Karl Lacey hails Conor Laverty’s ‘clever’ impact as Kilcoo survive Crosserlough scare

With 20 minutes remaining, Saturday’s Ulster Club quarter-final against Crosserlough was too close for Karl Lacey’s liking and he was forced into a substitution earlier than usual.

The usually reliable Eugene Branagan wasn’t at his best and had dropped a number of shots shy of the target and was replaced by veteran attacker Conor Laverty.

The Down boss has made a number of impressive cameos for Kilcoo in their Championship campaign to date, but the 38-year-old had a telling influence on the outcome of a tense battle in Newry.

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Within moments of his introduction, he set up Paul Devlin for a mark before earning a free which Devlin converted.

In the closing 10 minutes, he linked up with Devlin again for a well-worked score while also landing a point from play himself.

With Kilcoo winning 0-15 to 1-10, Laverty’s contribution made a massive difference and Lacey admitted he might come under pressure to start the Down manager in the next game.

“For us it always comes back to training - Conor (Laverty) has been playing really well and it is just the competitor in him, he is that Kilcoo through and through,” stated Lacey.

“If there was anybody that was going to seize the game it was Conor Laverty. He came in at the right time and he made a real difference.

“Just his intelligence, is a big one at that stage and being able to play the right balls, draw the right frees and just that wee pass into PD (Paul Devlin), that nice, weighted pass like that, it was just clever.

“It is up to everybody else now, Conor has put his hand up and he has put us under pressure over the next two weeks and hopefully he can bring a few others with him. We just need to put the head down and work harder again.”

Crosserlough were big outsiders, but they gave Kilcoo their sternest Championship examination to date.

However, the Cavan champions were undermined by three black cards, two in the first half, with Oran Rehill, Kieran Smith and Dara McVeety having 10-minutes spells on the sideline.

To compound their woes, midfielder James Smith picked up what referee Barry Cassidy deemed to be a second booking in the closing moments despite the fact that the Crosserlough midfielder wasn’t previously booked.

Lacey was impressed by the manner in which Crosserlough acquitted themselves throughout the contest despite suffering several setbacks.

“We knew it was going to be like that, a tough game, they weren’t going to come here to lie down, added Lacey.

“So, we are relieved to get over the line really. Last year, I suppose was a learning, we didn’t really get tested by Derrygonnelly and then got caught the next day (against Scotstown). I think that will stand to us, that is a test of character tonight.

“They (Crosserlough) are a good side, the play a nice brand of attacking football, they are a big physical side, we dealt with it well.

“Things didn’t go right, there was errors, there was sloppiness, there was wee decisions, there was 50/50 balls that just… it is luck at the end of the day and everything was going against us, but we pulled through and we are just glad to be into a semi-final.

“We are glad that we have met a team like that, they gave us a really good game and we have come out the other side of it.”

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