At a bright, dry but windy Ardfert Recreation Centre last Sunday, Lixnaw seniors secured their first points of the County League with a one point win over St. Brendan's. The home side, playing with the wind in the first half, started strongly and opened the scoring in the first sequence of play with a well-taken point. Eoghan Stack equalised within a minute from 25 metres out on the right. Immediately from the puck-out however, a chop-down was blown against Lixnaw and Fionán Egan popped over the free.
The play was flowing end-to-end at this early stage, with Colin Sheehy levelling the scores from 20 metres out on the left. Another Egan free in the fifth minute restored the lead for Brendan’s before a good bit of interplay fed Liam Óg O’Connor in front of goals and, from 30 metres, the young man didn’t miss - 0-4 to 0-2 for the home team. Another long-range free stretched the lead to 3 points on seven minutes and then from a long-range free a dropping ball aided by the wind fell nicely for Egan and was struck home. With less than 10 minutes gone and a 1-5 to 0-2 lead, St. Brendan’s were making good use of the conditions.
Lixnaw were playing short ball from the restarts but a loose cross-field pass saw the Brendan’s number 10 intercept and slot the point from 25 metres in from of the posts. Ricky Heffernan scored from a free in the eleventh minute leaving it 1-6 to 0-3.
A Jeremy McKenna knee injury on 13 minutes saw Aidan O’Brien introduced in a straight swap. O’Connor struck a point from a tight angle on the left to increase the Brendan’s lead to 7 points. A strong run from the middle by Darren O’Brien created a chance for Shane McElligott, who reduced the deficit to 6. Lixnaw did manage to trouble Brendan’s and the blues keeper needed to make a good stop.
A Ricky Heffernan free from 30 metres made it 1-7 to 0-5 with five minutes to go in the half. A turnover in front of the Brendan’s dugout saw the home team’s centre-forward strike a good point. An Egan free from the same position a minute later was wide before a key moment for the visitors, when a Rick Heffernan run in the centre was picked out by Jamie Galvin on the sideline and the former stuck a crucial goal just before the break, leaving it 1-8 to 1-5 in favour of St. Brendan’s.
Heffernan opened proceedings in the second half with an 80 metre free for a point. An Eoghan Stack effort was disputed but the umpire waved it wide. Team captain Conor O’Keeffe, taking a pass back from Heffernan, struck a point from distance to reduce the difference to 1. In the sixth minute, Heffernan fielded well from a puck-out, was fouled and drove the free over. After some good recycling by Eoghan Stack, Colin Sheehy and Aodhán Shanahan, Ger Stackpoole got in on the scoring from midfield to give Lixnaw the go-ahead score 1-9 to 1-8.
A foul for over-carrying in the 11th minute of the second half gave Heffernan another opportunity which he duly scored to stretch the lead. Brendan’s had a couple of chances from frees at this stage but without success. Lixnaw harrying was unsettling the home team even if some challenges conceded frees – one of which found Liam Óg O’Connor and from a tight angle on the right, he pointed to bring the gap back to 1 and this was followed by another from a Brendan’s midfielder to level the match on 15 minutes.
A foul on O’Keeffe and some dissent meant that Heffernan had an easier chance to put Lixnaw 1 up, albeit it was still a strike from 65 metres. Brendan's centre-half back Daithí Griffin made a great run in possession to slot a point from the left - 1-11 to 1-11. Getting on the end of a Keltyn Molloy puck-out, Jamie Galvin pointed well from 65 metres on the right. In the nineteenth minute, some good pressure and a well placed pass by Tadhg Brosnan set up fellow sub Mike Conway for a close-in point – gap back to 2. A trip on Liam Óg O’Connor gave him a 30 metre free for a point and he followed with a second placed ball from close-in with 10 minutes to go. This left it 1-13 apiece.
After a period of increased pressure by the home side, Keltyn Molloy brought off a good stop from a Brendan’s effort on the right. There were passages of good interplay but both sides were finding it difficult to create clear chances. A free taken quickly by Conor O’Keeffe on the six-yard box found Molloy who had sprinted from his goal. Molloy drove a ball to the opposite large square where a Mike Conway effort on the ground was just inches wide.
With a few minutes left, Darragh McElligott intercepted and a series of hand-passes and good off-the-shoulder running in midfield between Regi Galvin, Conor O’Keeffe and Jamie Galvin, saw the latter point from 50 metres to put Lixnaw back in front 1-14 to 1-13.
With the play condensed in midfield, a Brendan’s corner forward broke free only to be fouled and the resultant 50 metre free tied the scores again. A final free for Lixnaw from distance for over-carrying was scored by Heffernan to make it 1-15 to 1-14 to the visitors. St. Brendan’s had a final chance but the shot in the dying seconds was pulled left and wide.
Not much between the sides as the scoreboard suggests but a valuable win for Lixnaw.
