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Tipp abruptly end minors’ hopes

CLARE’S hope of contesting their fifth consecutive Munster minor final ended at the Ragg on Saturday when they suffered a five-point defeat against the home county. Nikki Kaiser opened the scoring for Clare when she converted a free in the second minute.Tipperary responded with two points from Aoife Ryan to push the home side in front by the fifth minute. Tipp were denied a goal two minutes later when Suzy O’Shea pulled off the first of a number of great saves. Kaiser converted another free for Clare to bring the sides level by the 10th minute. Michaela Graham pushed Tipperary in front and it fell to Kaiser to level the sides again in the 14th minute. The winners pushed ahead with three unanswered points in the next 10 minutes before Kaiser pulled one back for Clare from another free. Another Tipperary point from Caoimhe Maher gave them a 0-7 to 0-4 advantage at the break. Tipperary could have been a …

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Fermanagh’s strong finish bests seniors

WHEN Clare led by a point with over 50 minutes played, a six-point defeat did not appear to be on the cards. However, a strong finish by Fermanagh, in which they outscored Clare by 1-5 to 0-1, saw them collect all three points. This was their first win of the campaign in a game played Kinawley, County Fermanagh last Sunday. Clare are still in fourth place heading into their final group game at home to Kerry on April 1, while Fermanagh have moved up to leave Tipperary at the bottom. With the top four teams going through to the semi-finals, Clare appear to have booked the fourth spot ahead of the final round, provided Mayo beat Cavan in their last game. Should Clare lose to Kerry and fifth-place Waterford defeat Tipperary, the Déise would be tied with Clare on nine points but Clare would advance due to the fact that when they met in the opening round, victory went to …

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Kilmurry defeat Joseph’s again

Kilmurry Ibrickane 1-9   St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 1-7   AS important as the result was St Joseph’s determination to make a game of their first meeting with Kilmurry Ibrickane since last year’s one-sided county final.Now under the management of Mark Raftery, St Joseph’s displayed plenty of vim and vigour in Quilty. However, they didn’t avail of the strong first-half wind sufficiently and, in fact, trailed 1-5 to 0-5 at half-time. Keith King scored Kilmurry’s first-half goal in injury time.The second half was fairly evenly fought but St Joseph’s didn’t threaten to bring a result home until Cathal Duggan goaled six minutes from full-time. However, Kilmurry midfielder Niall Hickey kicked the game’s last score to secure both points for the reigning Cusack Cup and county champions.Twelve months ago, this Cusack Cup fixture ended in a draw but bearing in mind St Joseph’s flat county final display, they will be relieved that they did themselves more justice this time.Kilmurry Ibrickane: Peter O’Dwyer; Martin …

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Sky zooms in on Pakie Ryan Memorial

It IS an event that has generated an unbelievable sense of purpose and the remarkable success story that is the Pakie Ryan Memorial Run in Newmarket is about to be catapulted to a wider audience.However, this time round, the event has stimulated a greater deal of media interest. In fact, cameras will roll in the village on Saturday, as the event will be filmed for a future transmission on the Sky network.While this dimension has excited organisers, the real thrust of the memorial 10km run, 5 km walk and cycle, to perpetuate the memory of a young family man and raise funds for local charities, will not be lost on the local community.Last year, 1,700 participants pounded the pavements and pedalled their way on roads around the parish and this year all the indications are that the level of participation will be surpassed.Chairman of the organising committee, Anthony O’Looney, is confident of a record entry and says meticulous planning over …

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Galway double for Quin owner

THERE was no joy for Clare owners in the final of the Food Packages A7 525, the feature race, at Galway Greyhound Stadium on Saturday last. However, for Ballyhickey, Quin owner-trainer, Frank Browne it was a good night after scoring a nice double with his Mine Chariot and litter sister Mine Echo.The winner of the Food Packages final was the English-owned and Martin Tucker-trained Mash Mad Snowy in trap two. Summerfield Buzz in trap four went off the odds-on favourite but he was slightly hampered coming away as Tayl Bound in trap six and Nells Fantasy in trap three led on the run to the bend from Mash Mad Snowy. Tayl Bound led by a length down the back but passing halfway, Mash Mad Snowy (Droopys Maldini-Shades Of Snow) started to move. He went two lengths clear rounding the second-last bend and raced on to win by two and a half lengths in 29.24 from Tayl Bound and Summerfield Buzz. …

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Cheltenham Gold Cup success for McManus

TONY McCoy gave Jonjo O’Neill’s Synchronised a brilliant ride to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup at Prestbury Park last Friday, handing leading Irish owner JP McManus a first-ever success in the blue riband of steeple chasing in the process. A good winner of the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown last Christmas, Synchronised was under a drive from McCoy from an early stage and it looked for a long way as if the pair were not going to feature. However, the never-say-die spirit of 16-time champion McCoy was to prove otherwise and as long-time leader, 50/1 outsider The Giant Bolster rose to the final fence ahead of 7/4 favourite Long Run, McCoy was bearing down on them on the wide outside.Once safely over, Synchronised, who is an out-and-out stayer, was always going to finish strongly up the final hill and he did just that to beat the rank outsider by two lengths, with the flattering Long Run back in third.2011 winner Long …

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McInerney goals seal U-21 win

TWO excellent goals from the skillful Cathal McInerney helped Clare to a merited win over Limerick in the opening round of the Munster U-21 Football Championship at the Gaelic Grounds on Wednesday. The win means Clare will travel to Cork to play the Leesiders in the provincial semi-final on Wednesday, March 28.

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