Tag Archives: promotion

Kildare 0-22 Clare 1-14 ALTHOUGH beaten in Newbridge on Sunday afternoon the Clare footballers will play division 2 league football in 2017 as their scoring difference ensured that they will join Kildare in the higher league. The same counties will also meet in the division 3 NFL final in Croke Park on Saturday April 23. Clare are likely to be without David Tubridy however. The Doonbeg man was shown a straight red red following an incident with Kildare wing back Ciaran Fitzpatrick as the game approached injury time. From this observers point of view Tubridy was very harshly red carded. Fourteen minutes from time, Clare led 1-14 to 0-15 and it looked as if they had every chance of at least drawing. However powered by their bench,with Eamon Callaghan particularly effective, the home county scored the last seven points with Clare not managing a score in that spell. So while Clare were delighted when word came through that Longford had …

Clare 1-20 Longford 1-9 AN outstanding display of point taking helped the Clare footballers to a comprehensive win over Longford in Ennis on Sunday afternoon. This eleven point win, played in front of a disappointingly small crowd of 1,226, has taken Clare to the verge of promotion to division 2 for the 2017 season. They play already promoted Kildare away on Sunday. Clare sit on eight points currently, two points behind Kildare and two ahead of Tipperary, Offaly and Sligo, all of whom are tied on six points. Clare might even win promotion if they lose to Kildare but a draw would guarantee it. Having started tentatively, Clare ended up leading narrowly, 1-7 to 0-6 at at half time. They played into the wind in the opening half and along with their opponents, Clare were slow to settle. Longford’s Michael Quinn goaled in the sixth minute for the opening score of the half, following a Barry McKeon pass after Clare …

Clare 1-19 Limerick 0-18 Clare are back in the top grouping in the National hurling league following a comfortable win over arch rivals Limerick at Cusac Park this Sunday afternoon. The Banner side’s victory was much more comfortable that the final scoreline suggests on a day when Limerick were reduced to fourteen men five minutes before half time whenforward Barry Nash picked up a second yellow card. Clare led from the outset on a day when they shot no fewer than nineteen wides, a dozen of which came in the second half. Played before an attendance of 8,847, the home side made their intentions known from the off and struck for the game’s only goal as early as the opening minute when John Conlon brillantly grabbed a high delivery before shooting to the net. The score clearly rocked the visitors who, underatandably, complained tht the Clonlara player took more thatn the required number of steps while in possession before finding …

Team captain Cian Dillon has recovered from injury and will lead Clare in Sunday’s crucial promotion tie in division 1 B of the Allianz hurling league. The Crusheen man has been named at full back in a side that shows just two changes in personell from that which started against Kerry last week. Miltown’s Conor Cleary loses out and Pat O’Connor who deputised for Dillon at full back last week reverts to wing back, the position he filled when helping Clare to All-Ireland glory in 2013. The other change in personnell sees Patrick Kelly named between the posts in place of Donal Tuohy who filled the position last week. The team is Patrick Kelly (Inagh-Kilnamona); Oisín O’Brien (Clonlara), Cian Dillon,(Crusheen), Captain, Paul Flanagan (Ballyea); Brendan Bugler (Whitegate), David McInerney (Tulla), Pat O’Connor (Tubber); David Reidy (Éire Óg), Conor Ryan (Cratloe); John Conlon (Clonlara), Bobby Duggan (Clarecastle), Colm Galvin (Clonlara); Aaron Cunningham (Wolfe Tones), Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg), Conor McGrath (Cratloe). …

Bonfires blazed across the parishes of Shannon and Coolmeen-Cranny on Saturday evening after Wolfe Tones and Coolmeen were crowned intermediate hurling and junior A football champions repectively. Goals proved decisive and Wolfe Tones won back senior status after a year in the lower division when they defeated Broadford at O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge. Two goals in each half proved too much for Broadford who, despite scoring seventeen points, were five adrift when the final whistle sounded. The winners got off to a dream start with a Kevin McCafferty goal as early as the fourth minute. Broadford rallied and drew level by the thirteenth minute and they will be disappointed that they weren’t ahead at this point but poor shooting proved costly. Ahead by a point after twenty minutes the winners struck again and Jack Cunningham found the net, a score that helped them to a half time lead on the score of 2-4 to 0-7. The winners made the better …

Millions of French commuters are seeing ads for Ireland on large billboard posters as they pass through the busy metro stations of Paris. Tourism Ireland in Paris has teamed up with French airline Transavia to highlight the new daily flight from Paris-Orly Airport to Dublin, which is due to begin on 1 June. The campaign with Transavia includes some 550 ads in the Paris metro highlighting great value fares to Ireland, which are grabbing the attention of commuters with a beautiful image of the Cliffs of Moher – and reminding them why they should put Ireland on their holiday wish-list for 2015. It includes online advertising and a competition on Facebook. This is the first time that Transavia will fly to a northern European destination. Ireland is not currently served from Orly Airport – so the new flight represents an important opportunity for both leisure and business tourism from the all-important French market. France is one of our top four …

INTRODUCED at half time, Podge Collins made an invaluable contribution to Clare’s promotion winning second half display in Creggan. The All-Ireland winning All-Star hurler kicked two crucial points from play and along with players like Shane McGrath, his brother Seán, Ciaran Russell and Dean Ryan, the UL student worked exceptionally hard on and off the ball. Speaking afterwards Podge said that the passion evident in the dressing room inspires him. “You can tell by the way lads talk in the dressing room, before games and at half time, how passionate they are about it. I know it doesn’t sound too glamorous after winning the All-Ireland hurling but it’s absolutely huge, especially in my house. It’ll be a happy house for the night,” he laughed. Collins acknowledged that it took him a few minutes to get up to the pace of the game after his introduction for Jamie Malone. “Coming up to Antrim we didn’t really know what to expect. I’d …

DEFENSIVELY Clare produced their best display of the 2014 season, conceding just six points. Given that Clare conceded big scores and soft goals against Tipperary, Carlow and London, tightening up at the back was a definite priority for Paudie Kissane and his coaching team as they prepared for the game in Antrim. In fact the home county scored just three points from play and didn’t score at all until the 35 minute. Of course it must be noted that they were playing into a near storm in that opening half. Another area where Clare did well was on their own kick out, retaining the vast majority of them while they managed to win more than half of Antrim’s second half kick outs. Underlining their physical conditioning Clare definitely had more possession than Antrim, particularly in the second period, when they held possession impressively and ran at the Ulster county. However there are several areas where Clare can improve, most notably …