Sports

CLARE finally banished their championship hoodoo at the grade following a facile 2-20 to 0-15 victory over Kerry in Austin Stack Park in Tralee this evening, writes Eoin Brennan. A slick first half display crowned by a late blitz of goals through Oisin O’Donnell and Shane Punch allied to six Diarmuid Cahill points from play ensured an unassailable 2-15 to 0-05 half-time cushion. However, one would be forgiven for thinking that the teams swapped jerseys at the break as Kerry snatched the whip hand on the turnover and deservedly outscored a rudderless Banner by 0-10 to 0-05. Not that there was ever any doubt about the result but it certainly left a bitter aftertaste that will need to be rectified by next Monday when Sean Doyle’s side make the much shorter trip to the LIT Gaelic Grounds in Limerick for a Shannonside derby semi-final showdown. Strong displays from Shane Punch and Oisin O’Donnell were accentuated by the constant threat of …

FOR the second year in succession Clare will face Wexford in the All-Ireland hurling series. This morning’s live draw pitted the Banner against the Yellow Bellies in the round one qualifier at 1.30pm Saturday in Semple Stadium Thurles. Once more, former team-mates and now rivals Brian Lohan and Davy Fitzgerald will face off, providing extra spice to the clash. Clare v Wexford 🤙🏼😂 You couldn’t write it The man above has a warped sense of humour — Eddie Brennan (@NedzerB13) July 12, 2021 The rancour between the two teams and coaches in recent years will have been exacerbated by the Covid controversy that ensued when Clare players were forced to isolate following this year’s league clash in Ennis after being named as close contacts of a Wexford player who contracted the virus. Wexford took the points that day, but Clare took the honours last year when the sides met in the qualifiers. In the other round 1 tie, Waterford will …

Munster Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final Tipperary 3-23 Clare 2-22 CLARE’S Munster Final hopes were frustratingly dealt a detrimental blow following a controversial refereeing decision which handed Tipperary a pivotal initiative in the LIT Gaelic Grounds, Limerick this afternoon, reports Eoin Brennan. Clare had rolled with the punches in a seesaw first half, with goals from Ian Galvin and Tony Kelly sandwiching two brilliant saves from Eibhear Quilligan to nudge Clare the minimum in front by the break. However, the match would hinge on a mistimed challenge by Aidan McCarthy on Jake Morris just inside the 20 metre line near the left sideline that was deemed to be a cynical foul to prevent a goalscoring opportunity. Only three minutes into the new half, it was a contentious call that Clare would never recover from as McCarthy was sin binned for ten minutes, by which time Tipperary had produced an eight point turnaround to soar 3-17 to 2-14 in front. Jason Forde …

AN Ennis man has completed a mammoth ultra-cycling race of 804km, taking second place after a gruelling 31 hours non-stop in the saddle. Noel Cusack took part in the Joe Barr 500, an 800km race around Donegal and Northern Ireland with a three-person crew following behind to give him food and hep with navigation along the way. He described the race as an “epic battle”, which saw him break his previous 800km record by more than six hours. The race started in Derry at 9.23am on Saturday, June 12, with each competitor leaving at three minute intervals. “We raced over to Donegal before tackling all the coast line and mountains areas before finally sprinting through Sperrin mountains in Derry to finish,” Noel told The Champion. “The riders cannot race together, we have to be a certain distance apart from each other until you make your move to overtake or pull away if possible,” he said. His support crew kept him …

Munster Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final Clare 1-22 Waterford 0-21 A FIRST Munster victory under Brian Lohan as Clare hit the ground running in this year’s championship to stun Waterford into submission in Semple Stadium, Thurles on Sunday afternoon, reports Eoin Brennan. Leading from start to finish, Clare should have eased to a much more convincing triumph after having almost 50 shots at the posts in a dominant display. However, digging out the result by whatever means possible was the most important aspect for a new-look Banner who got revenge for being knocked out of the All-Ireland series by the same opponents last September. As with every championship match in 2020, Clare kept their opponents defence on their toes with regards to the positioning of talisman Tony Kelly, with Lohan and Co. making the brave call of placing the current All-Star at the edge of the square for the entire 70 minutes. Without the target of Shane O’Donnell, it would prove …

Munster Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final (Extra-Time if Necessary) Clare v Waterford @ Semple Stadium Thurles, Sunday 3.30pm (Colm Lyons, Cork) With a full hand to choose from, Clare would undoubtedly be heading to Thurles on Sunday in confident mood of turning over last year’s All-Ireland Quarter-Final result. Traditionally, Clare wouldn’t have the same innate hang-ups about Waterford as they would to a Tipperary or Cork or in more recent times Limerick. Of course, that’s the same for Waterford who will view this match-up as the best of a bad lot in an ultra-competitive Munster Championship. However, there was the growing sense that things seemed to be falling into place for Brian Lohan and his side at the perfect time to peak for championship. That is overtly seen through their improving performances and results as the National League developed but even positionally, there were less and less question marks over personnel. Captain John Conlon’s switch to centre-back certainly raised some initial …

Kerry 3-22 Clare 1-11 KERRY expectedly marched on to a Munster Semi-Final meeting with holders Tipperary on away soil in a fortnight’s time after keeping Clare at arm’s length in Fitzgerald Stadium on Saturday evening, reports Eoin Brennan. A veritable graveyard for the Banner, the Killarney venue was greeted by a much more entertaining spectacle than their last two attempts. Ultimately however, the cut-throat knock-out nature of the tie meant that any hint of a moral victory was redundant on this occasion for a battling Banner. Things looked ominous in the early stages when Kerry and more pointedly Seanie O’Shea (4) sliced through Clare with ease to kick five unanswered points within the first eight minutes. However, despite facing into a strong wind, when Clare did finally get out of their own half, they were effective and after a potential goal opportunity for Gavin Cooney, substitute Emmet McMahon finally opened Clare’s account just before the water break at 0-5 to …

Following league wins over Dublin and Kilkenny, selector Ken Ralph told Ronan Judge the Clare camp is in a good position ahead of their Munster Championship opener with Waterford on Sunday. CLARE selector Ken Ralph is in upbeat mood as he assesses Clare’s prospects against Waterford in Sunday’s Munster Hurling Championship opener. And the Clarecastle club man says the form among players and management is of a similar vein after Clare closed out their league campaign with high scoring victories over Dublin and Kilkenny. The winning end to what was a sprint of a league came after early defeats to Antrim and Wexford. Ralph says there was never a sense of panic in those early weeks. Rather, management were happy with what they were seeing. Performance levels and effort were going in the right direction. The feeling was the results would follow. “I suppose looking back at the league, we’re happy enough at how things went. You’re never totally happy. …