Sports

Clare Senior Football Championship Preview Knockout championship football lies in store this weekend with the losers of the six ties in the senior and intermediate grades seeing 2020 come to an end. The first three semi-finalists in both grades will also be decided as Derrick Lynch looks ahead to a fascinating weekend in store. SFC Winners Round Kilmurry Ibrickane v Eire Óg This fixture would have made for an outstanding county final, and while Jack Daly won’t be given to the winners of this tie, it is still a must win game for both to keep that dream of lifting the famous cup alive. Eire Óg were impressive in the manner they went about their business in the opening round with a ruthless display against a young Kilrush side. The other side of that coin is that Paul Madden will have learned very little about his squad as it was a championship win at a canter. On the other hand, …

MUNSTER Rugby said this afternoon (Thursday, August 13), they have been assisting an Academy player within the wider training squad who has tested positive for Covid-19. A statement said that, “As a precautionary measure the squad and Academy did not train today at the HPC and Thomond Park”. The club said the individual concerned immediately self-isolated on development of symptoms on Sunday last, and that HSE have been contacted and the contact tracing process has commenced. “In taking all precautions, Munster Rugby have immediately identified five Academy players and one senior player as potential close contacts from social and household settings and the six players have already commenced self-isolating,” their statement said. “The province will await further guidance from the HSE in this regard.” The senior squad will return to the HPC on Monday to complete the third phase of the IRFU’s routine PCR testing and resume preparations for the Guinness PRO14 encounter against Leinster. Test results will be released …

Clare IHC Wrap Up St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 1-19 Newmarket-on-Fergus 1-11 ST JOSEPH’S Doora-Barefield saw off Newmarket-on-Fergus to book their spot in the last eight of the intermediate championship with a bit to spare in Sixmilebridge on Saturday afternoon. David Conroy landed 0-9 in a stellar display at midfield while a late Tom Hannan goal was the deciding score of the game. The score line would have been much more favourable to St Joseph’s were it not for the excellent goalkeeping of Paudie Guilfoyle, who pulled off three excellent saves to keep his team competitive until the final quarter. The Parish started much the better with Davy Conroy, Jack Hannan, Conor Tierney and Cian Barron all slotting over points and seeing them lead 0-5 to 0-1 after ten minutes. Newmarket then came to life and a Niall Enright goal saw them draw level. Three Davy Conroy points and one from Cian Barron saw St Joseph’s back into the lead while Darren …

Derrick Lynch The 2020 Clare GAA club championships are set to continue over the coming weeks with some alterations to planned fixtures in light of the confirmation of cases of Covid-19 at Cratloe GAA. Clubs this week gave their backing to some championship games being postponed for two weeks in order to allow both Cratloe and Clondegad GAA clubs to complete their isolation periods. Six cases of the virus have now been confirmed by Cratloe, with 40 individuals who attended a training session on Bank Holiday Monday all having been tested for the virus. Clondegad also confirmed their junior panel were self-isolating as a precautionary measure having played against Cratloe in the championship with one of the south-east Clare players from that fixture testing positive for Covid-19. Cratloe chairman Kevin Browne outlined to the meeting that the club were looking for period of grace until the weekend of August 22 in order to complete the isolation period and get back …

Derrick Lynch The 2020 Clare Ladies football championships get underway on Monday evening with games down for decision in the senior and intermediate divisions. After their maiden success last year, reigning champions Kilmihil will be bidding to follow up that historic success by defending their title, with the first step on that road coming against Doora Barefield in Gurteen. The holders are joined in their group by the Parish, and by the parish closest to them in the form of last year’s intermediate champions Cooraclare. Having led Kilmihil to their first title last year, the management team of Kevin Callinan, David O’Brien and David Anglim are guiding the ship once more. Callinan is looking forward to another positive campaign, and doesn’t expect the mantle of champions to be one that brings any pressure with it. “It is a brand new experience for us to be coming out onto the field as county champions. We were long enough trying to get …

Broadford 0-17 Clonlara 0-15 A DOGGED display saw last year’s intermediate champions Broadford bravely defeat Clonlara in a sun-soaked Cusack Park this afternoon. Diarmuid Moloney was the star of the show for Broadford as he landed 0-10 (0-9f) to help Broadford edge the clash and cause the upset. The sides were evenly matched throughout the first half with free-takers Diarmuid Moloney and Micheál O’Loughlin landing most of the scores in a tit-for-tat battle. O’Loughlin started at a breakneck speed with two fine points from play in the first three minutes while Stiofán McMahon responded in kind, alongside Moloney frees. Neither team could get a grip on the game as the battle for supremacy resulted in both teams falling foul of the law regularly. Craig and Cathal Chaplin both chipped in with scores from the half-back line for Broadford while Ian Galvin, David Fitzgerald and Conor Bourke all found scores to keep Clonlara hot on Broadford’s heels. This ensured Broadford took …

Clare SHC: Feakle 5-20 Clarecastle 2-12 Feakle came to Cusack Park with an axe to grind after suffering defeat to the Magpies in the 2017 relegation decider, but by the time the final whistle blew it was well and truly buried. The East Clare side produced a ruthless display to power their way into the quarter-final draw with Shane McGrath firing 4-10 over the course of an impressive performance. The writing was on the cards early in the contest as Feakle raced into a 2-8 to 0-2 lead inside the opening quarter. McGrath raided for both his sides goals, with the first coming as he pounced on a break before lashing home a brilliant finish to the far corner. The second was all about persistence as he saw his initial effort hooked but he followed up to whip home and give his side 12 point cushion at the first water break. It was a young Clarecastle side, with nine of …

Clare SHC: Kilmaley 4-13 Wolfe Tones 1-17 An impressive performance from Kilmaley saw them overcome Wolfe Tones and seal their spot in the quarter-finals of the Clare SHC. A brace of goals for Daire Keane and Tom O’Rourke were the crucial scores with all bar two of their scores coming from play, while Conor Cleary’s commanding presence in the square also proved a crucial factor. Wolfe Tones were without Ben O’Gorman from their defence while captain Jamie Roughan also saw his day come to an early end as he picked up an injury The opening period mirrored the weather conditions with a blistering first half that produced 21 scores and saw Kilmaley narrowly in front. The tone was set as early as the 30th second when Tom O’Rourke crashed the ball to the Wolfe Tones net after an incisive pass from the impressive Daire Keane. Mikey O’Neill followed up with a tidy point from distance, but Wolfe Tones found their …