Sports

Sometimes there are no words to sum up outright dejection in a sporting context. Sunday was one of those days. Long before James Owens brought the misery to an official end, many of the Clare fans in the Gaelic Grounds had done so themselves as they streamed out towards the Caherdavin End. It summed up the mood of the day with many begging for the towel to be thrown in once Aaron Gillane fired to the roof of the net with ten minutes to go. In truth, it had been thrown in well before that with Limerick in total cruise control without so much as a glove being laid on them. They were fighting for their championship lives but Clare should have been scrapping for something much more important than that. This was a Clare team who had been humbled in their own back yard by Tipperary seven days previously and had been rightly challenged to prove that it was …

Chairman of Clare GAA Joe Cooney says any official review on Clare’s inter-county teams will not be held until after the season comes to an end. It comes as concerns were raised at this week’s county board meeting over recent results for the Clare senior hurling team which have left them fighting for their championship lives ahead of this weekend’s showdown with Cork in Cusack Park. Ruan’s Ger Lyons called for a review to be held to assess what has gone wrong in 2019. “Firstly I want to wish Clare the best of luck in their remaining game against Cork. As delegates to this board, I think it would be remiss of us not to be very concerned about the decline in their fortunes and their form in the past 6-8 months. When we consider the average standard of our intermediate and senior club championships and the outcomes of our minor and U-21 over the past five years, I think …

THE first of two days of Cumann na mBunscoil finals were held in Cusack Park today (Tuesday). Here is some of the action held at Clare GAA headquarters in Ennis.  

Clare get their 2019 Kennedy Cup campaign underway this evening (Tuesday) as the Banner youngsters bid to make their mark on the national stage. They are managed by Ciaran Ryan who feels they are ready for what is to come. He said: “It is getting exciting now. Like all squads it has been tough selecting 20 players having worked with so many talented boys over the last few years , and like all squads we have had injuries and some are very unlucky to miss out but the boys that are in are going well and are fit and looking forward to it. You hope to learn every day. I have seen a good few Kennedy cups over the years and one thing I’ve learnt is 20 players are needed. We have tried to come in with 20 players ready and able to do a job. They have been given the same game time all through so we aren’t relying …

We talk Clare v Limerick on this week’s podcast and ask how the Banner can try and turn the season around. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/634551573?secret_token=s-M3POe” 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” /]

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? …