Sports

National Ladies Football League Division 2B Round 1 Clare 0-12 Wexford 1-8 CLARE got their League campaign off to a winning start in Cusack Park, rallying against a formidable Wexford side to come from behind in the second half to snatch the win by a single point, reports Muireann Duffy. Clare had a commanding start to the opening half, taking the challenge to Wexford who took longer to find their feet. A direct attacking style suited the homeside, who made easy work of cutting straight through Wexford’s defence, but the roles would be reversed in the second half. Fidelma Marrinan caused an early headache for Paul Carty’s side, proving a strong attacking threat and pointing two frees in the opening 10 minutes, but unforced Clare errors at the other end of the pitch quickly gave Wexford their way into the match. Claiming four points from frees, Wexford put themselves ahead in the 13th minute despite Clare playing the better football. …

Allianz Football League Division 2 South Round 2 Clare 1-13 Kildare 0-13 at Newbridge ONCE again Newbridge brings drama as Clare with a superb effort over 70 minutes using their substitutes brilliantly and with Eoin Cleary coming up with pressure cooker points Clare maintained a winning record in this year’s Allianz league, reports Michael O’Connor. Had Clare managed just a share of the spoils they would have made the journey home very disappointed as they were without the better side and face into Cork in Cusack Park with everything to play for. At the end of the first quarter Clare were (0-6) to (0-3) in arrears after a early positive start by Clare was matched by Kildare capitalising on frees conceded by the Clare rearguard. The Banner men at times in the first 15 minutes met a strong disciplined Kildare rearguard who forced Clare into errors. There was a flurry of scores in the first ten minutes with successful efforts …

Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group B Round 3 Laois v Clare at MW Hire O’Moore Park Portlaoise, Sunday 3pm (Patrick Murphy, Carlow) With Clare being one of only three teams yet to register a point in Division 1 alongside Laois and Westmeath, the relegation trapdoor candidates will become a lot clearer following this Sunday’s showdown in Portlaoise. In reality, Clare should have won their opening two ties and have the potential to also beat their remaining trio of opponents in Laois, Dublin and Kilkenny. However, even in terms of kickstarting their season and rebuilding confidence ahead of the start of the championship in five weeks time, a victory this Sunday is just what the doctor ordered. One thing’s for sure, Brian Lohan and his management team are certainly finding out a lot about their players after two soul searching defeats but there are still plenty of positional and personnel boxes to be ticked on the Banner’s pre-championship checklist. Injuries …

National Camogie League Division 1 Round 2 Limerick 2-14 Clare 1-11 A NERVY relegation series is Clare’s lot after disappointingly falling to neighbours Limerick in their concluding group stage outing in Fr.McNamara Park on Saturday afternoon, reports Eoin Brennan. Sorely second best for the opening three-quarters of the tie, the Banner never reached the encouraging heights of their opening performance against Galway seven days previously. 0-4 to 0-3 in favour of the visitors by the first water break, a blistering second quarter ensured that Limerick put themselves firmly in the driving seat as they outscored their hosts by 2-6 to 0-4, with Caoimhe Costelloe firing both goals including a 28th minute penalty to carve out a 2-10 to 0-07 interval cushion. With the conditions to come, Clare’s expected fightback never really materialised as five goal chances of varying degrees of difficulty went abegging. Instead, a superior Limerick, who were making their competitive bow for 2021, maintained their nine point advantage …

Allianz Football League Division 2 South Round 2 Kildare v Clare at St Conleth’s Park Newbridge, Sunday 2pm (Fergal Kelly, Longford) It’s Newbridge or nowhere for Clare this Sunday as fresh from the timely jolt of a comprehensive opening win over Laois, Colm Collins’ side are gunning to finally break their Lilywhite hoodoo. Successive National League defeats at the Kildare venue in 2016, ’17 and ’19 by an average margin of four points have created an unwanted pattern that they will be eager to redress this time around. After all, the carrot for the winners is a guaranteed place in the last four of Division 2 while for the hosts, a victory would also clinch top spot in the group that includes a semi-final showdown with the runners-up in the Northern half of the divide. There were eerie similarities between Clare and Kildare’s first round successes as both had impressive debutants in Daniel Walsh and Alex Beirne who could well …

National Camogie League Division 3 Round 2 Clare 3-11 Waterford 1-09 CLARE deservedly bounced back to winning ways when timely goals ensured the hosts kickstarted their season in Fr McNamara Park in Ennis this afternoon, reports Eoin Brennan. A first home tie in seven months, nothing but a victory would suffice for the Banner to remain in contention for a Division 3 Semi-Final spot. That extra pressure did surface momentarily but thanks to an early brace of Sarah Loughnane goals and a crucial clinching strike through Sinead O’Keeffe by the two-thirds marks to catapult Clare to their opening points of 2021. Loughnane displayed the full array of skills as her rebound goal after only six minutes was bettered by a worthy two point converted sideline cut from 40 metres in the next passage of play. The Sixmilebridge player did receive a large dollop of luck for her second goal by the ninth minute that appeared to sneak into the right …

Clare v Wexford at Cusack Park Ennis, Sunday 2pm (Shane Curley, Galway) Realistically, with away trips to senior sides Meath and Kerry to come in the coming weeks, this is Clare’s best chance to grab an early positive result and set their stall out for what could legitimately be a lucrative season ahead. Clare have been embroiled in some compelling battles with Wexford in recent seasons, most notably the 2018 group decider in Cahir that saw Fidelma Marrinan (3) and Laurie Ryan (2) raid for goals to power the Banner into the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals and the subsequent revenge mission twelve months later in the opening round when Wexford stunned their hosts with their own goalfest in Doonbeg. However, while Wexford failed to reach the business end of last year’s All-ireland Intermediate Championship for the first time since re-emerging to the grade as Junior champions in 2014, on the flip side, Clare were on the up after contesting a first semi-final …

Exciting times for Clare Ladies Football both on and off the field were confirmed this week with news that Rengen Power, an Ennis-based renewable energy company, were coming on board as the flagship team’s main sponsor for the next three years. Based on the theory that a rising tide lifts all boats, the endorsement of a big sponsor will hopefully be reflected where it matters most according to new Clare Ladies Football Chairman Sean Lenihan who has been working tirelessly to ensure that success breeds success for the county in 2021 and beyond. “To be the best that you can be requires considerable expense and despite the high levels of volunteerism involved, the costs of running a county wide organisation are significant.  “While I am somewhat biased admittedly, I think that Clare Ladies Football is a fantastic brand and many organisations and companies are seeing the benefits of being involved with Ladies Football.  “So we are delighted to be partnering …