEL King Cormacs: Owen Quirke, Patrick Fahy, Cormac Ryan, John Darmody, Ciaran Quinn, Lee Burke, James Cummins, Michael Coleman, Eoghan Connolly (0-6; 2f, 1 ‘65’), Conn Bonnar (0-4f), Dylan Fitzell, Simon Delaney (0-1), Ross Bonnar (1-2), Brendan Kelly, Adrian Cummins Subs: Jonathon Walsh for A Cummins, Murragh McDermott for B Kelly
REFEREE: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)