Sports

A COUNTY Clare rider has made an excellent start to the 2022/2023 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup season, scoring a podium place finish in the opening round of the series at Oslo in Norway on Sunday. Riding the 12-year-old mare Chakra, Eoin McMahon was one of 11 combinations to make it into the jump-off after a clear first round. Drawn first to go in the jump-off, McMahon posted an impressive clear in 46.13 seconds against the clock, which would be good enough for third place at the finish and 15 league points for the Clareman. Tipperary’s Thomas Ryan was also among the starters, and finished with one fence down in the first round with Springfield. The second leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup, Western European League, takes place in Helsinki, Finland next weekend.

Derek Dormer watched The Banner Ladies overcome atrocious weather condititions to beat Kilmihil 0-9 to 0-6 and win a 13th senior ladies football title in 15 years   AFTER a dour struggle in atrocious weather conditions it was dual star Niamh O’Dea who must take all the plaudits as she almost single handedly dragged The Banner Ladies from four down to kick the last seven scores in a tough tight tense battle with Kilmihil. With the incessant rain and almost gale like wind this was never going to be a free flowing contest but it was still an engaging battle between Clares two best sides in what has now become their almost annual County final showdown, that kept patrons entertained throughout. In fact this County final can best be described as a war of attrition with both teams putting their bodies on the line in pursuit of County Championship glory. Becky Mahon opened the scoring with a well taken point …

Clooney-Quin eventually bridged a 16-year gap to their sole Minor A crown with a 1-14 to 1-12 victory over St Joseph’s Doora Barefield, but only after a titanic 80 minute wrestle for supremacy in extreme conditions in Cusack Park. BELYING the incessant rain that greeted this much anticipated high noon showdown, Coiste na nÓg Iomaint couldn’t have asked for a better advertisement for underage hurling than this compelling marquee decider that was filled with character, commitment and sheer determination to leave everything on the field in pursuit of the prestigious Willie Chaplin Cup. Evenly-matched throughout, Clooney-Quin were crucially much more clincial in the opening half which permitted them to carve out a six point cushion by the break, a lead that the favourites would maintain by the three-quarters mark. A storming Parish ressurection in the final quarter almost usurped the leaders though, with a remarkable seven point turnaround completed by a dramatic injury-time goal for Eoin Ogie Fanning to hand …

Sarah Skelly was part of the panel when Scariff-Ogonnelloe made that unpredecented charge through Clare and Munster in 2019. Having been there from the start of the amalgamation’s development from intermediate to senior, her experience is now required to carry the torch at management level alongside manager Alphie Rodgers and Pat Minogue after last year’s county and provincial winning backroom team headed by David Sullivan opted to step down following their All-Ireland Semi-Final reverse in February. It means that despite their unbridled success, Scariff-Ogonnelloe’s senior squad are playing under their third different management in as many years but still managed to successfully navigate their way back to a third final in four seasons. “It’s never easy to get back to the final and particularly this year as last year’s management stepped down quite late after our All-Ireland Semi-Final loss against Oulart-The-Ballagh.” commenced selector Skelly. “So it understandably took us a while to try and gather ourselves and our agenda for …

Getting to a final is one thing, winning one is a completely different challenge as Truagh-Clonlara found to their cost last November. Granted, having relentlessly strived to make the breakthrough to their first ever senior decider, the squad actually got to contest two in the space of a fortnight but that was scant consolation having come out on the wrong side of the replay. The mindset is different this time around though according to joint-captain Michelle Powell whose sterling performances for the Clare junior side subsequently earned her a prestigious Soaring Star nomination in the last few days. “Last year was such a novelty. I mean there’s no comparison between winning the semi-final this year because last year we were just so delighted to get past the heartache of almost five or six semi-finals in a row that we just couldn’t get over the line on. “This time when we won the semi-final, don’t get me wrong, we were delighted …

And then there were four…Eoin Brennan previews this weekend’s senior football championship semi-finals Kilmurry Ibrickane v Ennistymon at Cusack Park Ennis, Saturday 4pm Remarkably, their group clash eight weeks previously proved the catalyst for both sides to ignite their championship challenge but this time around it’s winner-takes-all for a coveted place in the final. Bouncing back from an opening defeat to Clondegad, Ennistymon’s transformation from being an underwhelming attacking side to an effective defensive structure certainly caught Kilmurry Ibrickane unawares as the North Clare Magpies ground out a 1-9 to 0-9 victory on their way to sealing top spot in the group. It would be an equally impactful juncture for the ‘Bricks who knew that if they were to survive, they would have to win every remaining match and it was that necessity that drove them to new heights in the second period against previously unbeaten Clondegad a fortnight later. The 2020 champions haven’t looked back since as along with …

Michael O’ Connor watched Sixmilebridge dismantle Clonlara in the Junior B hurling semi final on a score of 2-23 to 1-7 From the start of this season the intention in Sixmilebridge was crystal clear. Get as many teams as possible out and make them competitive. So, to this end they had four adult teams in semi-finals over the weekend and special emphasis in its own quiet way was in getting one side into Junior A in 2023 and one side into Junior B for next season. One part was achieved within Tulla and on Sunday morning in dreadful conditions they eased past Clonlara in Cratloe for seal a place in the Junior B final against Inagh/Kilnamona on Sunday week in Tulla on county final day. The day before the Clonlara men suffered demotion to Junior A and so there was a need to rally the forces in this tie to bolster morale. Sixmilebridge played with the strong wind in the …

Derek Dormer watched on as mistakes proved costly for St Flannan’s College in their 2-20 to 5-12 defeat to Cashel Community School in round one of the Dr. Harty Cup DEFENSIVE mix-ups, last-line errors and a referee’s whistle all culminated in a heartbreaking one-point defeat for St Flannan’s in an immensely enjoyable contest that ebbed and flowed throughout in Cappamore on Wednesday afternoon. As mentor Jack Browne stated afterwards, “Anytime you concede five goals it’s very difficult to win,” and so it proved as the Ennis school now need to take down All-Ireland champions Ardscoil Rís in order to survive in the prestigious competition. The opening half never really sparked into life as first round nerves played their part with St Flannan’s dropping balls short and Cashel hitting a series of wides. Level on seven occasions, a decisive moment arrived in the seventh minute of injury time when Cashel full-forward Fabian Ryan cut inside the 20 metre line and as …