Sports

DAVY Fitzgerald is to step down as manager of the Wexford senior hurling team. The Sixmilebridge man has called time on his five-year tenure at the helm of the Leinster side, whose involvement in the championship was ended by his native Clare this month. Fitzgerald, in a statement released by Wexford GAA said, “I have informed the County Board that I will not be in a position to continue in my role as Bainisteoir of the Wexford Senior Hurling team. “The main reason for this is down to the six hour round trip from my home in Sixmilebridge, which I have done for the last five years. “I have never felt closer or happier with any team in all my years coaching and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of my five years in Wexford. “It has been an absolute privilege and an honour to have worked with every one of the players during my time in Wexford. There were ups …

Michael O’Connor reports on the delayed 2020 Junior A championship final which saw Banner defeat Ballyvaughan on a score of 3-12 to 0-6 The fairytale story of the Banner GAA club in the last number of seasons continues unabated with promotion, albeit nine months later, to the Intermediate Football Championship. Their reward for this latest win is one of the shortest celebrations in Clare GAA history as they face neighbours and fellow townies, Éire Óg, in Round 1 of the championship this weekend. The loss of Shane Meehan suggested that the Banner would struggle against an experienced Ballyvaughan side, however, the youthful nature and clear ability in the side compensated for the loss of their talisman. The game was less than two minutes old when Ballyvaughan netminder Damian McNamara conceded a penalty that was blasted over the bar by Daire Walsh for the opening score and a let off for Pat Costello’s charges. Clare senior panellist Jonah Culligan, to whom …

CLARE’S Ethan Coughlan is among three players to join year one of the Greencore Munster Rugby Academy ahead of the 2021/22 season. The other Year One recruits are prop Mark Donnelly (Garryowen FC) and back-row forward Daniel Okeke (Shannon RFC). Scrum-half Coughlan won the U16 Munster title in 2018 and shared the U18 Cup title honours in 2020 with his club side Ennis RFC as his progression from club and regional development squads saw him feature for Munster and Ireland at U18 Clubs level. Below, Ethan in action for Ennis as an Under-13 He captained the Ireland U18 Clubs in Italy in 2019 under Head Coach Fiach O’Loughlin before signing up with All Ireland League side Shannon RFC. For the 2020/21 season he joined several Munster senior training sessions providing cover at 9 and featured for the Munster A side. A member of the National Talent Squad, the 19-year-old was included in the Ireland U20s Talent Camp in May.

A CLARE cyclist takes her place in a strong Irish team competing in a prestigious French road race over the next two days. Imogen Cotter from Ruan will be making her debut for Ireland at the Kreiz Breizh Elites Dames in Brittany. The Irish team comprises Cotter, Alice Sharpe, Mia Griffin, Megan Armitage, Lucy O’Donnell and Caoimhe O’Brien. Cotter had been picked to represent Ireland at the race last year, but was ruled out by injury. It was one of the downs alongside some ups in a rollercoaster year for the 28-year-old. There was a positive test for Covid-19, an unwelcome bit of news Cotter received on New Year’s Day. “I came back in the middle of December (2020), followed all the guidelines, all the guidance, did everything I was supposed to do. But it still got into the house. I wouldn’t say it was eventful. It was probably the most extremely uneventful Christmas I ever had. It was just …

FOR high performance athletes being prepared is non-negotiable. Paul Talty knows this all too well in his role as Head of Physical Preparation with Swim Ireland. Talty works with Ireland’s finest swimmers to help them be physically ready for the challenges they will face every time they enter the pool. Since Covid-19 hit Irish shores, being prepared has been more difficult than ever before. When the Olympic Games were postponed last year, uncertainty for Ireland’s high performance athletes was at an all time high. Talty admits there were times when he feared the Olympic Games would be cancelled. “We all had the fears that the Games wouldn’t go ahead at some time along the way. From March to May last year there was a lot of uncertainty. “High performance athletes were allowed to return to training in June of last year. However, as 2020 wore on there was a fear that our plans would be scuppered.” “We all just had …

TWO late mistakes in the final section of the course cost Ballyvaughan’s Liam Jegou dearly denying him a place in the C1 canoe slalom final. Jegou missed two gates in the latter stages of his semi-final costing him a total of a 100-second penalty, giving him a time of 208.39. Speaking afterwards to RTE, Jegou said that he had been confident and comfortable coming into the final section of the course. “Maybe I let go a little bit mentally towards the end,” he said. “You’re always a touch away [from a penalty]. Too much weight on your left knee and it’s game over and that is what happened today.” 'I'm gutted, I'd done all the hard work. I don't know what to say'. @LiamJegou struggles to explain what went wrong in canoe slalom semi-final. Speaking to @joestack_ky #olympics #tokyo20200 #RTESport📺 Watch live – https://t.co/b2OI4OoWVJ📱 Updates – https://t.co/Oim1X2bjyR pic.twitter.com/ke48K6uEmJ — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 26, 2021 “Everything was going to plan, …

Eoin Brennan previews the Clare ladies football team’s crucial clash with Fermanagh With their championship lives on the line and no room left for error, can Clare’s true colours finally shine through through this Sunday? That’s the challenge thrown down by manager Evan Talty after a hugely disappointing opening All-Ireland Championship opener against Leitrim left his players embroiled in a winner-takes-all showdown for the final quarter-final spot in Longford town this Sunday. Now it’s up to them to see what are they made of. I told them coming out on Sunday that this was going to be championship football. You can play all the challenges you want but when Leitrim were in their faces and their hunger and desire was far greater than ours, we didn’t react well. “The question is now can we bring the intensity that Leitrim brought against us into Sunday’s match against Fermanagh. We’ve now had a game under our belts so there’s no excuses. It’s …

DESPITE late goals from Chloe Morey and Aoife Duggan, Clare suffered a 2-6 to 2-12 defeat to Galway as they suffered their second defeat in a row, reports Ivan Smyth. With Clare needing at least a draw to keep their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages alive, they were overpowered by Galway in the third quarter as they were outscored by 2-3 to 0-1 after trailing by only a point at half time. Clare now face Westmeath in the final group game with both teams winless after their opening two matches. Ger O’Connell’s side struggled up front as they only hit two points in 27 minutes in the second half before the quickfire goals from Morey and Duggan. These majors cut Galway’s lead to three but this year’s league finalists struck the final three points of the game as they kept their cool in the sweltering heat as they picked up their second successive win. Goals after half time …