Tag Archives: Colm Collins

Clare senior football manager, Colm Collins, could be confined to the stands for his side’s provincial championship opening tie against Limerick, as he is serving a 12-week ban. The Clare Champion has learned that the Competition Control Commitee (CCC) handed down a three-month suspension arising out of an incident with a linesman during Clare’s victory over Fermanagh in their last National Football League game in Cusack Park. It is understood that the suspension, which the Clare manager has accepted, was delivered a few weeks ago. Efforts to contact Colm Collins for a comment on Wednesday proved unsuccessful. Senior Clare GAA County Board officials had remained tight lipped about the suspension until board chairman, Michael McDonagh, was contacted with details about the ban, which only emerged about 10 days before the county footballers take on the Shannonsiders in Cusack Park. Clare GAA supporters will be left wondering why details of Collins’ suspension are only coming to light this week in the …

Davy O’Halloran, who left the Clare hurling panel in controversial circumstances a few weeks ago, has accepted an invitation to join the county senior football panel. He linked up with the squad this week as they resumed training, having taken a week’s break after the conclusion of their league campaign recently, a campaign that ended with Clare retaining Division 3 status for next season. Together with the O’Connell brothers, Nicky and Cathal, the All-Ireland U-21 medal winner was disciplined for a breach of the senior hurlers’ strict code of conduct. Both O’Halloran and Nicky O’Connell opted to leave the hurling panel as a result. Football manager Colm Collins confirmed that O’Halloran is now part of the football panel. “He is an excellent footballer and worthy of his place in the squad,” the Cratloe team boss commented. O’Halloran played at centre-forward for Éire Óg last season, when they progressed through the championship to the final, where they went under to Cratloe. …

UNLESS Clare beat Armagh in Ennis on Sunday, their hopes of having a crack at promotion will splinter beyond rescue. Conversely, a Clare win would be a massive morale boost, backed up by the points that would leave them in a great position, with games away to Limerick and at home to Fermanagh to come. Armagh are top of Division 3, with three wins and a draw. The latter result was at home to Fermanagh last Saturday night, when Kieran McGeeney’s team allowed an eight-point second-half lead to evaporate. Following Clare’s six-point loss to Tipperary, management will have a few decisions to make regarding who to start. Only about six of the starting 15 played anywhere near the required level. Those who did included Cathal O’Connor, Shane McGrath, Martin McMahon, Podge Collins, Ciaran Russell and Dean Ryan. That leaves huge scope for improvement, which will be the minimum demand on Sunday. Management will have to decide whether to give the …

SEAMUS Clancy is picking up on increasingly positive vibes regarding Clare football. The Corofin man and 1992 All-Star feels that Clare can build on their 2014 promotion and have a decent 2015. However, he believes that the next step is to beat teams that they are not expected to defeat. “I texted Colm Collins for the new year and I said thanks for what he had done last year. They did lift our spirits. It was unreal. There is certainly high optimism around. The first lift they got last year was a couple of guys, who had won All-Ireland medals, said ‘I want to play football for Clare. It means something to me.’ That lifted everyone in the county involved in football. That was a great lift. There were teams before that who were unlucky but when everything is right within a panel, they get the breaks. They got promoted and for this year the big one is to stay …

NEWLY-appointed Clare senior football coach, Ephie Fitzgerald  has cited breaking down coaching into particular strands as central to his philosophy. The Cork-based Youth Reach teacher, who deals primarily with early school-leavers, has enjoyed sustained success with his club, Nemo Rangers, while, just last weekend, he led Ballylanders to the Limerick senior football title. They play the Waterford champions in the provincial semi-final, with the winners playing Cratloe at home on November 16. “I’m just delighted to get back into the intercounty scene. I did a year with Limerick a few years back but I was under pressure to come back with the Cork minors. The intercounty scene is where it’s at for me at this stage. I’ve been involved in the club scene for a long time and I’ve had quite a bit of success with Nemo Rangers,” Fitzgerald told The Clare Champion this week. “At the start of this year, Ballylanders asked me to give a hand. I wasn’t …

FORMER Clare hurling manager, Ger Loughnane has claimed that Podge Collins was not “half the player” in 2014 that he was in 2013. Speaking on RTE’s The Sunday Game last weekend, he attributed this to the 2013 All-Star playing football for his county in 2014. “You cannot maximise your potential. If you take even one of the stars of last year for Clare, Podge Collins; now why was he so good for Clare last year? Because any time he wasn’t training with the team, he was out on his own practising hurling, with maybe a hundred balls on his own hitting them from all over the field. Look at the way he played,” Loughnane said. “Now, this year, he does half and half and he ends up with nothing. He isn’t half the hurler he was last year. You can do it but how could you possibly be as effective if you just concentrate on one? Remember, all of the …

(Peter O’Connell) Kildare 0-13 Clare 0-12 NOT scoring in the closing 25 minutes cost Clare a famous win over Kildare in Ennis on Saturday evening. When David Tubridy pointed a free, won by Rory Donnelly, ten minutes into the second half, Clare led 0-12 to 0-6 and Kildare looked seriously rattled. [doptg id=”35″]However the visiting Leinster county, upped their game, made some key substitutions and ran at Clare incessantly. Substitutes Eoghan O’Flaherty and Paddy Brophy kicked critical scores to help sculpt a place in the last 12 for the Jason Ryan managed team. Clare had played exceptionally well at stages during the first half. Points from Enda Coughlan, Podge Collins, Rory Donnelly, Martin McMahon, Shane McGrath (0-2) and a David Tubridy free helped Clare into a 0-7 to 0-4 interval lead. Alan Smith kicked three first half points for Kildare, while Padraig O’Neill added a point. The Clare supporters in the 7,745 attendance gave their team a standing ovation at …

CLARE’S best displays this year have been when they have played with freedom and abandon. They have totted up significant scores in several games but have conceded far too much defensively. It might seem a bit churlish to point to areas of concern given that they hammered Carlow by 19 points but unless Clare can balance all out attack with a more coherent defensive approach, it is very unlikely that they will come close to matching Kildare. A few things must not happen. Half backs cannot steam forward in front of the ball, while one midfielder must sit if the other attacks either on or off the ball. If a half back or midfielder attacks, one of the half forwards not directly involved in the move will have to drift back to prevent Clare being caught on the break. Players not on the ball will have to be as vigilant as those who are. Kildare will cut through Clare if …