Sports

THERE were victories for Ennis boxers and brothers Edward and Paddy Donovan at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night. They were fighting on Jay Quigley’s undercard, with the Donegal man making his first ring appearance since coming up short in his world title challenge against Demetrius Andrade in 2021. Edward had a hard fought six round contest against Frank Madsen, and while he ultimately secured a wide points victory, ‘the Dominator’ had to earn it against a tough opponent, who never stopped trying. Edward’s support was one of the features of the night, so enthusiastic at times that it almost looked like they’d climb in the ring to help their man. For Paddy it was a more straightforward night’s work, as he knocked down Luis Eduardo Borges Da Silva four times before the referee called a halt in the very first round. The victory brings his record to 10-0 with seven knockouts. Paddy is set to have his …

Munster Under 20 Hurling Championship Round 2 Clare 1-19 Limerick 1-19 A never-say-die Clare again spring to life in injury-time to rescue a draw, this time rallying with the last three points to halt Limerick’s perfect start to the Munster Under 20 Championship in the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Wednesday evening, writes Eoin Brennan. Perversely having been overturned twice in injury-time in their two group matches in 2022, the shoe has been on the other foot for this campaign as it took the last puck of both games to eke out a share of the spoils. How valuable two draws will be is debatable but it’s infinitely better than last year’s heartbreak so while Clare have still only secured one victory at this level since 2015, the fact that they are still unbeaten with two matches to play and have their fate in their own hands is a major positive. It seemed as if their chance had vanished as a …

Cusack Cup Division 1 Football League Round 1 Kilmurry Ibrickane v Ennistymon at Páirc Naomh Mhuire Quilty, Friday 11.30am Based on the standard of last weekend’s hurling equivalents, it would be some feat to come even remotely close to their epic 140 minute senior championship semi-final showdown last October that went all the way through extra-time and penalty before sudden death finally inched Ennistymon through to a first county final in four years. Instead, it will probably be all about blowing off the cobwebs of the new season and trying to unearth more options for their flagship sides. Kilmurry Ibrickane Management: James Murrihy (Manager); James Mannion, Enda O’Halloran (Coaches); Gary Sexton (S&C): Diarmuid Whelan Ennistymon Management: Mark Shanahan (Manager); Ger Quinlan (Coach); John McInerney, Brendan Rouine (Selectors) Clondegad v Doonbeg at Ballynacally, Friday 4pm While Doonbeg gained confidence from last year’s Cusack Cup run to a semi-final, only these minimum separated the sides in the subsequent championship group stages, with …

Referee Chris Maguire from the Wolfe Tones club in Shannon departed from the airport on Saturday evening to officiate London versus Carlow in the National Football League. While there is nothing unusual about this what does make it a particularly unique trip is for the very first time travelling referees were allowed to bring their own umpires. In Ruislip on Sunday five Clare men officiated over proceedings with Maguire bringing his trusted umpires namely Frank Mee from the Kilmurry Ibrickane club, Jamie Divilly from Wolfe Tones, Martin Frawley from Kildysart and Cian Collopy from Wolfe Tones. Speaking exclusively to the Clare Champion Chris is extremely proud to be a referee and feels that officiating matches has enhanced his love for all things GAA. ” I’m in my ninth year as a referee and to be honest it’s not something I planned on. I was below in my own club one evening when they had no referee for a Junior match. …

Similar to the demise of the National Hurling League in terms of significance in the inter-county calendar as all eyes are firmly fixed on championship fare, the new split season for all its hugely positive attributes have essentially further diminished the Clare Cup as well. Without county seniors and initially at least Under 20’s too, the appetite for league silverware is predominantly replaced by the hope of finding new players and honing squads ahead of the summer assault on the Canon Hamilton or Paddy Browne cups. It wouldn’t be so bad if every club had a similar level of preparation ahead of this weekend’s throw-in as even allowing for the discrepancy of some teams having bigger inter-county contingents than others, at least managers would know that their opponents are taking it seriously. However, the chief problem is that much like Clare’s bloodless recent visit to Wexford, one can expect one-sided results that will have no bearing on the championship if …

Munster Senior E Post-Primary Schools Football Final St Michael’s Kilmihil 1-8 Coláiste Mhuire Thurles 1-7 St Michael’s Kilmihil certainly provided value for money as they eventually edged a nervy finale by the bare minimum to finally garner a Munster Senior E title for the very first time in Cappamore on Tuesday afternoon. Having literally weathered the storm against the conditions and a black card by the break, the West Clare side turned the screw on the restart when raiding for 1-3 without reply culminating in a goal for substitute Julian Linnane by the turn of the final quarter at 1-7 to 0-5. They had further opportunities to close out the contest including a smothered goal chance for another replacement Dylan Downes. However, with the door still slightly ajar, to their credit Coláiste Mhuire Thurles somehow turned the tide as points from midfielders Audi Lohan and Sean McGrath slashed the deficit to just a goal before Seamus Kennedy’s effort for an …

Plans are currently underway for Samaritans volunteers to visit soccer clubs across the county to emphasise the importance of looking after one’s mental fitness. Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) approached Samaritans of Ennis and Clare to team up with them and deliver pitch side talks to the management teams and players from approximately 35 teams over the coming months. More than 1,000 players of all genders and abilities from age 16 up play in the league. Margaret McMahon, a volunteer and director with Samaritans in Ennis, said looking after one’s mental health is as important as improving a person’s physical health. “Our aim is to attend as many training sessions as possible, but instead of speaking about match performance, we’ll be chatting about mental health. How we can be aware of it, how we can improve it, how we can nurture it, and, most importantly, what to do if all isn’t well.” “The idea behind it is to normalise the …

All-Ireland Freshers 1 Hurling Championship Final University of Galway 1-26 University of Limerick 0-12 Nine Clare players were on show for Thursday’s All-Ireland Freshers 1 Hurling decider but only Tubber’s Tommy Fahy was left celebrating after his University of Galway side romped to a surprisingly facile victory over UL on home soil. Having been comprehensively beaten by UL in the Fitzgibbon Cup Final along with a minimum group defeat to the same opponents, the home side produced an emphatic 18 point turnaround to canter to a first Freshers 1 crown since 2005. Electric duo Liam Collins (1-13) and Colm Molloy (0-5) combined for 1-18 of UG’s tally while captain Gavin Lee were superb both in defence along with arrowing over two long range points. On the flip side, this was easily UL’s flattest performance of the year as the league champions never got into their stride any any stage and seemed rudderless for the majority. It was actually difficult to …