Sports

Eoghan Moloney AS the curtain draws on what has been a forgettable year for Clare hurling, on and off the field, it is worth taking stock of where Clare hurling is, as it approaches a critical crossroads in 2020. While the inter-county season of 2019 came to an end with a defiant defeat of Cork, it marked the end of Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor’s tenure at the helm after three years. It was a year that had peaks and troughs but the lows certainly obscured any highs that were achieved. Two embarrassing defeats to Tipperary and Limerick left a sour taste in many a mouth, with heated discussions and calls for widespread change endemic within the county. On the club scene, Clare’s senior and intermediate champions, Sixmilebridge and Broadford, bowed out in their first games in the Munster championship, suffering defeats of 12 and 17 points respectively. After their defeat to Ballygunner, Sixmilebridge manager Tim Crowe speculated as to …

Clare have been dealt a hammer blow ahead of the 2020 intercounty football season. The Clare Champion understands that captain Gary Brennan will not be part of the panel for the coming year. The Clondegad man is believed to have informed the panel this week that he will not be available for the campaign, which gets underway when they defend their McGrath Cup title next month. The St Flannans based teacher has been a key figure in the rise of Clare’s fortunes in recent times, and lifted the Division 3 title in Croke Park in 2016. It means Colm Collins will be without his captain along with Jamie Malone (travelling), Sean O’Donoghue (returned to USA) and Aaron Fitzgerald (knee injury).

Munster GAA has confirmed that Clare will not have any representatives in this year’s Munster Junior club hurling championship. Clonlara were crowned champions in Clare after their win over Kilmaley in the decider, but due to the fact that Clonlara are a senior club, they are not permitted to go forward for provincial action. Meelick and Ogonnelloe were the last two junior clubs standing in the Clare championship with both of those suffering quarter-final defeats at the start of September. It is understood while both were eligible to be considered for the championship, neither opted to take part. It is the second year running that this scenario has happened with no Clare club going forward either in 2018. The Clare representatives were due to take on either Kilgarvan of Kerry or Russell Rovers from Cork in the Munster semi-final, with those two meeting in Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney this Sunday. Clare referee Rory McGann will take charge of that contest which …

On this week’s podcast: Scariff Bay Community Radio match commentator Leo Doyle is our special guest as we reflect on a historic weekend for Scariff-Ogonnelloe as they claimed the Munster senior club camogie title. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/711723568?secret_token=s-kCAjc” params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Concerns surrounding the programme for the 2019 Clare senior hurling final were raised at the October meeting of Clare GAA. Chairman of Sixmilebridge GAA club Paddy Meehan expressed his disappointment with the program, and queried if it should be kept as solely a match program rather than a review of the year. The move to incorporate a yearbook element along with the county final programme was introduced as an attempt to revive the end of year publication which had been flagging in sales in recent years. This year and last year saw the county final program in both hurling and football also incorporate a review of the inter-county and club seasons, a step which had been praised in many quarters. An issue arose this year with the hurling final programme where a printing error saw the Kilmaley team photo used instead of the Cratloe team photo, with supplementary pages being printed for inclusion once the mistake had been identified. Those …

Munster Senior Football Club Championship Quarter-Final: Miltown, St Joseph’s 1-11 Rathgormack (Waterford) 0-11. AIB market the club championships as The Toughest, and it was easy to see why in Hennessey Park on Sunday afternoon as the Clare champions battled their way to a last four spot. The crowd of 1,816 that braved the bitingly cold breeze were treated to a tense affair as two evenly matched sides produced a thriller. The Deise outfit had to play the final quarter with 14 men after corner back Cathal Crowch picked up a second yellow card, but they rallied to kick the last two scores of the game to force extra-time. Throughout the normal time period, there were never more than two points between the sides and they shared parity on six different occasions, including at the end of 60 minutes. It might have held dry until the final whistle was blown, but a strong Atlantic winter breeze that cut across the field …

CLARE GAA county board have asked an Garda Síochána to launch an investigation into the online abuse directed at various county board officials, and in particular Clare GAA secretary Pat Fitzgerald. According to reports in The Irish Independent, Joe Cooney, Clare county board chairman confirmed the complaint had been lodged with the Gardaí. Cooney, in speaking to the Irish Independent said, “A complaint has been lodged with Clare GAA by an employee (Pat Fitzgerald). It arises from social media and what has been put up on it, not alone over the last couple of months but the last number of years. “Other officers of Clare GAA have also been badly maligned on social media. It’s not good enough for people working as volunteers for the GAA whether at club or county level to be subjected to that. In fact, it’s a disgrace. “It has been going with Pat for a while back, but other officers have been getting it very …

After putting Clare senior football titles back to back for the first time in 116 years, St Joseph’s Miltown begin their quest for successive Munster final appearances this Sunday. David O’Brien’s charges welcome newly crowned Waterford champions Rathgormack to Hennessey Park in Miltown for a provincial quarter-final, with the Deise outfit having captured their first county title in 20 years with victory over Ballinacourty three weeks ago. Miltown captured their 15th title with victory over Kilmurry Ibrickane in a dramatic replay and O’Brien admits the effort involved on both days took its toll. “It has been good and there has been a great buzz around the place. We more or less took the week off after it because there were a lot of tired bodies and probably more so tired minds after what was effectively three weeks of a county final as it turned out. Lads were just wrecked and there was just that huge relief at the final whistle …