Sports

Tributes have been flooding in after the passing of former Portsmouth great and Clare man Mick Kennedy. The former Republic of Ireland international passed away last weekend at 57 years of age, having spent his later years in Ennistymon. Mick’s parents hailed from Kilmaley, and moved to Salford where Mick was born in 1961. His first club was Halifax, and during his career he made over 500 league appearances for 10 different clubs. Described as the quintessential hard-man in midfield, Kennedy was known for his no nonsense style. Portsmouth was where he came to real prominence, after he was signed by the then manager Alan Ball for a fee of £100,000. He quickly became a cult figure at the club, and captained his beloved Pompey to the First Division in 1987. He made 144 appearances for Portsmouth, and in 2018 was inducted into their Hall of Fame. Mick also came to the attention of Irish manager Jack Charlton during this …

On this weeks podcast: It’s a football special as we focus on Clare’s win over Cork in the NFL with former Clare boss Micheal McDermott. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/573679899″ 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” /]

1-7 from David Tubridy helped Clare to a second successive National League victory over Cork in this Division Two encounter as Clare ran out winners by 3-13 to 1-10. The Doonbeg veteran took less than a minute to get on the scoresheet, with Jamie Malone playing a teasing ball across the Cork goalmouth which Tubridy palmed to the net. Cork responded with a point from Matthew Taylor, but great work from Clare captain Gary Brennan saw Conal O hAinifein thunder into space and finish a brilliant shot low to the Cork net to put the Banner into the driving seat. Cork hit back with the next two scores to leave just three between the sides, but this was as close as they would get. Tubridy notched a brace which was answered by Stephen Cronin, but another Banner double through Dale Masterson and Dean Ryan left Clare 2-4 to 0-4 clear with ten minutes to go to the break. Luke Connolly …

A polished performance from Ennis saw them claim the Munster Girls U18 Conference A title with a well deserved victory over their Tipperary opponents on a 28-13 scoreline. It comes just two years after girls rugby was introduced by the club, with a number of the panel also catching the eye of the Munster Development Squad coaches in the past 12 months. The Clare side were always in control of the game at Irish Independent Park, and raced into a 14-0 lead midway through the opening half with two brilliant tries from the impressive Chisom Ugwueru. Both tries came after good work at the breakdown by the Ennis pack, as they pressured their opponents into conceding possession, before Ugwueru pounced on the loose balls to dance clear under the posts. Ennis full-back Aoibhin Donnelly was in good form from the tee and landed both conversions to leave her side well in control as the half-time whistle loomed. Credit to Carrick-on-Suir …

Clare and Cork go head to head in round three of the National Football League Division Two in Cusack Park this Sunday at 2pm. Both sides come into the game having picked up one point from their opening two games, with the Rebels drawing against Fermanagh in Enniskillen before losing out to Kildare in Pairc ui Chaiomh. Kilmurry Ibrickane’s Keelan Sexton will be central once more to the Clare challenge as they look to build on last weekend’s draw against Armagh, but he says being without his club-mate Dermot Coughlan is a huge blow. “You hate seeing injuries like that happen and it is such a pity that it had to happen to him. He’s just after coming in to the panel and it’s only his second league game. He’s an outstanding player and it was awful to see it happen. I know Dermot very well and I have no doubt that once he gets on the mend, he will …

Clare travel to Wexford this Sunday as they bid to pick up more vital points in their Ladies National Football League Division Two campaign. A storming first-half performance almost saw the Banner off to the perfect start against Kerry last weekend, before a late rally from the Kingdom saw them take a share of the spoils. Clare management and players have made no secret of their ambition to reach the semi-finals of this year’s league, and a point against one of the favourites to win the title outright will do their chances no harm at all. Clare boss James Murrihy admits while they are delighted to have picked up their first point, it’s a bittersweet feeling that it wasn’t more. “On one hand we gained a point but on the other you could say that we lost two. The overriding feeling is that we would have asked the girl for work-rate and to have a good attitude heading into the …

It is a busy time for the students of St Anne’s Community College in Killaloe. Mock exams start this week as the big build up to June gathers pace, and there’s the small matter of a Munster Colleges Hurling final to be dealt with too. If second-level schools are the mould in which the character of future generations are formed, then the students in Killaloe are in safe hands. Not only are they juggling academic and sporting commitments, but for four of them, a trip to Missionvale in South Africa to volunteer their time and services is also on the horizon. Two of the those students, Dylan McMahon and James Power, are due to fly out on Saturday February 16th, which was the original date of their Munster Colleges Final against Borrisokane. After some negotiations between the two schools, it was agreed to bring the game forward by a week that both players wouldn’t have to miss out on one …

A huge weekend lies in store for Ennis Rugby Club, as their U18 Girls side go in search of Munster glory. They make the trip to Irish Independent Park in Cork to face Carrick on Suir in the Munster Club League final. The game kicks off at 2.30pm and will be live streamed on clarechampion.ie What makes it all the more remarkable is that it comes just a year after the girls section of Ennis RFC was revived, and they now stand on the brink of provincial silverware.   Their coach is John Colleran, and he says it has been a brilliant journey so far. “We started last year with two teams, we fielded U-16 and U-18 sides and a got a huge response. We had no idea how popular and successful it was going to be. We had upwards of 80 girls who turned up to play and from that, we planned out the year. We didn’t play in …