Sports

HISTORY was made at Lahinch at the weekend when the winners of the Saturday and Sunday singles competitions were two members of the junior section. This was the first time two juniors won the Saturday and Sunday competitions in the same weekend and their success is a further boost to the club’s highly rated junior section. Fifteen-year-old, Cathal Hegarty (12) was the winner of the men’s singles Stableford competition on Saturday with 38 points. He had three to spare over John Dillon (6), with third spot filled by Paul O’Brien (3), with a similar score.In a similar competition on Sunday, 14-year-old Conall Haugh (18) was the winner with 40 points from Michael Lynch (18) with 39 points and Vincent Leigh (11) with 39 points. Clare-Galway seniors leagueTHE inclement weather of recent months has resulted in major disruption of golf competitions in most clubs. This has also been the case for the hugely successful and popular Clare-Galway Seniors Winter League.It is …

  Avenue United  5 Avondale United 1 Avenue United are through to the quarter-finals of the FAI U-17 Cup following this victory over a highly rated and fancied Avondale United side at the County Grounds in Doora on Saturday. The game produced some excellent football and while Avenue emerged as deserving winners, a four-goal margin is a bit unfair on the visitors who deserved to be closer.With Dylan Casey back in action having recovered from injury, Avenue went into the game determined to continue to follow the example of the club’s youths side who had recorded impressive victories in recent weeks.They took the lead after 15 minutes when Lee Quirke hit the target and they should have doubled their advantage shortly after when Segun Junaid beat his marker but just could not get the ball over the line.Avondale were back in terms at the mid-point of the first half when Conor O’Driscoll, just back from a two week trial in …

While not in record-breaking form on this occasion – she set a new time of 28.27 for the venue last week – Calling Spice was nonetheless the star of the show again when setting the fastest clock for second-round heats of the Vetsearch Recharge Open 525 at the Limerick Greyhound Racing Stadium last Saturday night.Trained by Graham Holland for Pat O’Donovan, Mallow, the daughter of Ballymac Mave-No Joke Spice (trap one) was led in the early stages by the Paul Hennessy-trained Colourful Champ, in trap two. However, she then stepped up a gear to go clear of the rest into the back straight and the race was as good as over at this stage. The runner-up was the Paul Hennessy-trained Airforce Newyork who, after a very slow start, made inroads by the rail and his flying finish earned him runner-up spot, six-and-a-half lengths behind Calling Spice, who had a clock of 28.31.The next best on the clock was the Rachel …

  The Clare Community Games basketball U-11 mixed and U-13 boys’ competitions took place last Saturday in St Flannan’s College. The event was co-ordinated by Emer Considine and Gráinne Ryan, with referees Sean Stack and Damian Power. Only five teams took part in the U-11 competition but what it lacked in quantity it made up for in quality as there were some fantastic matches. In the first round, Cooraclare/Cree A team beat the Clarecastle/Ballyea side 10-4. In the semi-finals, Doora/Barefield beat Cooraclare/Cree B team 8-2, while Quin/Clooney pipped the Cooraclare/Cree A team by just two baskets, 10-6. In the play-off, the two Cooraclare teams met, with the A team just pipping the B side by one basket for the bronze medals. In the final, Quin/Clooney won the gold medals by just one point from near neighbours Doora/Barefield, 13-12. The members of the teams are listed below.1. Quin-Clooney: Cliodhna Ryan, Kirsty Begg, Alice Larkin, Juliette Cantwell, Sara Hassett, David Barbotin, Adam …

A large and enthusiastic crowd turned out for county senior hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald’s boxing fund raiser for the Clare hurlers in the Queens Hotel last Friday night.Davy was involved in a similar venture in Waterford when he was manager of the Decies and felt he might replicate the sell-out boxing show and raise funds for the Clare training and coaching programme. The players went about their tasks through the past few weeks and with the help of the coaches and fighters in the Ennis Boxing Club they honed their skills and sought to condition themselves for the ring. “A visit to the dressing room for a pre-fight appraisal left me wondering if the combatants were beginning to doubt their invincibility and if, perhaps, they were wishing that they were preparing for a league game or an All Ireland play-off,” said Ennis boxing coach, Colum Flynn.“Some looked bemused and listened intently to the pre-fight instruction from the coaches but it …

RACING fans in the Mid-West are in for a real treat this weekend with the County Clare Hunt Point-to-Point meeting at Belharbour on Sunday set to attract huge crowds to the popular Burren venue. This well-appointed track on the lands of Dermot and Jennifer Linnane has been the subject of very favourable reports from owners, trainers and jockeys alike since what was the old Quin meeting moved there back in 2002 and this is reflected in the interest that has been generated on the build-up to this year’s fixture.Regional secretary, Frankie Ward, has been very busy handling the entries for the six-race card which kicks off at 1pm.The first race is a four-year-old maiden over two and a half miles, which will be followed by the always popular confined maiden. Half an hour later, it will be the turn of the five-year-old geldings to strut their stuff with a similar event for six-year-old geldings next on the list. The penultimate …

THE North Munster Schools Cross Country Championships were held in very cold weather conditions at Salesian Secondary College, Pallaskenry, County Limerick where Clare athletes dominated all eight races. Aisling Kelly (Spanish Point) won the minor ladies with Elaine Shannon (Scoil Mhuire Ennistymon) taking the bronze medal. In the minor boys, gold went to Eoin Looney (Spanish Point) with Jamie Roche (St Flannan’s) taking the silver medal.Niamh Markham (St Flannan’s) won the senior ladies’ title, while Laura Egan (St Michael’s, Kilmihil) captured the bronze medal.In the minor girls’ 1,500m, Aisling Kelly (Spanish Point) and Elaine Shannon (Scoil Mhuire Ennistymon) took command from the start. In heavy underfoot conditions, Aisling took control with 600m to go and held the lead to the finish line with Elaine Yelverton (Newport) just getting in ahead of Elaine Shannon with Sharon Egan (St Michael’s, Kilmihil) fourth.The team title went to St Michael’s, Kilmihil on 34 points followed in second by St Flannan’s on 39 points and …

THE road from Doonbeg to Kilkee was filled with hundreds of cancer care fundraisers last Sunday as the 14th West Clare Mini Marathon and walk wound its way along the 10km trek. The walkers and runners were bussed to Doonbeg, with the walk starting at 1pm and the run an hour later.The mini marathon committee spent close to €150,000 in 2011 and running costs are expected to reach a similar level in 2012. The mini marathon has raised more than €1.2m since the event was first held in 1998. A minibus service, funded by the committee, currently operates from West Clare to Limerick five days per week. The bus brings patients to Limerick for cancer treatment, while taxi services, again supplied by the mini marathon committee, operate from Kilmihil, Miltown and Ennistymon.The West Clare Cancer Centre is open Monday to Thursday from 11am to 2pm and on Saturdays from 2pm to 3pm. The centre, which is located just off O’Curry …