Tag Archives: gaa

National League Division 1 Group B Round 1 Antrim 1-21 Clare 0-22 A SOBERING start to the new season for Clare as hosts Antrim grittily dug out a rousing home victory in what was their first top flight league tie since 2008. Eoin Brennan reports. With a strong gale dictating matters, Clare started brightly with its aid to ease 0-9 to 0-3 clear by the 15th minute, four from Tony Kelly. However, Antrim incrementally grew in confidence as the half developed and would wipe out the visitors’ lead in the 29th minute when a teasing ball over the top found chief marksman Ciaran Clarke to race through and finish to the net at 0-12 to 1-09. Clare did restore a two point cushion by the break but with the elements to come, a buoyant Antrim quickly snatched the whip hand to inch ahead for the first time by the 46th minute through Keith Molloy. In a blow-for-blow second period, the …

Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group B Round 1 Antrim v Clare at Corrigan Park Belfast, Sunday 1pm (Liam Gordon, Galway) Already established as the secondary inter-county competition, this year’s Allianz Hurling League takes a even more diminishing backseat in light of the truncated season on offer over the next 14 weeks. Instead, finding your feet, form, formation and force take precedence over results in a bid to peak for championship at the end of June. Five matches in six weeks provide a far more beneficial lead-in to championship than in 2020 when an eight month absence from competitive action left counties scrambling to gain crumbs from an often misleading challenge match circuit once returning from the club championships. Without scope to conclude with any business end, this year’s Division 1 is a league in its purest sense as the top team from each group are crowned joint-winners unless they subsequently clash in the championship. Similar to Clare and Limerick’s …

CONTROLLING the controllables. Never has the phrase held such resonance as with inter-county hurling action set to resume this weekend after a five month absence, the already all-encompassing role of manager takes on a whole new magnified level of responsibility. Pre-Covid, the preparation, picking and peaking of an inter-county team was more than enough of an arduous task in itself. However, with the addition of no collective training permitted until a fortnight ago and meticulous regulations surrounding travel and match-day protocols, 2021 has elevated logistics to unprecedentedly lofty heights. The only solace is that essentially every county is in the same boat and it’s that level playing field effect that makes the impending National League all the more anticipatory for Clare Manager Brian Lohan and his squad amidst their five match schedule over the next six weekends. “I suppose like everyone else in the country, we’re just delighted to get back on the field and we’re really looking forward to …

After getting a taste of championship action in 2020, Colin Guilfoyle’s appetite has been sharpened over the prolonged close season. He spoke with Eoin Brennan ahead of Clare’s league opener. Having been on the panel since 2018, Colin Guilfoyle’s impactful cameos in the Munster and National Leagues never materialised into championship minutes until last winter when starting berths against Laois and Wexford coincided with successive qualifier victories. Even the disappointment of missing out on the All-Ireland Quarter-Final against Waterford has been used as motivational leverage for the towering Newmarket-on-Fergus forward to hopefully redress the balance when the sides lock horns once more in the Munster Championship opener at the end of June. “Time flies really. I’m going into my fourth year on the panel now and it’s mad when you think about it. Even to get the call up in the first place was a bit of a shock but I suppose every player develops differently and you just have …

OGONNELLOE Hurling Club is striking a major blow for the local community by not only developing East Clare GAA’s first indoor astro-turf arena but, in the process, a much-needed physical education facility for the parish’s local national school. One of the county’s smallest clubs, Ogonnelloe GAA has embarked on an ambitious but targeted “Building Our Future” development plan that is focussed as much on delivering for community than results on the field. The new indoor centre will go way beyond acting as a facility for advancing the skills of the club’s hurlers. Instead, it will serve all age groups in the close-knit community, including delivering local primary school a dedicated physical education facility. On the GAA side, the 40 metre by 20 metre facility will be central to the club’s plans to regenerate hurling in the parish among children and young adults after a difficult decade or so. It will also be a major boost for one of the great …

THE Clare hurlers are set to begin their National League campaign on the weekend of May 8/9, while the county’s footballers will return to action the following weekend, according to the GAA fixture calendar released today. Intercounty teams are to resume training on April 19, and the football league will see a regionalised format this year, with Clare facing Cork, Laois and Kildare in Division 2 South. They will begin with an away tie against Kildare. After the action begins the hurlers will have five league games, but the competition will not have a specific final this year, with the winners of Divisions 1A and 1B being joint winners, or if they meet in the championship, this will double as a final. As in 2020 the Munster and Leinster hurling championships will be knock out, with a back door qualifier system. The football championship will be knock out, with no qualifier system. Both the football and hurling championships will get …

Clare GAA clubs have given unanimous backing to a new committee being put in place to conduct a strategic review aimed at improving standards in the county. It comes from an Éire Óg motion which calls for Clare GAA to “establish an independent committee to develop a five year strategic plan”. It detailed that the committee should consist of five people who are independent of the county board, and drawn from business and commercial interests with a strong record of commitment and involvement in the GAA. The key areas identified for the committee to focus on are finance and fundraising, optimisation of the Centre of Excellence at Caherlohan and other facilities, Coaching and Games Development, Governance, Public Relations along with marketing and social media. The motion was the brainchild of former Clare minor coach Niall O’Connor. Each club who spoke on the evening gave their backing to the motion, with chairman Jack Chaplin outlining that a member of the county …

COLM Collins said he thought “long and hard” before committing to a return as Clare senior football manager for another season. Collins confirmed this week that he would be staying on in the role that has seen him lift Clare from division four to division two and to the brink of a place in football’s top tier. It means an eighth year at the helm for the Cratloe man since succeeding Mick O’Dwyer, making Collins the longest serving manager with the same county in Gaelic football. Clare’s preparations for a season unlikely to have a definitive roadmap for weeks to come are at a very early stage. Collective training is not allowed under the current level of restrictions so players are currently undertaking individual strength and conditioning programmes. Collins and his backroom team have also started preliminary work on tactics via Zoom meetings The Allianz leagues are expected to be pushed back from the original start dates of February 27 …