Tag Archives: Newbridge

Kildare 0-18 Clare 1-14 CLARE fell to a heartbreaking one point defeat in Newbridge on Sunday afternoon. Five points down at half-time, they took the game to the home county in the second half, with Shane Brennan scoring a crucial goal. He flicked to the net following a Keelan Sexton angled delivery. Fifteen minutes from time Clare led 1-12 to 0-13 and at that point, the pendulum seemed to be swinging in their direction. However late points from Fionn Dowling and Paul Cribbin swung the result in favour of Cian O’Neill’s team, who are now promoted. Eoin Cleary had an opportunity to equalise from an injury time free but it drifted wide. Unless Clare beat Meath in their final game in Ennis next Sunday, they will need Down and Derry to lose their final league ties, to stave off relegation to division 3. Kildare led 0-11 to 0-6 at half-time, with their midfielder Kevin Feely kicking 0-5 from frees. Clare …

As Clare prepare to head to Newbridge on Sunday, in Round 6 of NFL Division 2, one statistic from their first five games stands out. While Clare have made 22 substitutions up to now, 15 of which were from midfield up, no substitute has yet kicked a score. Of the 15 attacking players introduced, seven were brought on in the last 10 minutes. The 15 substitutes referred to have played for a total of two hours and 52 minutes, without adding a score to Clare’s tally. This fact illustrates Clare’s lack of impact from the bench and while it is difficult for substitutes to immediately get up to the pitch of a game, particularly if it is getting away from their team, it is an area that Clare must try to improve on. Of course, in recent games they have been down personnel, with Seán Collins injured and Shane McGrath opting out of the panel. Ciarán Russell was a big …