Cork champs should test Lixnaw to the limit
A LOT to enthuse about, on and off the pitch for the Lixnaw manager Fergus Fitzmaurice, but little time to reflect on it given next weekend’s semi-final encounter.
“A real humdinger, we didn’t expect anything else. We were a little bit apprehensive going into the game, because we hadn’t played for so long, and, we are just delighted to get over the line.
“We got over the line in a game in 2014 and we were beaten at the next stage so we are jut trying to focus straight away on, I think it’s next Saturday against the Cork Champions.
“Just delighted, to get over a real tough game, you had to earn your win there, and, I think we earned it, we were the better team over the seventy minutes or so. Our defence, no doubt, was outstanding once again today, we coughed up the goal all right, but, other than that we defended very well.
“If you told me this morning that we would have held them to 1-13, I would have been happy with that so yeah, delighted with the defence. The lads actually realised themselves that they would have to travel with the ball a bit, because we realised that going long with the ball wasn’t working and the lads just thought on their feet and they ran it.
“Declan McCarthy pulled out this morning, he had a back spasm, so you had Declan, Jonathan Silles, Jeremy McKenna, Liam Mullins, Mike Conway, James Flaherty, all out injured today.
“We have massive work to do to try and get, two or three of them back, because, we need the twenty lads next Saturday. I was delighted for the players obviously number one, , for the volunteers, there was thirty or forty of them I would say that they slept here during the week, the place was immaculate as you can see, the pitch is in unbelievable condition, it’s a credit to the club.
“I am delighted for them because all the work they put in all week, the lads have repaid them with the win, you couldn’t beat the smile on the lads face as they were coming off, they were just delighted to get the win for them.
“Hopefully, we can put a performance together again for seventy minutes next weekend and hopefully you never know, we might get onto the next step again. We don’t know that much about them [opposition] to be honest, we will have a look at them tomorrow, hopefully, but again, and, this is not psychology or anything, they are obviously going to be favourites.
“The Intermediate champions in Cork have won the All Ireland the last four or five years out of the last, six or seven, it’s a very strong division, we will have our work cut out.”