Sports

Derrick Lynch runs the rule over the 12 clubs battling it out for the 2020 Clare SFC title Clondegad Since reaching the 2017 decider, Clondegad have struggled to hit those heights again with a tame quarter-final exit against Miltown coming 12 months later. The 2019 championship is one they will want to forget with heavy defeats against Cratloe and Eire Óg seeing their championship ambitions come to an end. There is a change of management for 2020 as Flan Enright takes over the reins from Mikey Hehir, but his task to guide them back to being championship contenders will not be an easy one. It is understood that county hurling stars Tony Kelly, Niall Deasy and Paul Flanagan are not committing to club football this year and Kelly’s absence in particular will be felt as he provides that creative spark up front. On the credit side, midfield powerhouse Gary Brennan will be available, which is an obvious boost, while the …

Chairman of Clare GAA Joe Cooney is hopeful improvements can be made to the streaming service operated by Clare GAA. It comes after numerous complaints were made on the opening weekend of games which were streamed live by the county board, with several users citing issues with picture quality on the pay-per-view service. Several issues were identified including problems accessing deferred coverage of games, with problems reported in viewing back games which had been paid for but not watched live. Clare are the only county board in Munster not using a professional production company to run their streaming service. The system was announced by Clare GAA last week with a charge of €7.80 for live games while deferred coverage of games was set at a cost of €3.50. Cooney apologised to anyone who encountered problems with the service and said the board would be working to make the necessary improvements. “There have been concerns that the reception was not great …

Kilrush Golf Club Results Men 19 July 2020 AIB Open. 1 Pat J Shannon (14) 40 pts Back 9 2 Michael F Ryan (09) 40 pts 3 Harry Rose (16) 39 pts Back 9 4 Tom Clancy (07) 39 pts Back 9 25 July 2020 President’s Prize (Mr Pat Shannon) 1 Mark Shannon (07) 40 pts Back 9 2 Malcolm McCarthy (12) 40 pts Best Gross: Shane Lillis (02) 37 pts 3 Gerry Duffy (20) 39 pts Back 9 4 Tom Clancy (07) 39 pts Back 9 5 Pat Mulcahy (24) 39 pts 6 Neill Browne (08) 38 pts Cat 1 Thomas Coffey (13) 38 pts Cat 2 David Williams (16) 37 pts Cat 3 Brendan Carrig (31) 36 pts Front 9 Tom Buckley (14) 21 pts Back 9 Robert Kirwan (14) 19 pts Visitor’s Prize: 1 Tim Kileen (8) 37 pts, 2 Bernie Ryan (15) 32 pts Lady’s Prize: 1 Mary Bolton 25 pts, 2 Anne Hogan 24 pts …

Clare Premier Division Newmarket Celtic have all but secured this season’s league title after two crucial games over the past week. Bridge United A 0-4 Newmarket Celtic A After victory in the shortest game in Clare soccer history, Newmarket followed this up with a comfortable victory over near neighbours Bridge United to move another step closer to defending their title. It was a routine win in the end for Mark O’Malley’s charges with the hugely experienced David McCarthy getting on the scoresheet twice. Kieran Mahony was also on target while Clare senior footballer Kevin Harnett rounded off the scoring to maintain Newmarket’s unbeaten league run. Shannon Hibs A 0-8 Newmarket Celtic A A dominant showing from the champions elect saw them rout Shannon Hibs to move eight points clear at the top of the table with just four games left in the season. Kieran Mahony followed up his goal against Bridge United by registering a hat-trick, while David McCarthy added …

Clare Junior A and Junior B Hurling Round Up There were a number of games down for decision in the Clare Junior A hurling championship, where Ennistymon were one of the two first teams in action. The North Clare outfit registered an impressive victory as they overcame Eire Óg by 1-12 to 1-5, thanks in part to 0-9 from Dara McInerney, with all bar two of those scores coming from frees. A Cathal McDonagh penalty led to their goal, while Ryan Barry (2) and Liam Devitt also chipped in on the scoring. The other first string in action came out on the wrong side of the result as Ogonnelloe went down to O’Callaghan’s Mills by 2-16 to 1-15 with Dave McGrath and Cathal Lenihan getting the goals for the winners. Last year’s beaten finalists Kilmaley got their campaign off to the perfect start with a hard fought 1-14 to 1-13 win over Clooney-Quin, while a strong display from Tomas Gavin …

Sixmilebridge 2-33 Inagh-Kilnamona 4-19 (AET) The final intermediate game of the weekend proved to be the most dramatic as these two second string sides shared 6-52 between them over a brilliant 80 minutes of hurling. In the opening 60 minutes, it proved to be the quintessential game of two halves with Inagh-Kilnamona racking up 2-14 before the break, and Sixmilebridge doing likewise in the second period. When the half-time whistle sounded, Inagh-Kilnamona led by 2-14 to 0-7 with both first half goals from Damien O’Halloran along with Barry Keating’s frees putting them in the ascendency. This Sixmilebridge side were unlucky not to reach the last four 12 months ago, only losing out to eventual champions Broadford after a penalty shootout in their quarter-final tie. It means that their last two championship games have gone to extra-time, and this time it was a storming second half fightback that forced the added period. That fight back was sparked by goals from Christy …

Senior Championship  Shannon Camogie: Newmarket on Fergus 1-18 St Josephs 0-8  The 2020 Senior Camogie Championship for Newmarket on Fergus and 2019 Intermediate Champions St Josephs got underway in Shannon camogie pitch on Saturday evening, with the experienced Blues overcoming  St. Josephs on a scoreline 1-18 to 0-8. Áine O’Brien and Hannah Meaney exchanged points in the opening ten minutes, before O’Brien pointed three frees midway through the half.  The Blues added four points from Carol O’Leary, Bríd Enright and Áine O’ Brien (2) before O’Leary goaled to the corner of St. Josephs net from a high dropping ball to the square from a Laura McMahon free in the 25th minute to go 1-9 to 0-2 ahead. A minute later, Muirne Ní Chonaill pointed before Caoimhe Lally tagged on a point for Newmarket on Fergus. Hannah Meaney had the final say of the half with a pointed free to leave the scoreline 1-10 to 0-4 at the break. St. Josephs opened …

Clare SHC Round One: Ballyea 0-16 Crusheen 0-14 Ballyea saw off a stiff challenge from Crusheen to get their 2020 Clare SHC campaign off to a winning start. The sides were level on four different occasions in the opening period but Crusheen were by far the most wasteful with 11 wides before the half-time whistle having had the wind behind them. Both teams were operating with a spare man at the back as Cian Dillon and Jack Browne were revelling in the space. Breffni Horner and Cillein Mullins worked hard up front for Crusheen while Niall Deasy and Morgan Garry were also causing plenty problems in the Ballyea full-forward line. Tony Kelly was as central as ever with four first half points, but it was the score just before the waterbreak from out on the sideline that won the prize for most spectacular. They led 0-5 to 0-3 at that point, but a trio unanswered on the resumption sent Crusheen …