Sports

Clare Senior Hurling Manager Brian Lohan is relishing a return to Croke Park for only the second time since 2013. He spoke with Ivan Smyth about lessons learned from last year’s trip to GAA HQ. The similarities are obvious. Akin to 2022, Clare face in to an All Ireland semi final against Kilkenny after bouncing back from a Munster final defeat to Limerick. Facing off against the third placed team in Leinster in an All-Ireland quarter-final adds to the sense of déjà vu so far in this year’s journey to GAA HQ. The semi final showdown last year was only Clare’s second appearance in Croke Park since the 2013 All-Ireland final. There is a greater sense of cautious optimism among the Clare hurling fraternity with manager Brian Lohan expressing his view that the squad have gained valuable insights from last year’s journey. “I think we are in a different place to last year. We invested a lot of energy in …

U-15B Hurling final Tulla 1-12 Crusheen/Tubber 1-5 A spirited showing by Crusheen/Tubber troubled but ultimately did not upset Tulla as they held on with a dominant second half showing to ensure a Feile and county championship double to bookend their hurling season, writes Michael O’Connor. Late October weather and a bad version of same greeted both teams onto the hallowed surface of Cusack Park on Thursday evening for this renewal of the Under 15B championship, Tulla who were the unbackable favourites for this title since the turn of the year took on the side they dispatched with ease in the Feile B final in Caherlohan in mid Spring. Due to the conditions and the A final at 745 this game started five minutes earlier in a wise move by referee Robert Harte. The game was on 10 seconds and Cathal McNamara who is tremendous dual player having led St Breckans to 15B football glory blasted past Patrick Murphy after a …

Under 15A Hurling Championship Final Sixmilebridge 2-11 Ballyea 1-8 A powerful finish ensured that Sixmilebridge maintained their current superiority to garner the Under 15A Hurling honours in Cusack Park on Thursday evening, writes Eoin Brennan. The defending Under 14A champions were full value for their latest victory too, having led for the final three-quarters of the tie before finally seeing off a resilient Ballyea with a clinching last gasp goal through substitute Conor Gleeson. Amidst incessant rain, a low-scoring final duel sparked into life entering the final minutes when a Sixmilebridge counter-attack yielded the opening goal as Dylan McInerney centred to Stephen Gavin to shake off the defensive cover and fire to the net at 1-10 to 0-8. True to form, Ballyea refused to panic but a potential lifeline would be dashed four minutes later when a Dara Kennedy penalty, earned by his midfield partner Evan Cleary, was superbly tipped away by goalkeeper Conor Keogh at his right hand post. …

Bridgetown’s Moya Ryan will compete in a European Games quarter final after her and doubles partner Joshua Magee won their opening two group games. The Irish pair face the number one seed from France Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue in Poland today (Thursday) to see which outfit will top their group. With two teams progressing from each of the four groups, Ryan and Magee have already done enough to book their quarter final spot. On Monday they defeated the Italian pairing of Gianmarco Bailetti and Martina Cossini 21-14 21-13 as they built up early leads and managed to keep their composure to hold on in both games. The following day the pair produced a scintillating opening game to down Milan Dratva and Katarina Vargova 21-5. The Slovakian pairing were always set to fight back but Ryan and Magee secured another straight sets win as they took game two 21-15. The quarter finals will take place on Friday morning. Should Ryan …

The Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) has been left frustrated by repeated acts of vandalism at Frank Healy Park. The Doora based facility has been repeatedly targeted by vandals for a year. Since last summer, fencing has been destroyed, doors broken and the mail box repeatedly damaged. The acts of vandalism started when a door into a storage area of the dressing rooms was broken in to roughly a year ago. This has led to a progression of incidents which has left those involved in Clare soccer deeply frustrated. On Monday, the CDSL published a statement about the repeated intrusions at the County Grounds when the home dressing room door was severely damaged. The statement by the CDSL notes: “Finally this morning the home dressing room door was discovered to have been broken in. This is simply mindless vandalism as nothing of any significant value is kept in these buildings. They are dressing rooms and a small kitchen, noting more. …

Eoghan Gunning has been named Electric Ireland Minor Hurler of the Year with six Clare hurlers named in the Minor Hurling Team of the Year. Clare produced a memorable run to lift the Irish Press Cup as they became the first side from the county to win both the provincial and All Ireland titles in the same season. Gunning and James Hegarty have been named on the Team of the Year once more after receiving the same honour in 2022 when Clare progressed through to the All Ireland semi final stage. A cornerstone of Clare’s run to glory has been their defensive solidity. Four of the Banner rearguard have been named in the team. Eoghan Gunning, Ronan Keane, Matthew O’Halloran and James Hegarty all received the nod. Michael Collins and Marc O’Brien have been included in the team off the back of their consistent displays this season. Gunning was named Hurler of the Year after a string of top quality …

Clare’s ladies footballers will face Westmeath in the TG4 All Ireland quarter-finals. Wayne Freeman’s charges will enjoy home advantage after finishing top of their four team group. They survived the concession of two late goals against Tyrone to ensure they secured top spot and a home quarter-final. This clash with Westmeath will rekindle memories of the sides’ meeting two years ago at the same stage of the competition. On that occasion the Leinster outfit emerged with a 3-11 to 2-11 win. Goals from Niamh O’Dea and Chloe Towey were not enough for a Clare side that endured a slow start, which proved costly in the finish. Clare trailed by eight points near the conclusion of the half and by six points after 40 minutes, yet they came close to mounting a memorable comeback. They managed to get within a point of a Westmeath side that managed to secure All-Ireland glory that year but two late frees saw the Leinster side …

‘You gave us hope. You made us dream. You filled us with confidence. The ultimate players’ manager. Thank you for everything Colm, you are a special man. As the old saying goes, we were never playing for Clare, we were playing for Colm Collins.’ Success is measured in many different ways and by many different metrics, depending on the county and on the code. So it is that we view the Clare football team through a very different prism than we do the hurlers, never mind comparing the Banner County with rivals from across the county boundary. For the hurlers a championship title is what they’re measured by – be it Munster or All-Ireland. Put simply, one of them is demanded and expected because of what the 1995-98 era gave us and what the bolt from the blue in ‘13 provided this generation and onto the next. It’s different for the footballers, even allowing for the fact that the big …