Liscannor’s late blitz floors St Joseph’s

Liscannor 0-10 Doora-Barefield 0-8

When men were needed it was Liscannor hands that shot up. Four points down, 0-8 to 0-4, five minutes from the end of normal time, St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield looked virtually certain to tie down a place in the county semi-final for the first time since 1998.
Maybe that certainty seeped into their thinking. Or maybe Niall and Brian Considine upped the tempo and St Joseph’s, who are still a developing team, couldn’t cope.
In fact there is no “maybe” about Niall Considine’s role in Liscannor’s ruthless comeback. He kicked four points from play in the closing four minutes of normal and four minutes of injury time. That’s efficiency. Up until then, Considine, along with most of his team-mates had been a peripheral figure. When it mattered though, he showed his class and temperament. Liscannor are noted for their bite and fight but for 55 minutes in Sunday’s replay, it looked as if their most admirable quality had deserted them.
Much of the reason behind this, it must be said, was due to St Joseph’s dominance. What caught Barefield however was their wide count. They kicked 12, seven in the first half and missed three tricky but convertible frees in the last 17 minutes of normal time.
If Colm Mullen or Enda Lyons had landed any of the three frees in question, it’s very likely that they would have finished Liscannor. So as impressive as Liscannor’s comeback was, it was their opponents’ inability to close out the game that kept them alive.
Backed by the breeze St Joseph’s led 0-6 to 0-2 at half time. Four of their points were kicked between the 29th minute and the fourth minute of injury time. Mark Hallinan, Enda Lyons and David O’Brien notched points from play in this period, while Colm Mullen, who had earlier kicked a point from distance, knocked over St Joseph’s last first half score from with the last kick, from a free.
Enda Lyons had landed his side’s opening point, while Alan Clohessy was the only Liscannor man to score, both from frees, in the first half.
When Colm Mullen curled over a magnificent score 12 minutes into the second half, St Joseph’s led 0-8 to 0-3. Liscannor looked floored. Heads were hanging and a comeback looked impossible.
Kieran Considine reduced the deficit to four points as Clohessy and Mullen missed frees.
Five minutes from time Kieran Considine kick started Liscannor’s revival with a point from a free before Niall and Brian Considine took control. The latter’s point was the equaliser after a Colm Mullen free was intercepted. Two minutes from the end of normal time, Enda Lyons was off target from a difficult yet not impossible free. It was the type of opportunity that St Joseph’s badly needed if they were to arrest their slide out of the championship.
Such was Niall Considine’s burgeoning confidence in the final minutes, every time he got on the ball, he shot and they all went over.
Another man who contributed impressively, although he was only brought on two minutes from the end of normal time, was Denis Murphy, who must have got on the ball four or five times in those crucial closing minutes.
As elated as Liscannor were, St Joseph’s will be totally sickened. They have had a very decent year, winning promotion to the Cusack Cup and playing five championship games. Still they know that they should have nailed down a county semi-final spot and taken it from there.
Niall White and Stephen Collins played well for St Joseph’s in defence as did Enda Lyons and Gavin O’Sullivan up front.
Niall Considine’s late scores won the game for Liscannor, while Brian Considine, Gerry Considine and Thomas McDonagh worked hard for most of the hour.
Liscannor will be relieved to have made it into the last four and not unaware of their excellent semi-final record. They are now just an hour away from their third county final in eight years.
Their task this week and next will be to focus on playing for a lot longer than ten, albeit explosive,  minutes.

Liscannor: Noel Kilmartin; Shane Canavan, Davy McDonagh (captain), Michael Foley; Robbie Lucas, Dara Blake, Gerry Considine; Ronan Slatter, Brian Considine; Alan Clohessy, Thomas McDonagh, Niall Considine; Declan Fawl, Joe Considine, Kieran Considine.
Subs: Johnny Considine for Joe Considine, Denis Murphy for Declan Fawl.
Scorers: Niall Considine (0-4), Brian Considine (0-2); Alan Clohessy (0-2f); Kieran Considine (0-2, 0-1f).
Wides: 7; Frees: 29
Yellow cards: Shane Canavan, Ronan Slattery, Brian Considine, Johnny Considine.

St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield: Declan O’Keeffe; Ger Fannin, Niall White, Seán Flynn; Keith Whelan, Greg Lyons, Stephen Collins; Mark Rafferty, Mark Hallinan; David O’Brien, Colm Mullen, Paul Dullaghan; Enda Lyons, Cathal O’Sullivan, Gavin O’Sullivan.
Subs: Ivor Whyte for Cathal O’Sullivan.
Scorers: Enda Lyons (0-3), Colm Mullen (0-3, 0-1f), Mark Hallinan, David O’Brien 0-1 each.
Wides: 12; Frees: 26
Yellow cards: Stephen Collins

Referee: Michael Talty (Kilmurry Ibrickane).