CLARECASTLE’S Tommy Howard has stepped down from his post of manager of the Kerry senior hurlers citing a lack of commitment by some players as the reason for his sudden departure. Howard and his management team, which also included fellow Clarecastle man Fergie 0’Loughlin as trainer, issued a joint statement to a meeting of the Kerry County Board last week outlining the reasons behind their decision. Speaking on Radio Kerry, Howard said he and his management team felt the Kerry team had to “up their game for next year’s league and saw pre-season training as key to this.” “The management team met six weeks ago and tried to critically review the 2013 season and what we needed to do to improve on our performance in 2014. We met the county board and received a positive response from them on our plans. One of the critical areas we identified was to improve the general fitness of all the players. This would …

Clare League              2 Desmond League     0 IT was mission accomplished as Clare’s junior soccer squad secured a quarter-final place in the Oscar Traynor inter-league competition, accounting for Desmond League at the County Grounds on Saturday evening. The win sealed the team’s place at the top of the group, which puts them into the last eight of the competition. The victory could have been much greater margin had they converted all the chances created, a fact team manager Liam Murphy attributed to Clare being uncomfortable in the role of favourites. Desmond League, already out of contention, travelled to Doora with just 12 players and were forced to make a change shortly before half-time when John Kelleher was introduced in place of the injured Kieran Trander. The visitors almost took the lead in the very first attack of the game. After just 30 seconds, Clare goalkeeper John Mulready was rather casual in clearing his line and almost paid the price. Seconds later, …

DRUG dealers and moneylenders are openly operating in Ennis’ town centre, it has been claimed by local traders. Lower Market Street Resident Traders have also raised concerns about anti-social behaviour in the area, with the matter now on the agenda for the next meeting of the town’s Joint Policing Committee. While confirming the issues will be discussed at the JPC, Superintendent Derek Smart stated there have been no complaints made to gardaí and he urged that if anyone has concerns, to contact them. “The agenda for the JPC is the only record I have of any issues there; nobody has come forward to give any details of any incidences. From the reporting to me, there is nothing out of the ordinary compared to any other area of the town,” he said. The concerns of the traders were outlined at a recent meeting called by the Purple Flag Steering Committee and Ennis Chamber on the continuation of extended opening hours, or …

IF the fixtures are structured properly in the county, it is possible for players to play hurling and football with success at club level. That’s the view of Cratloe star Conor McGrath, who left Pairc na nGael in Limerick bitterly disappointed. “If the fixtures are structured properly in the county, it’s possible to do both. If they are structured the same as this year, there’s not a hope. The way the championships were run off this year was not conducive to a football and a hurling team doing well. “We’d be hopeful that the county board will do something about this and a couple of matches in the football and hurling would be played in May, June and July every year, so that we won’t have a situation we had this year,” said McGrath, who was outstanding in attack on Sunday. Asked if it’s possible to play both codes at inter-county level, the All-Star hurler replied, “I’m not involved in …

Dr Crokes 0-13 Cratloe 0-12 NOBODY noticed the December 1 sky darkening over the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday afternoon. Not a sinner in the 2,384 attendance was concerned about anything other than the unfolding drama they had paid €15 to witness. They probably had to seek a second opinion to back up what they were seeing, as Cratloe fought until the last kick of what has been an epic 2013 for their club and their multi-decorated men in blue. Eight points down after 24 minutes (0-10 to 0-2), Cratloe led the now three in-a-row Munster champions (0-12 to 0-11) with just four minutes left of what has been a mind-blowing season for Clare and Cratloe GAA. With Dr Crokes on the ropes, history beckoned invitingly for the first-time Clare senior football champions. Yet despite having only registered a single point in the preceding 33 minutes of football, the Kerry champions didn’t buckle. Even with Colm Cooper sitting in the Mackey …

IN the aftermath of Cratloe’s county semi-final win over Éire Óg, Óige Murphy issued a few words to the media that were steeped in honesty, albeit somewhat eyebrow-raising. “I suppose we’re known as a hurling team, who kind of dabble in the football,” the Cratloe wing-back said in the middle of the pitch in Clarecastle on Sunday, November 3. Just over a month later, that statement could be justifiably revised. Now that Cratloe have established themselves as a football club that dabbles in a bit of hurling, the demands on their most capable dual players will increase exponentially. If the Clare senior football team is to have a realistic chance of emerging from Division 4, they need the input of players such as Cathal McInerney, Conor Ryan, Liam Markham, Podge and Seán Collins. All of them have played football for Clare from U-14 to U-21 levels and, in fact, the latter three have already played inter-county senior football. Let’s not …

A SIXMILEBRIDGE mother has launched a fundraising campaign to purchase additional nursing hours for her son, who has a life-limiting, very rare illness. A new group, Nurses for Jordan, has organised a fundraising event in the Mill Bar, Sixmilebridge on Friday, December 13 in aid of local boy Jordan Perez (5), who suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type Two. This will be just the start of a series of fundraising functions, which are required to purchase more nursing hours to meet his complex medical needs. SMA Type Two is part of a group of disorders that affect the control of muscle movements. It is caused by a loss of specialised nerve cells in the spinal cord and brainstem. Confined to a wheelchair, Jordan requires full-time care on a 24-hour basis. He was recently honoured as one of Ireland’s nine bravest children at Share a Dream’s National Children of Courage Awards at their Dream Ball in Clontarf Castle, Dublin. The …

FORMER Clare County Board GAA chairman Michael O’Neill will be among the candidates at the West Clare Fianna Fáil convention on Monday evening in the Armada Hotel at 8pm. Ennis Chamber chief executive, Doonbeg woman Rita McInerney, has also indicated she is very likely to stand. The convention will select candidates to run in the new West Clare constituency in the 2014 Local Elections. Nominations are open until Friday evening. Sitting county councillors Bill Chambers, Pat Keane and PJ Kelly have also been nominated, along with sitting Kilrush town councillor Tom Prendeville. It is believed three candidates will be selected from the old West Clare constituency, to run for Fianna Fáil in the new eight-seat constituency. However, it is unclear ifanyone else will be added to the possible list of three candidates, who are likely be joined in the same constituency by North Clare councillors Michael Hillery and Richard Nagle. Both are nominated by the north Clare branch, who will …