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It will be a clash of neighbours when these two go head to head for the first major hurling honours of 2019. For Kilmaley, it would be a third title to follow up their successes in 1981 and 2001 while the Combo go in search of their maiden crown. Both sides were impressive in reaching this stage with Kilmaley topping the group standings, just one point clear of their nearest rivals. Kilmaley have suffered just one loss this year, with that reversal coming early on against Clonlara on the same weekend that they had annexed the U-21 A crown. The Combo suffered two defeats en route to the decider, including a 3-16 to 0-13 loss against Kilmaley on the last weekend of May when both sides lined out without their county contingent. That result will have little or no bearing on this weekend’s showdown as both squads are in a much different gear now with championship on the horizon. This …

Conor Cleary is no stranger to lining out in finals for Kilmaley. It could even be argued that the Miltown Malbay native already has something of a storied history on big days for the club. His sideline cut to win the Minor A title against Clarecastle is still being spoken about while he was also the captain when they went on to win the U-21 title for just their second time in 2015. He went on to play a pivotal role as the club fought back from relegation to win the Clare intermediate title before going on to contest the Munster final with that one ending in the narrowest of defeats. 2018 saw them lose out in the Clare Cup final to Newmarket but now John Carmody’s side have a chance to make amends when they square off with neighbours Inagh-Kilnamona. The county star is hopeful they come out on the right side of the result. “The last few years …

Inagh-Kilnamona are just 60 minutes away from claiming the first senior silverware in the club’s history when they take on Kilmaley in this weekend’s Clare Cup final. The last decade has seen steady progress for the Combo since their decision to join under the one banner and a plethora of underage titles have been accrued in recent years. That success is starting to now filter through to senior level and manager Fergal Hegarty is pleased with 2019 has played out so far. “We just wanted to try and do as well as we could in the cup games and give some of the younger lads game time. We have reached the final now and that is really an added bonus. Everyone starts off the year looking at the championship but we have used the Clare Cup pretty well and we are happy to be in the position that we find ourselves in now. We have introduced some of the younger …

Clare minor hurling manager Fergal Lynch joined The Clare Champion’s Derrick Lynch to reflect on their season after an All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Galway saw the curtain come down on their year. The Clooney/Quin clubman also assessed what changes are needed in order to take Clare to the next level. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/655645646?secret_token=s-AFA0g” 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” /]

There are two more football league titles up for grabs this weekend. Division Three Football Final Preview: Shannon Gaels v Kilrush With promotion to the Garry Cup already secured for both these sides, silverware is the bonus prize on offer as the starting line for the championship starts to move into clear focus. It is the intermediate side who topped the Division Three standings with Shannon Gaels taking down their senior opponents by the minimum when they met in the final round. The result put the Gaels straight into the final and sent Kilrush head-first into a semi-final showdown with Naomh Eoin. That proved to be a contest which went all the way before the Shams left Cross with the win, and that more recent experience could prove crucial in this tie. The availability in recent weeks of county duo Gearoid O’Brien and Stephen Ryan will be a major bonus for Kilrush, and they will want to hit the ground …

The final management team for the 2019 Clare senior football championship has been confirmed. Former Clare minor and U-21 manager Joe Garry has been appointed to take charge of the Naomh Eoin-O’Curry’s group team. The Cooraclare clubman previously led the Banner to victory over Kerry in the Munster U-21 championship in 2007 and was part of the Sky Blue’s side that won Jack Daly in 1997. He is joined on the backroom team by Kilkee native Dermot Galvin, who is also part of the O’Curry’s management for their intermediate campaign. It’s understood that at least one more high-profile name will be added to the management set-up before the championship. The pensinsula based side are drawn in Group One for the senior championship where they will take on defending champions St Joseph’s Miltown along with the two most recent intermediate champions in the form of Kilrush and Kilmihil.

No definitive date has been agreed for the commencement of the Clare U-21 football club championships. A special meeting was held last week with the clubs involved and the majority voiced their opposition to starting the championship this weekend, which was the provisional date start date set out in the 2019 Master Fixtures. This led to a county board meeting being called in order to vote on changing the Master Fixtures and all bar one of the votes on the evening were in favour of deferring the start date to the first available date. Meanwhile the draws were made last Monday evening for this year’s U-21 football championship. The only preliminary round tie in the U-21A championship sees Ennistymon taking on Kilmurry Ibrickane with the winners going on to face Kilrush/Killimer in the quarter-finals. The other three quarter-final ties are St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield v St Breckan’s, Eire Óg v Cooraclare and Naomh Eoin/O’Curry’s/Kilkee going up against Kilmihil/Shannon Gaels. The U-21B …

Another edition of the Champion Sports Chat podcast with a busy schedule to get through. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/654785891?secret_token=s-4kkZR” 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” /]