Sports

He might be retired from inter-county hurling, but Cian Dillon has lost none of the competitive streak that made him such a warrior for Clare. The Crusheen man brought the curtain down on a career stretching back to 2007, and he has very vivid memories of the first day he got the call up to the county squad. He said: “It was in Mike Mac’s first year, back in ’07. We had just lost narrowly in the county final to Tulla and within two weeks of that match I was called in. I actually got a letter at the time calling me in to go training. I hadn’t really played at any level for Clare at the time, I think I had only one year on the U21 panel and I had never played for the minors. I had only played two years senior with the club at the time but we had a good year that year and I …

PS Chorca Dhuibhne 1-5 St Flannan’s 1-3 St Flannan’s suffered a heart-breaking defeat in this Corn ui Mhuiri (Munster A Colleges Football) quarter-final on Wednesday afternoon. The Ennis side were two points clear heading into injury time, when a long ball into the heart of their defence bounced in the square. PCD corner-forward Ruairi Ó Beaglaoich managed to reach highest to tap the ball over the line and send his side into the last four. It was cruel on a St Flannan’s side who fought bravely throughout with a massive defensive effort stifling the holders attack for large periods. The Kerry side had the elements at their backs in the first half, and opened the scoring with a point through Cillian Falvey. St Flannan’s pounced for their goal just minutes later, when Cian McDonough picked out Darren O’Brien with a brilliant cross-field pass. The Eire Óg man made no mistake with a low finish across the keeper to send his …

St Flannan’s are preparing to take on the defending champions in the quarter-final of the Corn Uí Mhuirí on Wednesday afternoon. The Ennis side will take on Kerry outfit Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, with the Dingle-based side managed by former Kingdom boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice. It is a busy time for their Corn Uí Mhuirí manager and PE teacher Gary Brennan. The Clare senior football captain is preparing for the opening round of the National Football League against Donegal, but said while his free time is limited, it is an enjoyable time of year. “This date has been a target for us since we qualified in late November. Earlier in the year, it was harder to get lads together because they were tied up with their clubs but we have them since that. They’ve put in a huge effort to get themselves in right shape for the game and we are confident they are ready.” St Flannan’s had comfortable wins over High …

Munster GAA has confirmed the dates for the 2019 Bord Gais Energy Munster GAA Hurling Under 20 Championship and the 2019 EirGrid GAA Football Under 20 Munster Championship. These games will take place in July 2019 to accommodate players sitting the Leaving Cert exams in June or 3rd Level College exams in May. Clare will be in action in the U20 Hurling Championship semi-final on Wednesday July 10th when they will travel to take on the winners of the Cork v Limerick quarter-final. The Banner will also be on the road in the U20 Football Championship, as they take on Waterford in the quarter-final on Tuesday July 2nd. Should they come through that tie, they’ll face Cork at a Clare venue in the last four. It has also been confirmed that the curtain raisers for the Munster Senior Football Championship Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals will be games in the TG4 Munster Ladies Football Senior and Intermediate Championship. This will see each …

Coming up on this week’s show: The lads look back on the weekend action and there’s another quiz to get the brain working.

A strong second half display proved crucial as Clare beat Tipperary by 4-19 to 1-18 in the Munster Hurling League Final. A brilliant 35 metre sideline cut from Jason Forde in front of the Mackey Stand opened the first half scoring before Colin Guilfoyle showed great strength to shrug off Padraic Maher and finish over his shoulder to level proceedings. The Premier then hit four unanswered points with Seamus Callanan on target twice from placed balls while there were good scores from play through Forde and Alan Flynn to leave Liam Sheedy’s side 0-5 to 0-1 clear after the opening 15 minutes. Cathal McInerney reacted quickest after a long ball from Aidan McCarthy was misjudged by the Tipperary defence and the Cratloe man made no mistake from close range to hammer home. The impressive Diarmuid Ryan then finished a point that was all of his own making, before Tony Kelly began a sweeping move involving Michael O’Neill and McInerney. McInerney …

Newmarket Celtic are bidding to move one step closer to the FAI Junior Cup title this weekend. Liam Murphy takes his charges to Cooke Park in Tipperary on Sunday for a sixth round tie with the home side St Michael’s, with the Clare champions holding the upperhand in this rivalry in recent times. It is the third time in quick succession that these sides have met, with Newmarket coming through on both previous occasions after a penalty shootout. They warmed up for Sunday’s tie with an emphatic 7-0 win over Bridge United in the Munster Junior Cup last weekend and Irish junior international Eoin Hayes feels the squad are in a good place ahead of the trip to Tipp. “It was a good win and really helped us tune up for St Michael’s. We got lads out onto the pitch because we know St Michael’s will offer a very different test, so it was important to get game time because …

If there was an award for ‘Resurgent Team of the Year’, Kilmaley would be wide margin winners for 2018. Relegated from senior in 2016, they cruised to intermediate success in 2017 and pushed Cratloe to the brink in the 2018 senior semi-final, narrowly losing out by a point. One of the key players through their fall and resurrection has been Mikey O’Neill. The 26-year-old primary school teacher is now getting his reward for such endeavours by being granted consecutive starts on the Clare senior team against Cork and Waterford. While O’Neill did not score, he was influential, causing havoc at every turn and was effective when dropped back towards the middle of the park in the second half of the Waterford game. O’Neill admits he thought he had scored a goal, only for Waterford ’keeper Billy Nolan to make a stunning acrobatic save to tip the shot away at the last minute. “I thought he was way further out than …