Sports

A number of ladies teams from Clare clubs will be in Clonmel this Saturday for the Munster ladies team finals.Dromoland, Shannon and Lahinch have teams competing for provincial honours.Lahinch will be the first into action, taking on East Cork in the Junior Cup final at 10am.In the intermediate final, Shannon will take on Thurles at 10.50am. Dromoland have two teams in finals with the minor team playing Templemore at 11.40am and the Challenge cup team taking on East Cork at 12.30pm.Each team comprises five players playing in singles and at least three must win for the team to progress to the national finals that will take place in September. Holmpatrick CupLahinch, having won the Clare final of the Holmpatrick Cup at Woodstock in July, have reached the final hurdle in their “race to St Andrews” at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort on Sunday. Harry Eakins (14) and Ger Dunworth (6) contest the Munster final, where they will have stern …

Sixmilebridge  4-25 Tulla  2-13 In a high scoring senior hurling championship tie at Cusack Park on Tuesday evening, Sixmilebridge proved too lively for Tulla and easily extended their unbeaten run in this year’s campaign. It was by far their best performance of the season and has pushed them near the top again in the list of favourites for the title.From the start they took a grip on the game and had put down a marker in the fifth minute by which time they were four points clear. In the next 20 minutes Tulla enjoyed their best spell of the evening and with six minutes to go to the break just a point separated the teams with the ’Bridge ahead 0-8 to 0-7.Just as they had started the half at a blistering pace, outscoring their opponents by six points to one, they completed the half in similar fashion and again outscored their neighbours by the same margin to lead at the …

Doonbeg will host a double header of ladies senior football semi-finals on Saturday evening. In the opening game Banner take on Kilmihil at 5.15pm. It will be a repeat of the 2009 county final and could be the game of the championship so far. Last September Banner reached the final where they came away second best to West Clare Gaels. Kilmihil will take confidence from the fact that they won their first senior title last October capturing the division league title, beating Saturday’s opponents. The teams were due to meet in round one but Banner opted not to participate. Instead they took part in a Munster 7s competition the previous day. Since then Banner defeated Cooraclare (3-17 to 1-6), Liscannor (4-10 to 2-8) and West Clare Gaels (3-20 to 1-9). They had nine players on the Clare senior panel this year, while Kilmihil had two. Kilmihil recorded wins over Cooraclare (6-13 to 3-9) and Liscannor (2-8 to 0-5), while West …

Clare 2-18 Galway 2-9 Clare’s chances of winning a place in the All-Ireland intermediate hurling final didn’t look good when they found themselves two goals in arrears after just a minute and a half of play in their semi-final with Galway at Cusack Park in Ennis on Saturday evening. However, a strong second-half showing by the fitter home side saw them turnthe tables on their neighbours and progress to play Kilkenny in the final on August 27.A switch in the full-back line early in the second half, which saw Mark Earley move to the edge of the square with Patrick Kelly going to the corner, benefited both players and the team enormously.Clare’s full-back line had been in all sorts of trouble in the opening half with Kelly and Alan Brigdale struggling to find the form they had shown in the earlier rounds. Once the switch was made, the team grew in confidence with the half-backs and midfielders also stepping up …

Liscannor  1-9 Lissycasey  1-8 In what was the most keenly contested tie of round two of the senior championship, Liscannor picked up an invaluable win. The result means their destiny is largely in their own hands. If Liscannor beat Doonbeg on the weekend of September 3 they could qualify, although if Ennistymon defeat Lissycasey, three teams would be tied on four points. Scoring difference would then apply. Lissycasey must now overcome Ennistymon and hope that Doonbeg beat Liscannor to have a chance of escaping the group. Having lost their opening games, Liscannor and Lissycasey needed to win last Saturday in Quilty equally as badly. The hour of football featured some excellent points, a soft Lissycasey goal, good free taking and talk of whether Brian Considine should have been sent off on a double yellow card. Deploying Alan Flaherty and Johnny Considine, both of whom have considerable presence, in the full-forward line, Liscannor went the direct route from the off. Come …

Kilmurry-Ibrickane  1-14 Kilrush  0-7 Kilmurry Ibrickane cruised to a ten-point win over Kilrush in Doonbeg last Saturday. Without having to unduly extend themselves, Kilmurry qualified for the quarter-final before their third group game against Wolfe Tones, who are also through. Kilrush are left to fight it out with Kilmihil to decide who finishes third and fourth. The latter will have to endure a relegation semi-final. Kilrush were competitive until the third minute of first half injury time, when Johnny Daly palmed a Paul O’Connor pass to Tony Burke’s net. The move started at the far end of the pitch with a Shane Hickey line ball and the goal helped Kilmurry into a 1-8 to 0-4 interval lead and virtually assured Kilmurry a comfortable win, with half an hour left to play. Kilrush adopted a defensive strategy for much of the opening half inviting Kilmurry on to them. Peter O’Dwyer set the tone though after just 15 seconds when he fisted …

Wolfe Tones  1-8 Kilmihil  0-7 A blistering start when playing against a strong wind, which yielded the game’s only goal in the third minute, laid the foundations for Wolfe Tones’ merited victory over Kilmihil in their round two tie played at Lissycasey on Saturday. While Kilmihil battled back to be on level terms at half-time, they were always fighting an uphill battle and any chance they might have had of getting something from the game disappeared when they were reduced to 14 men eight minutes from time when Mark O’Connell picked up his second yellow card and had to leave the action.Having lost their opening-round game to Kilmurry-Ibrickane, Kilmihil knew going into Saturday’s game that anything other than a win would put them out of the title race. They could hardly have asked for a worse start than to concede a goal as early as the third minute and from here on they were always struggling. Wolfe Tones dominated the …

Shannon Gaels  0-9 St Joseph’s  0-6 As Miltown headed to the dressing room at half-time at Kilmihil on Sunday, their followers were, understandably, confident about the outcome. Miltown had just played against a stiff breeze and had managed to match their opponents on the scoreboard. With the assistance of the strong wind to come, the odds were very much in their favour.Knowing defeat would almost certainly put them out of the championship, the Gaels returned in a more determined mood and three unanswered points in the opening seven minutes put down a marker.Then they were dealt a huge blow when experienced midfielder Noel Kennedy was shown a straight red card following a tackle on Enda O’Gorman. Again, the advantage seemed to be with Miltown, who now had an extra man as well as wind advantage but despite their numerical disadvantage, Shannon Gaels refused to let go of the grip they had just taken on the tie and they went on …