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Six Clare minor hurlers named on Team of the Year

Eoghan Gunning has been named Electric Ireland Minor Hurler of the Year with six Clare hurlers named in the Minor Hurling Team of the Year. Clare produced a memorable run to lift the Irish Press Cup as they became the first side from the county to win both the provincial and All Ireland titles in the same season. Gunning and James Hegarty have been named on the Team of the Year once more after receiving the same honour in 2022 when Clare progressed through to the All Ireland semi final stage. A cornerstone of Clare’s run to glory has been their defensive solidity. Four of the Banner rearguard have been named in the team. Eoghan Gunning, Ronan Keane, Matthew O’Halloran and James Hegarty all received the nod. Michael Collins and Marc O’Brien have been included in the team off the back of their consistent displays this season. Gunning was named Hurler of the Year after a string of top quality …

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Clare ladies’ footballers face All-Ireland quarter-final rematch with Westmeath

Clare’s ladies footballers will face Westmeath in the TG4 All Ireland quarter-finals. Wayne Freeman’s charges will enjoy home advantage after finishing top of their four team group. They survived the concession of two late goals against Tyrone to ensure they secured top spot and a home quarter-final. This clash with Westmeath will rekindle memories of the sides’ meeting two years ago at the same stage of the competition. On that occasion the Leinster outfit emerged with a 3-11 to 2-11 win. Goals from Niamh O’Dea and Chloe Towey were not enough for a Clare side that endured a slow start, which proved costly in the finish. Clare trailed by eight points near the conclusion of the half and by six points after 40 minutes, yet they came close to mounting a memorable comeback. They managed to get within a point of a Westmeath side that managed to secure All-Ireland glory that year but two late frees saw the Leinster side …

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The ultimate players’ manager

‘You gave us hope. You made us dream. You filled us with confidence. The ultimate players’ manager. Thank you for everything Colm, you are a special man. As the old saying goes, we were never playing for Clare, we were playing for Colm Collins.’ Success is measured in many different ways and by many different metrics, depending on the county and on the code. So it is that we view the Clare football team through a very different prism than we do the hurlers, never mind comparing the Banner County with rivals from across the county boundary. For the hurlers a championship title is what they’re measured by – be it Munster or All-Ireland. Put simply, one of them is demanded and expected because of what the 1995-98 era gave us and what the bolt from the blue in ‘13 provided this generation and onto the next. It’s different for the footballers, even allowing for the fact that the big …

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Collins reflects on a decade of development

After an enjoyable chat with Colm Collins, his final words sums up the man’s continued desire to do what’s best for Clare football. As he prepares to go about the rest of his day, Collins has one request before he hangs up the phone: “Could you mention somewhere in the paper that we have a golf classic for Clare football coming up this Thursday and Friday (at Woodstock Golf Club)? A team of four golfers is €300 while to sponsor a hole it’s €200.” It’s a fitting note to end on for a man who continuously fought to improve the standards of Clare football. When someone has made the profuse impact that Collins has on a county, the tributes will inevitably flow. However, the Cratloe club man admits the volume of well wishes that have been paid to him has been a surprise with people from across the county paying tribute to a football man. “It’s a bit surreal to …

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HURLING: Five alive for Clare as Munster Final backlash buries Dubs

All-Ireland Quarter-Final Clare 5-26 Dublin 2-17 at The Gaelic Grounds, Limerick Clare’s failure to put real daylight between themselves and Limerick before half-time ultimately cost them the Munster title, but it was Dublin that really felt the backlash of those shortcomings in this All-Ireland quarter-final as a devastating burst put the Banner on the road to Croke Park on Sunday week, writes Joe Ó Muircheartaigh. The match was delicately poised at 2-5 to 1-7 in Clare’s favour as the clock ticked over 30 minutes, but from there Brian Lohan’s side just took flight and in the process hit 2-3 in the space of five minutes to break Dublin’s resolve and give them a nine-point interval lead. That this advantage was doubled in the second half told the story of a one-sided encounter that was only briefly competitive as Clare won this as they pleased to book a second semi-final joust in a row with Kilkenny. The floodgates opened once the …

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Banner wary of Capital threat in Limerick

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final Clare v Dublin at TUS Gaelic Grounds Limerick, Saturday 4pm (Johnny Murphy, Limerick) Not since Tony Kelly made his senior debut and Anthony Daly enlisted and drilled the Dubs through the narrow streets of Ennis have the counties met at championship level, an 11-year gap that makes the challenge all the more novel. However, last year’s post-Munster Final flatness should be sufficient to prevent another hangover while the unknown entity should equally steele Brian Lohan’s side from any complacentiy either as Clare enter a new phase of their development. It would be easy to wallow in self-pity over the injustices and missed opportunities of a second successive provincial final reverse to Limerick a fortnight ago but in reality while it was a bitter pill to swallow as the Banner craved silverware much more than their hosts, they still have a major point to prove following last year’s lacklustre All-Ireland series. Having not experienced the excessive …

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Boys in blue from the Banner

When it comes to Dublin hurling successes the contribution from Clare has been huge with all six All-Ireland successes enjoyed by the metropolitans having a strong representation from the Banner County with peerless Dr Tommy Daly standing tallest of all as ‘the greatest goal man to ever clutch a ball’ writes Joe Ó Muircheartaigh. The stock placed on past glories in the GAA was given a monetary value recently at a sale of Gaelic Games memorabilia organised by Fonsie Mealy’s auction house in Castlecomer, Kilkenny. A first-ever All-Ireland football medal won by Limerick in 1887 went under the hammer for €32,000, while a collection of medals won by old Tipperary and Dublin hurler Mick Darcy in the 1920s fetched over €9,000. The buyer of the latter haul that included All-Ireland gold was antique dealer Tony Honan from Ennis, who already has the largest private collection of All-Ireland medals of anyone in the county – among them a first All-Ireland hurling …

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HURLING: Clare clash with Dublin to form part of Limerick double header

CLARE will return to the TUS Gaelic Grounds as they face Dublin this Saturday in their crunch All Ireland quarter final showdown, writes Ivan Smyth. Brian Lohan’s side will take on Dublin the quarter-final on Saturday at 4pm in the first game of a double header with Galway facing Tipperary at 6.15pm. This will be the third Championship game this year Clare will play at the Ennis Road venue. The Banner beat Limerick in the round robin stage of the Munster Championship by a single point before losing out by the same margin in the decider. This will be Clare’s first game since that Munster final defeat as they try and secure successive semi final appearances and set up a rematch against Kilkenny. Dublin reached this stage of the competition after finishing third in the Leinster Championship. They trailed Joe McDonagh Cup winners Carlow by a point at half time in their Preliminary Quarter Final clash last weekend before powering …

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