Tag Archives: gaa

Comment WHO dreamed up, implemented and then didn’t change Clare’s puck-out strategy? Why did Clare seemingly set out to stop Cork and neglect to concentrate more fully on playing their own game? Why was Tony Kelly left on penalties and why was Oisin O’Brien started on Alan Cadogan, when surely Seadna Morey was the man for that job? These and a few other questions abounded on Sunday evening and Monday morning as the dwindling Clare hurling public digested what had just happened in Thurles. Since winning the 2013 All-Ireland title, Clare have beaten Limerick and Laois (both twice) and Offaly in championship hurling. Any time they have met a top tier county, including Cork, Galway or Waterford, they have not cut it. Repeatedly this panel have shown that they are not as good as people in this county thought. Their 2013 win must now be consigned to the ‘lucky, flash in the pan’ category and while their All-Ireland medal cannot …

While there were no formal announcements made as to the future, the vibes are strong that manager Colm Collins and some senior players will call time on their involvement with the county senior squad for next season. After Saturday’s defeat, the Cratloe club man said, “I have four years done and they must be getting sick of me but this evening is not the time to talk about that. We will take a bit of time.” There is concern amongst members of the squad that, after four years in charge, he will not seek another term, despite acknowledging on Saturday that “a lot of things are going well and there is more in Clare. There’s a fantastic bunch of players there but that’s no consolation this evening”. When a team bows out of a championship, there is always speculation as to who might call time on their inter-county careers and, this week, it’s no different for the Clare footballers. Gordon …

Meath 3-19 Clare 1-13 DESPITE an emphatic 12 point loss to Meath in Cusack Park on Sunday, Clare will play division 2 football in 2018. Derry’s defeat of Fermanagh and Down’s draw with Cork, meant that they, along with Clare ended their league campaign on five points. However Clare retained their status based on their superior scoring difference. While Clare played some good football in the first half, following a shaky start, they were comprehensively outplayed after the interval. In fact Meath outscored their 3-10 to 1-5 with wing forward Cillian O’Sullivan putting away two goals while centre back Brian Power added the third for a rampant Royal County. Meath were so much in control they substituted Graham Reilly, who put over 0-6 from play, 15 minutes from time. The winners led 0-9 to 0-8 at half-time, with Reilly and Eamonn Wallace contributing a flurry of superb points. Eoin Cleary did likewise for Clare in the opening half. Slow to …

APPLICATIONS by close to 300 isolated players formed a large part of discussions at the latest Clare County GAA Board meeting. At the outset of the meeting at Hotel Woodstock in Ennis, secretary Pat Fitzgerald read the applications from adult players. Joe Pender, on behalf of the underage hurling board, and Joe Kelly, on behalf of the underage football board, followed with two further lists of applications. Some adult applications had been dealt with at the February board meeting. After the lists had been presented, Tulla GAA Club delegate Brian Torpey observed that “one club has received assistance from 54 players”. “We don’t want to stop anyone from playing but for those of us that are landlocked [no exclusive football club adjacent], it’s hard. Some stipulations must be introduced. Maybe when a club passes a certain number of isolated players, they must play in A grade competitions,” he suggested. Supporting Torpey, Feakle delegate Mike Daly said, “If we could only …

TWO club hurlers remain in hospital this week following injuries sustained in matches on Sunday. Kilmaley’s Diarmuid McMahon is in hospital in Galway, having suffered a serious head injury while playing for his club in a challenge game against Ardrahan. The principal teacher at Stonehall National School in Newmarket-on-Fergus, Diarmuid has been a key figure in Kilmaley’s senior team for more than a decade. Speaking on behalf of the club, secretary Patrick O’Malley wished Diarmuid “a speedy and full recovery”. Teenager James McMahon, meanwhile, was also removed to hospital in Limerick, after helping Newmarket to victory over Sixmilebridge in the U-21 A championship quarter-final at Gurteen. A student at St Caimin’s in Shannon, James is understood to have picked up an injury midway through the first half but played on until near the end of normal time. “It’s unfortunate that James picked up this injury and, on behalf of the club, I wish him well and we hope to see …

The draw for the intermediate and junior A hurling and the junior A football championships was made at the March meeting of Clare GAA which took place this Tuesday evening at the Woodstock hotel. Kilmaley who were relegatedfrom senior at the end of last year will meet their neighbours and arch rivals Inagh-Kilnamona in a first round tie. Last year’s beaatenfinalists Broadford will face Sixmilebridge 1 while Sixmilebridge 2 will be up against Parteen. The details are Intermediate hurling; Clonlara v Clarecastle; Ruan v Cratloe; Corofin v Killanena; Inagh-Kilnamona v Kilmaley; Tubber v Scariff; Smith O’Briens v Newmarket; Broadford v Sixmilebridge 1; Sixmilebridge 2 v Parteen Junior A hurling Group 1; Broadford, Ennistymon, Clooney-Quin, St. Josephs, Kilmaley; Group 2; Crusheen, Meelick, Ballyea, Eire Og Group 3; Wolfe Tones, Ogonnelloe, O’Callaghans Mills, Bodyke Junior A football Group 1; Cratloe, Killimer, Clooney-Quin, Kilmurry-Ibrickane, Moy Group 2; Naomh Eoin, Cooraclare, Ballyvaughan, Ennistymon; Group 3; Wolfe Tones,Eire Og, Miltown, Lissycasey; Group 4; Kilrush, Michael …

Clare 2-11 Cork 0-9 AN outstanding second half display, during which Clare outscored Cork 1-9 to 0-4, helped the home county to their first league win over Cork in 23 years. The game was played in sometimes very challenging conditions in front of a crowd of 985 people in Cusack Park. Clare are now joint second with Galway in the division 2 table, on five points after four games. They are just a point behind leaders Kildare. Clare captain Martin McMahon felt that the panel of players were honest with each other following last weeks defeat to Galway in Salthill. “We worked really hard this week at training. We went back to basics and really got stuck into each other. Tactics were right today and everyone just worked as hard as they could,” the Kilmurry Ibrickane man said. “Today we said that we were going to try and keep it nice and tight. I think our forwards worked really hard. …

Clare 2-11 Down 0-11 THE key to Clare’s six point defeat of Down in Cusack Park on Sunday, was David Tubridy’s injury time goal just before half-time. The Doonbeg man put away Clare’s second goal, seconds after he had pointed a clear goal scoring chance. Keelan Sexton scored Clare’s first goal in the second minute after Tubridy had cut in along the end line, easing beyond Down defenders Gerard McGovern and Niall Donnelly. [data-ps-embed-type=slideshow] > iframe {position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;} http://photos.clarechampion.ie/js/psEmbed.js _psEmbed(“http://photos.clarechampion.ie”); Come half time Clare led 2-7 to 0-3 and while that 10 point lead was emphatic, they could have led by much more. Clare kicked eight wides in the first half, along with missing at least two clear goal opportunities. The game was played in bitterly cold conditions in Ennis in front of an attendance of 1,749. Clare’s opening 20 minutes was their most impressive spell with their tackling and tracking exceptional, even if their shooting did not …