Keelan Sexton breaks free from the grip of Matt O'Shea in Kilmurry Ibrickane's TUS Clare SFC win over Lissycasey on Friday evening (Photo: Gerard O'Neill-Clare Echo)

Kilmurry Ibrickane booked their place in the knockout stages of the TUS Clare Senior Football Championship with an impressive 1-16 to 0-12 victory over Lissycasey at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg on Friday evening. Back-to-back wins leave the Bricks sitting top of Group 3 and assured of at least a preliminary quarter-final place. Lissycasey, who enjoyed the aid of a breeze in the opening half, led by 0-10 to 0-06  at the break . Tellingly, much of their interval tally relied on two pointers from Daire Culligan (twice) as well as long range efforts from Connor Meaney and Ben Skerritt - chances that would be harder to come by facing the second half elements and leaving the door open for a ravenous Kilmurry Ibrickane to take control after the restart.

The Bricks seized that opportunity in emphatic fashion, producing a devastating spell of 1-7 without reply across just 14 minutes. Daniel Walsh was central to the turnaround, finishing with 1-1 from his attacking wing-back role, while Daryn Callinan contributed five points and Conor Burke and Keelan Sexton added three apiece. Evan Cahill was another standout performer, dominating around midfield and providing a strong attacking outlet as Kilmurry Ibrickane repeatedly punished Lissycasey on their own kick-outs.

The seven-point victory underlines Kilmurry Ibrickane's credentials and places them firmly among the front runners in the chasing pack looking to loosen Éire Óg's grip on the Jack Daly Cup. While he stressed there is still work to be done, Enda Coughlan's side have made a powerful statement with two wins from two and now have a knockout campaign to look forward to. Lissycasey will be disappointed with their second half showing for two rounds on the trot and now face a must-win final-round clash with St Breckan's to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.