Sports

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

BALLYEA (hurling) and Éire Óg’s (football) quest for a historic three in a row of senior titles were put into sharper focus on Wednesday evening when the draws for all eleven adult hurling and football championships were made at the June Meeting of Clare GAA in Hotel Woodstock, writes Eoin Brennan. With only two teams to emerge from each group in the senior hurling championship, the back-to-back champions face a difficult title defence when pitted against 2021 finalists Inagh-Kilnamona, Clare Cup holders Kilmaley, Intermediate winners St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield and 2020 equivalents Scariff. One of the most intriguing pools was Group 3 which comprises of four neighbours Cratloe, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Wolfe Tones and Clooney-Quin. In the race for Jack Daly, three teams will emerge from Group 1 that involves last year’s semi-finalists Corofin and Kilmurry Ibrickane, Cusack Cup champions St Breckan’s and 2020 intermediate winners St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield. It was also announced that TUS have come on board as sponsors of the …

James Hegarty and Eoghan Gunning have been named as the Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Semi-Final/Final Players of the Match. Hegarty received the gong after his side’s 0-23 to 0-15 win over Kilkenny in the Electric Ireland All Ireland semi-final. Clare advanced to a first All-Ireland final since 2010 as they picked apart a Kilkenny side reduced to 14 players for the final 52 minutes. The Munster champions only conceded five points in the second half with centre-back Hegarty helping to provide the platform for this win with a tigerish display. The Inagh-Kilnamona man finished as top scorer for Brian O’Connell’s charges after firing over six points, four from frees, one from a ’65 while the other came from open play. Hegarty grabbed critical scores in this contest including an inspirational effort that helped to stop Kilkenny’s early second-half momentum after the Cats had shot two points without reply. His score proved the catalyst for Clare grabbing 12 of the final …

The football leagues from division 1 to 5 were finalised at the weekend with league final spots and semi-final spots confirmed. The remaining divisions 6 to 8 have a number of ties left to enact in the coming fortnight. The top team after each league is automatically into the final with second and third playing in a semi-final. The winner of this semi-final except for division 1 is promoted and gains a place in the respective league final. In the future ticketing Cusack Cup St Breckans are in the final for the second year as reigning champions on 11 points. Clondegad on 9 points finished second and will have home advantage against Ennistymon who ended third on 7 points. At the other end of the table it is relegation heartbreak for Doonbeg on 5 points with Corofin on 4 points facing Garry Cup for 2024. It was delight for St Joseph’s Miltown who gained promotion to the Cusack Cup for …