Tag Archives: hurling

Sunday is judgement day noted joint Clare senior hurling manager Gerry O’Connor. “We will be judged as a management and the players will be judged. Being absolutely honest, we have targeted this day and that brings its own pressures but so be it. “I remember 1995 in Thurles and ’96 in the Gaelic Grounds and form went out the window on both days. Donal [Moloney] and myself have been involved in a huge amount of U-21 games and form goes out the window. It comes down to the team that is most focussed on the day and best prepared. “Then there is the Paul Kinnerk and Joe O’Connor factor also. It’s very unusual. We have soldiered long and hard and Donal, Paul and myself have had our greatest memories from Thurles. These guys [Clare players] have grown up performing in Thurles. We expect a top-class display.” When it was put to him that the public perception is that Clare will …

A NUMBER of cross-overs between Clare and Limerick makes this Sunday’s Munster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final in Thurles even more exciting than usual. Paul Kinnerk, such a central figure in much of the success Clare enjoyed at provincial and national U-21 and senior levels in the past half-dozen years, is now the Limerick coach. Their physical trainer is Joe O’Connor, who trained Clare’s All-Ireland winning team in 2013 under manager Davy Fitzgerald. If that wasn’t enough, there is the involvement of Wolfe Tones clubman from Shannon, Alan Cunningham as part of the Limerick backroom team. He played a key role in the success achieved by Limerick city club Na Piarsaigh in winning the Munster and All-Ireland club titles and is still part of the Limerick city club’s backroom team. On Sunday, the former Clare player and coach finds himself in the opposite camp to his son Aaron, who is a key member of the Clare panel and likely to feature …

Champions Ballyea made a winning start to the 2017 Clare senior hurling championship when they accounted for Wolfe Tones at Cusack Park this Sunday. At the end of a well contested first half they led by the odd point in eleven, 0-6 to 0-5. In the opening ten minutes of the second half each side added two points to their half time tallies before the title holders stretched their lead to three points by the three quarter stage. Wolfe Tones closed the gap to the minimum again but the crucial score came seven minutes from time when Tony Kelly burst through for the game’s only goal which helped his side to a 1-16 to 0-12 victory. Goals from Eimhin Courtney, David Reidy and Shane O’Donnell helped Eire Og to a comfortable victory over O’Callaghans Mills at Shannon. Courtney’s goal separated the sides at half time when the score was 1-10 to 0-10 and the Ennis side went on to hold …

The race to find a new home for the Canon Hamilton Trophy will begin in earnest this weekend, with eight games down for decision. Eight first round games in the intermediate championship will also take place. While all 16 teams will still be in the title race come Sunday evening, an opening round victory will mean the threat of relegation will have been eliminated. Introduced two years ago, one of the eight first-round losers will be relegated to the intermediate grade for next season. The same format applies to the intermediate championship this year. Following the first round, the eight winners will be drawn against each other and the eight losers will also be drawn to face each other, with the four losers here battling it out in a relegation play-off. At least one of last year’s semi-finalists will find themselves in the losers’ round, as first round games see Clonlara, beaten finalists for the past two years, take on …

The draws for the junior B and C hurling championships and the junior B football championship were made at a meeting of Clare GAA in Clareabbey this Tuesday evening. Fifteen teams will compete for the B hurling title and they have been divided into four groups, three of four and one of three, from which the top two in each will go on to contest the quarter finals. Eight teams will compete for the junior B football title and they are divided into two groups of four. The junior C hurling championship is a knock out competition in which there will be nine teams. The details are Junior B football; Group 1;–Shannon Gaels, Coolmeen, Clarecastle, Kilmihil Group 2; Doonbeg, St. Breckans, Clonbony, Banner Junior B hurling Group 1; Tulla, Eire Og, St. Josephs, Whitegate; Group 2; Feakle, Smith O’Briens, Tubber, Sixmilebridge; Group 3; Inagh-Kilnamona, Parteen, Newmarket, Scariff; Group 4; Kilmaley, Wolfe Tones, Clarecastle Junior C hurling Preliminary round; A-St. Josephs …

Players from eleven clubs are included in the starting fifteen in the Clare team to face Waterford in the first round of the Munster minor hurling championship at Cusack Park on this Wednesday (April 5) evening. Inagh-Kilnamona provide four players to the line up while Crusheen have two with the remaining nine drawn from Wolfe Tones, Cratloe, Bodyke, Kilmaley, Clarecastle, Corofin, Doora-Barefield, Sixmilebridge, and O’Callaghans Mills The game has a ;throw in time of 6.15p.m. and the winners will go on to play in the Munster semi-final at the end of June whereas the losers will face Cork in two weeks time. The team is  Eamonn Foudy, (Inagh-Kilnamona); Cian McInerney (Inagh-Kilnamona), Ross Hayes (Crusheen), Conor Ferns (Wolfe Tones); Diarmuid Ryan (Cratloe), Cian Minogue (Bodyke), Aidan McCarthy (Inagh-Kilnamona); Cathal Darcy (Kilmaley), Keith White (Inagh-Kilnamona); Lee Brack (Clarecastle), Gearoid Cahill (Corofin), Conor Tierney (Doora-Barefield); Tiernan Agnew(Sixmilebridge), Gary Cooney (O’Callaghans Mills) Breffni Horner (Crusheen); Subs; J.C. McMahon(Broadford); Sean Crowley (Kilmihil), Eoghan Wallace (Clarecastle), Riain …

THE newly-appointed principal of St John Bosco Community College in Kildysart has revealed that students and parents have cited the provision of a hurling team at second level as a critical factor when deciding what school to attend. There are currently 210 students attending the Shannonside school. Denis O’Rourke, formerly an assistant principal at Ennis Community College, made his comments during an interview with The Clare Champion. “I went through our first year intake for next year. I rang the parents that have not come back with fees, which more or less means they are not coming. Out of the eight that I rang, seven of them mentioned sport as a factor. It’s all down to the Harty Cup. “Academically, you need your education but I do believe that sport should be a strong part of school,” Mr O’Rourke said. He also found that sixth class pupils in the Kildysart Community College catchment area had similar concerns. “One thing we …

  There are two changes in personnell on the Clare team to face Dublin in Sunday’s relegation play off from that which started against  Waterford last week. Brendan Bugler returns to the starting line up at wing back in place of Jason McCarthy while David Reidy returns to the team and he is named at corner forward in place of Ian Galvin. Otherwise the team is unchanged from last week and it is Andrew Fahy (Whitegate); David McInerney (Tulla), Cian Dillon (Crusheen), Seadna Morey (Sixmilebridge); Brendan Bugler (Whitegate), Conor Cleary ( Miltown St. Josephs), David Fitzgerald (Inagh-Kilnamona); Jamie Shanahan (Sixmilebridge), Tony Kelly (Ballyea); Cathal Malone (Sixmilebridge), Podge Collins (Cratloe), John Conlon (Clonlara); David Reidy (Éire Óg), Aron Shanagher (Wolfe Tones na Sionna), Cathal McInerney (Cratloe); The game throws in at 4p.m. By Seamus Hayes