Sports

IRELAND’S love of horses is known worldwide and showjumping has become a very popular sport in Clare over the past few years. There are over 200 registered showjumpers in the county and the  results speak for themselves of the calibre of particpants.

The Munster juvenile even ages from U-10 to U-18 plus novice and U-23 cross country championships will take place in the Showgrounds Field, Newmarket-on-Fergus this Sundayat 11.30am.

THERE was a strong Clare representation in the final stages of the featured A1 graded 550-yard race in Galway on Saturday night with honours going to East Clare.

WINDFARM Eiscir was at his best in beating some of the  fancied runners to win the James Curran Memorial Cup for 16 all ages at the Regional Coursing meeting last Sunday.

Newly appointed Clare hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald’s relationship with the county board is going to be very open he said and that he will not be looking for any special treatment.“A lot of people here will probably say ‘because he is Pat Fitz’s son he will get what he wants’, this that and the other thing. I have made it quite clear to Michael [O’Neill] that I am prepared to work on the same parameters as any other team manager has worked in over the last few years, prepared to look for the same things that they have looked for, the same amount of money to be spent on the team.“As for my Dad, the amount of respect I have for him is unreal. I know that he mightn’t be all yer cup of tea at times. He has his ways and he can be pretty dogmatic. Trust me, I have fought with him enough myself. I am very proud …

WHATEVER the result of the 2011 county final, it will be nigh on impossible to unseat St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield’s year as the story of the season. Their place in Sunday’s final, which throws in at Cusack Park at 3.30pm, comes on the back of on and off field tribulations, which could have justifiably resulted in St Joseph’s parking their GAA aspirations for the year.Losing one of their most talented footballers, the late Niall White, shook the club and particularly his similarly aged teammates, to the core.Hammered by Doonbeg in the Cusack Cup semi-final, having reached the last four in their first season of Division 1 league football, was the first on-field setback to hit St Joseph’s.Their early championship displays hinted at worse to come as they lost their opening games to Miltown and Cratloe. Facing into their third group game against Shannon Gaels, Doora-Barefield’s priority was to somehow avoid finishing bottom of the group.Instead they cut loose, winning 3-10 to …

WHEN the O’Brien family decamp to Cusack Park on Sunday, their day there will represent a remarkable twist in what has been an evolving sporting journey.Three months ago, there wasn’t a single person in the whole of Clare who had an inkling that St Joseph’s would feature in the parish’s first senior county football final for 113 years. Three years ago, when the O’Brien brothers, David, Johnny and Chris, transferred from Clooney-Quin to play football for Doora-Barefield, they could hardly have imagined how their move would pan out.From day one though, they were salivating at the prospect of merely playing senior club football. The sport is, after all, in their blood.“Our father, Seán is an ex-Tyrone footballer. We play soccer together as well, so we’re a very close-knit family. We’re massively into our football and our sport,” David told The Clare Champion, a distinct Northern twang still evident.“We’d been living in Belfast. Our mother and father are Tyrone people but …

Scariff caster Ruairi Costello literally has the world at his feet. The Ballycorban angler has just returned from Japan where he pitted his casting skills against the best in the business and triumphed. Ruairi picked up two gold medals and four silver medals in addition to setting a new trout 6 weight single handed world record of 52 metres.Competing in the prestigious JCA Anglers Class Masters casting competition in Tokyo, Ruairi collected the gold medals in the 6 weight trout distance and the 18 foot speycasting, a remarkable achievement for someone who only fishes for trout during the Mayfly season on Lough Derg. There were 120 entrants in the competition and Ruairi came out on top. He has now won in three continents – North America, Europe and Asia and is officially recognised as the best all round caster in the world.  Ruairi has developed a unique casting style. He is self-taught and has a powerful final delivery. When asked …