Sports

On Saturday afternoon the ladies of Ennis/Kilrush rugby club will square off against Leinster champions Tullow for a place in the All Ireland final where ultimate glory would lead to promotion to the All Ireland League. This is truly fairytale stuff considering up until two years ago there was no adult ladies team. Limerick native Gareth O’Hanlon who resides in Clonlara was approached by representatives and players of both clubs and he openly admits their rise has been nothing short of sensational. “Both the clubs of Ennis and Kilrush have had great underage structures and success for many a year but once girls turned 18 there was no outlet for them to continue playing rugby at adult level unless they went into Limerick or down to Cork,” he said. “In terms of numbers, neither club had enough to set up their own team never mind being anyway competitive so an amalgamation of both clubs seemed to be the way forward. …

Just moments after the full-time whistle the Clare Senior football manager was extremely disappointed with the performance of his side more so than the actual result. “We didn’t play well at all, whether that’s because Down are a really decent team I don’t know. Look it, Down were good but we were very flat. Even when we got the goal it gave us no real momentum. There was no pace to our play and I’m just disappointed with ourselves. There’s no denying that they are the best team in the division and deserve their promotion. It’s just a pity we couldn’t test them a bit more.” Once Down got their kick out away short it seemed that we were in trouble and couldn’t cope with their running game. “We weren’t getting across the pitch quick enough. I mean they got several points direct from their restarts especially in the first half and we tried to address that at half-time but …

Clare won’t be lacking in confidence going to Páirc Esler on Sunday as they shoot for Division 2 football for 2025, because history tells them the man from the Mournes are always beatable, writes Joe Ó Muircheartaigh. Hard to believe it’s 31 years ago now, but it’s worth reeling in the years to a memorable afternoon in February 1993 because when this Sunday comes it’s a reminder of what can be achieved when a group of footballers believe. More than that, when they are fully convinced. The last Sunday of the month it was, and to say there was a fever over football because of the Clare team of the day is putting it very mildly. The Banner Ballers were the only show in town, and one of the biggest draws in the country. Just a scan of some of the other big games that were on that same League Sunday proves this true. Mayo played Kerry in Crossmolina in …

Four Clare hurlers have been named on the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup Team of the Year. Feakle’s Adam Hogan, Diarmuid Ryan (Cratloe), The Banner’s Shane Meehan and Mark Rodgers (Scariff) have all been selected. Hogan, Ryan and Meehan were all part of the Mary I side that lifted the Fitzgibbon Cup for the third time in the college’s history after defeating UL by two points in last month’s final in Abbeydorney. Meanwhile, Rodgers captained the UL side that progressed through to the national decider. Coached by cousins Jamie Wall and Podge Collins, Mary I lifted the title for the first time since 2017. They led the way with seven representatives on the team with UL seeing four players selected. There are also three University of Galway hurlers named alongside one from SETU Waterford. Uachtarán CLG Jarlath Burns said: “Congratulations to the players and institutions whose immense efforts have been recognised in this year’s Electric Ireland Higher Education GAA Rising Stars Hurling Team of …

Full coverage of the opening round games in the Clare Cup as well as a look ahead to this weekend’s Cusack Cup and Garry Cup fixtures in this week’s Clare Champion. Broadford 3-12 – Tubber 1-15 Broadford following a successful 2023 with Junior A and retention of the U-21B hurling title travelled to Tubber on Friday evening with high hopes for a progressive 2024 and came away with a battling late three points to seal their opening win of the Clare Cup. The two shooting stars of the game were Broadford’s Craig Chaplin and Tubber’s Osgar Dunford and it was the Tubber 18 year old who had the opening score after seven minutes with Diarmuid Whelan back in the Broadford colours responding for his side. Joe Clancy saw a gilt-edged goal chance cannon off Broadford goalkeeper Cian O’Brien that saw the resultant 65’ converted by Lorcan O’Grady. Domhnall McMahon and Darren Chaplin traded points by the 15th minute before O’Grady …

Coláiste Muire will line out in the Pinergy Girls Schools U-19 Munster Senior Cup final next Wednesday after a whirlwind few weeks for the Ennis school. This is the first year that Coláiste Muire have fielded a rugby team with their progress nothing short of remarkable. The team has made an impressive entrance into the U-19A schools cup competition and are set to face off against Sacred Heart Clonakilty in the final. With Joint captains Lyndsey Clarke and Ellis O’Flaherty, who have represented Munster at underage level, at the helm, along with the experience of Orna Moynihan, Sally Kelly and Jennifer Weston, the team possesses quality operators and players who are willing to learn. While Coláiste Muire has achieved great success in music, debating, volleyball, Gaelic Games and athletics, the introduction of a ladies rugby team is another significant milestone. Despite the physicality of the game, respect is at the forefront of the sport as the Coláiste Muire players have …

Michael Liddane will proudly step out and represent this country this weekend in what will be a moment that will sit proudly in his distinguished footballing career. The long serving Naomh Eoin clubman is part of the Irish Over 40s squad that will play Australia in the Masters International Rules series this weekend down in Mayo. He will fly the Banner flag alongside Kieran Kennedy who is playing for the Over 50s game against their Southern Hemisphere rivals while Louise Henchy is part of the first ever Ladies Over 40s squad. The moment is undoubtedly a proud one for Liddane although he will not be the first member of his own family to don the green of Ireland. His daughter Leana has shone in surf lifesaving and has secured World and European medals with her father now aiming to make his own impression. “This caps it all off for me. I have played club, county and now after this weekend …

Another physically challenging encounter for the Clare manager to digest which saw his side, in his opinion, gain a point with the former Clare captain acknowledging that Wexford might feel it was an opportunity lost as they certainly were the better team for large spells. “It was a very tough physical game which we expected as this is always a really hard place to come. To be honest I don’t know whether Wexford will be happy with the draw but we have to be. Considering our performance in that first half we would have to be happy overall with the point. We were completely outfought in that entire first thirty five and Wexford won almost every single breaking ball. They dominated us physically and we weren’t happy at all with our performance. We spoke about it at the break and in fairness we did regroup.” Facing into the elements was always going to be challenging and we changed things up …