Sports

AVENUE’S great season at schoolboys level took a step further on Saturday when the U-12s advanced to the last 16 in the National Norton Cup.A 1-0 win over Granada from Dublin was fully merited when the sides clashed at the County Grounds in Doora.As a result of the victory, the Ennis side will now play the highly rated Maree-Oranmore from Galway, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.A very strong wind made conditions difficult for both sets of players on Saturday. The wind favoured the visitors in the opening half but it was the home side who made what proved to be the vital breakthrough when Conor McDaid scored with just under 15 minutes played.After good work by Ronan Lanigan, the ball was won by McDaid, who was fouled on the edge of the area. McDaid took the resulting free kick and shot low to the corner of the net.There was little between the sides for the remainder of …

ROUND three in the Mid-West Alliance took place at Dromoland at the weekend when Martin Ward won the gross with 69.The Ennis Golf Club professional recorded birdies on the seventh, ninth, 13th and 15th. After two cautious shots to within 112 yards on the picturesque par five finishing hole, Ward proceeded to hole out his well-struck pitching wedge for an eagle and a winning three under par 69 around the demanding but fair Dromoland Castle Course.In second place was Seamus McEnery from the host club with 71, followed by Timmy Rice (Limerick) and Paudie McGrath (P&M Golf Superstore), both with 73.In the nett category, Nicky Duggan (5), Dromoland was the winner with 71 from Declan O’Leary (6), Dromoland, with a similar score. Nearest the pin on the seventh was Jason O’Donnell (Shannon), while nearest the pin on the 13th was Mike Kemmy (Limerick).Both already won this category in previous weeks.The final round is on Sunday, March 4 and Tony Cleary, …

Fixtures for the 2012 season were ratified at a special meeting of Clare Camogie Board last Wednesday night. Following on from suggestions put forward at the club forum in October, the fixtures committee proposed changes that will see the senior championship finalists kept apart at the group stage, an earlier start for the minor championship, a June start for the U-16 championship as opposed to August, delaying the start of the U-14 championship to August and the introduction of an U-13 championship and an U-16 spring league. The fixtures committee put forward their proposals to a well-attended meeting and all proposals for the 2012 playing season were adopted. The U-16 league will be finalised at the March meeting, whilst the minor championship format will be ratified after congress at the end of March, due to a motion that may see a change to the age rule. Currently, players have to be over 14 to play at minor level. However, proposals …

IT won’t be the end of the world for whichever side doesn’t win this Saturday’s clash between Clare and Limerick, according to one of Limerick’s all-time greats, Eamonn Cregan.Speaking this week, the former Limerick star, who served as manager with both Clare and Limerick, said, “It will take time for these teams to develop into strong championship contenders. They are both young teams but it will take time.“It’s a very sore point in Limerick to have been put back down to 1B having won promotion. It’s typical bureaucracy but it’s over and done with now,” admitted the Claughaun man, who won an All-Ireland senior medal with Limerick in 1973.He agrees with Davy Fitzgerald that the Waterford Crystal competition has no signficance with regard to the league. “It’s used as preparation and to blood players. In our time, we used the league as preparation for the championship.”Limerick’s aim for the league must be to build on last year, he said. “We …

AN extraordinary general meeting of the Clare Schoolboys Soccer League on Monday night ratified a new set of rules for the league.The new draft came about after meetings between SFAI secretary Martin O’Hanlon and members of the league. O’Hanlon returned this week with the new draft, which the delegates ratified.The new rulebook includes a rule that states to serve on the league one must be a member of a club that participates in the schoolboy league. At present, some members of the executive are members of clubs that do not have a schoolboys section.It is understood that a motion will be before the annual general meeting of the league next Monday at the Auburn Lodge Hotel at 8pm seeking to change that rule to state that it will suffice to be a member of a club.Ronnie Pyne and Tommy Molloy are nominated for the post of chairman next week, while Tom Egan and Frankie Gormley are both nominated for the …

The National Senior and Junior Inter-Club Cross Country Championships will take place in Santry Demense this Sunday. There will be four races on the programme, starting at 1pm with the junior ladies’ 6,000m, followed by the junior men’s 8,000m, at 1.30pm, the senior ladies’ 8,000mat 2.15pm, with the final race of the afternoon the senior men’s 12,000m at 2.45pm. The senior ladies will see a big number of new names in action, with Mary Cullen (Sligo AC), the national indoor 1,500m champion taking on the European cross country champion Fionualla Britton (Sli Chulainn AC, Wicklow), Ciara Mageean (Belfast), along with Jolene Byrne (Donore Harriers), Rosemary Ryan (Bilboa), Marie McCambridge (Dundrum South Dublin), Niamh O’Sullivan (Riocht) and Orla O’Mahoney from Ennis, now running with Raheny Shamrocks, Dublin.The senior men’s race will be the highlight of the day, with all the top middle-distance athletes going to the starting line with Joe Sweeney (Dundrum South Dublin), the All-Ireland inter-counties champion, who finished fifth …

  The Golden Vale Clare Community Games U-16 basketball competitions for both boys and girls were held last Saturday in St Flannan’s College. The number of teams participating increased this year and the standard of basketball was high. The gold medal winners go on to compete in the Munster finals in July.The competition was co-ordinated by Emer Considine and Grainne Ryan with the support of referees Damian Power and Sean Stack. Seven teams took part in the girls competition with the much stronger Ennistymon-Lahinch-Liscannor side coming out on top. In the first round Ennistymon-Lahinch-Liscannor beat Clarecastle-Ballyea, Cooraclare-Cree beat Sixmilebridge-Kilmurry and Kilrush beat Doora-Barefield. In the semi-finals Ennistymon beat Quin-Clooney and Cooraclare-Cree just pipped Kilrush by one point, 25 to 24. Ennistymon-Lahinch-Liscannor ran out winners beating the Cooraclare-Cree side while Kilrush beat Quin-Clooney for the bronze medals.Six teams competed in the boys competition with Doora-Barefield emerging as the winners.In round one Quin-Clooney beat Ennistymon/Lahinch/Liscannor by just one point, while Doora-Barefield beat …

Champion jockey Derek O’Connor will not ride at this year’s Cheltenham Festival and is facing up to 10 weeks out of action as a result of a broken leg he suffered in a crashing fall at Musselburgh last Thursday.Flying high at the head of the 2011/12 point-to-point jockeys’ table with 46 winners (25 clear of his nearest rival, Bon O’Neill), O’Connor headed to the Scottish venue last Thursday to partner Simonsberg for Northern Ireland trainer Ian Ferguson in a hunter’s chase but it all went wrong when the son of Sonus crashed through the fourth-last fence, giving O’Connor a horrible tumble.Sadly, Simonsberg’s fall was fatal, with O’Connor also coming out the worse for wear as he suffered a break to his left leg just above the shin.The Tubber rider was transferred to Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary Hospital, where he was fitted with a plaster that looks set to remain in place for between eight to 10 weeks.Speaking to The Clare Champion …