Sports

CLARE  0-13   LIMERICK 1-28 LIMERICK were in a different league to Clare this afternoon as they annihilated Clare in a dismal display from the Banner in the Gaelic Grounds. The Treaty comprehensively won both halves and won by 18 points to ensure that Clare will need a cricket score against Cork to advance to the All-Ireland series. Limerick started by far the quicker and were six points to one up after ten minutes, with Aaron Gillane responsible for three of these Limerick points. Clare were yielding very little dividends from open play and relied upon the whistle of James Owens and the still nerve of Peter Duggan for the bulk of their scores. Duggan was indeed Clare’s only scorer in the first half, with one from play and seven frees. Both sides had goals chances with John Conlon denied by a brilliant Sean Finn Block from point blank while Duggan was expertly hooked by Declan Hannon to deny him a …

A late Clare surge was not enough to prevent a first loss of the Munster MHC campaign as Limerick took victory by 0-16 to 0-13. Limerick were largely in control in the opening half, and hit the first three scores without reply to establish early dominance. That lead was extended to 0-6 to 0-2 with ten minutes to go to the break, as a trio of impressive scores from Cathal O’Neill kept the Shannonsiders in the ascendancy. Clare had a goal chance sniffed out when Conner Hegarty’s shot was blocked and scrambled clear, with Limerick firing over a score in reply to keep their four point lead. A Keith Smyth free and a brilliant angled effort from Shane Meehan cut the gap to two as injury time began, and Cormac Murphy measured his shot to perfection to see just the minimum between the sides. Meehan and Smyth opened the second half scoring to give Clare the lead but O’Neill and …

Sunday’s 13-point loss to Tipperary was much more significant than just being another championship defeat. Whether people like to admit it or not, championship defeats are not a new experience for Clare hurling supporters. The pain of this defeat will subside as it always does, but when it does, it leaves a trail of questions behind it. Why did Clare allow Tipperary to win it as they pleased? Why was Tony Kelly spending spells in the full-back and full-forward line while the middle third was being torn to shreds? Why did Clare opt to employ a sweeper when chasing a game with a gale force breeze at their backs? Why could we not trouble the Tipperary goal despite having one of the most dangerous attacks in the game? How did Clare not react sooner to curb the influence of John O’Dwyer? Why did Clare continually launch possession down on top of Paudie Maher and make a hero out of him? …

On this week’s podcast: Derrick Lynch is joined by Joe Garry, Fergie O’Loughlin & Peter O’Connell to review the sporting weekend. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/631613814?secret_token=s-PfWPh” 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” /]

Munster SHC: Clare 0-17  Tipperary 3-21 A powerful display from Tipperary saw them cruise to a 13 point win over Clare in Cusack Park. It leaves the Banner fighting for their championship lives ahead of a trip to take on Limerick next weekend. Jason Forde opened scoring with a free from midfield in the first minute but was closely followed by a cracker from Diarmuid Ryan. Both teams settled quickly and Seamie Callanan and Podge Collins added their names to the scoreboard to make it two apiece. David Fitzgerald then fired over a point from midfield before Seamie Callanan notched his first score. Bubbles O’Dwyer has been a man in form this year and he soon sent over a beauty to see Tipp lead early. Peter Duggan then opened the shoulders and bisected the posts from 70m out to make it four points each in an enthralling encounter. Seamie Callanan and Brendan Maheer then edged Tipp ahead before a Duggan …

Clare picked up their second win of the Munster MHC campaign with a strong performance against Tipperary in Cusack Park to register a 2-13 to 1-9 victory. Clare led at the break by 1-5 to 0-4 having played against a stiff breeze in the opening period. The sides were level on three different occasions in the first quarter with Cian Galvin’s long range free leaving it at 0-3 each after 15 minutes. A Keith Smyth free opened the scoring for Clare with Tipperary captain John Campion cancelling it out. The impressive Tony Butler landed a good score from distance with Jack Leamy answering from a similar distance out. Colm Fogarty punished sloppy Clare defending to give them the lead for the first and only time of the opening period, but Galvin nailed a brilliant strike from almost 60 metres out to restore parity. From here Clare dominated, but both sides were wasteful as they registered nine wides each in what …

Crusheen’s Cian Dillon announced his retirement from inter-county hurling earlier this year after a stellar career with the Banner that saw him pocket a Celtic Cross in 2013. Dillon was a tough-as-teak defender and believes that the Clare side that take to the field on Sunday must be of a similar constitution if they are to reign victorious over Tipperary. “The squad will be happy with the manner of the win the first day, I think. They will be disappointed that they didn’t kick on in the last 10 minutes, but they will still feel like there is plenty still in the tank. “There will be no illusions about the task at hand and the task the management face is to get the players back grounded and focussed on the task at hand. They will have been happy with the three-week break and the fact they are now facing into their first home game, so there are plenty positives from …

Clare’s minor hurlers got their Munster championship off to a flyer with an away victory over Waterford and they now face a tough battle against neighbours Tipperary this afternoon. The youngsters will aim to get the day off to a perfect start as they are the curtain-raiser for the senior game, and manager Fergal Lynch says his squad are flying since their opening win. “We put a huge effort into getting ourselves right for the first game as we thought we would have to win at least one away game if we were to qualify, but our target now is to push on and make sure we’re ready for Tipperary this weekend. “We have looked at the strengths of Tipperary but we have also looked at our own strengths and what we are trying to do is get the very best from our own players. Now, whether we go with an extra defender or play with a flat 15, we …