Shanahan aiming to bridge title gap

DAN SHANAHAN was 16-years-old when Lismore were last crowned Waterford SHC champions but even then his talents set him apart as something special.

He was introduced as a semi-final substitute against a Roanmore side that included his uncle Tom Shanahan, and in a fairytale ending the teenager rifled over the winning point in the dying seconds. Though he failed to land a start in the county final he was again sprung from the bench and helped Lismore edge out Passage East in that 1993 decider.

But the good times didn’t roll on from there. More often than tomorrow’s final opponents, Ballygunner were the roadblock to their ambitions. The record of their 12 championship clashes makes for depressing reading if you are a Lismore man with the Gunners winning 11 while the other game ended in a draw.