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Young Clare ladies footballers look to future as well as present

As Clare’s Minor ladies footballers prepare for the biggest games of their fledgling careers with the ZuCar All Ireland Minor C Ladies Football final against Wicklow it is interesting to hear manager David O’Brien discuss the long term goals for this group of players. On Wednesday, Clare will travel to Kinnegad (throw in 7pm) in the hopes of securing All Ireland glory but with no All Ireland series held at U14, U16 or Minor level in the past two years, the Cooraclare man repeatedly emphasises the importance of working hard with these players to continue their long term development. O’Brien believes Shauna Harvey’s presence in the backroom team is a huge boost as he feels the current crop of talent coming through can draw inspiration from her and continue to line out with club and county. Harvey claimed an All Ireland Minor B medal in 2012 and appeared in the final at the same grade 12 months later before representing …

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Casey shows ‘maturity beyond his years’ with world U20 display

Dean Casey (Ennis Track Club) has come thirteenth in the men’s 5,000m World U20 Athletics Championship final. The Clare man produced a strong, tactical performance throughout the 5,000m, showing a maturity in his running far beyond years. Casey maintained his position within the leading pack of the 22-man competition, crossing the line with 14:37.79 on the clock. The gold medal winner Ethiopia’s Addisu Yihune crossed the line in a time of 14:03.05. After a successful opening day for Team Ireland at the World U20 Championships, the Irish singlet returns to the Cali stadium tomorrow at 6:05pm with Lucy McGlynn taking to the women’s 400mH heats.

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Intriguing Clare Junior A hurling championship in prospect

Eoin Brennan looks ahead at the Clare junior hurling championship which gets underway today With Ogonnelloe showing them the way, the big question is can Banner and Ennistymon follow suit in becoming only the fifth flagship side to win the Junior A Hurling Championship title since the turn of the millennium. The Banner will certainly be ranked as favourites, having welcomed back county senior Shane Meehan from injury for 2022. Even any early banana skins can be recovered from as the 12 competing teams are only reduced to eight by the quarter-final stage. Just as well as the Ennis side are embroiled in a difficult group involving last year’s semi-finalists Clooney-Quin, 2019 and ’20 finalists Kilmaley and Cratloe’s second string that have just come down from intermediate level. 2021 was also noteworthy for Crusheen’s progress to the final while St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield were also back in the mix by reaching the last four stage. It will also be interesting to …

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Six teams enter the race for Clare intermediate hurling honours

Eoin Brennan looks ahead to this weekend’s Intermediate Championship hurling clashes Round 1 Group 3 Tulla v Ogonnelloe at Glenomra Park Broadford, Saturday 7pm Having watched their fellow contenders mainly swim rather than thread water last weekend, Tulla and Ogonnelloe will eagerly await this initial evaluation of where they currently stand. Only three years ago, two championship divisions separated them but Tulla’s back-to-back attempts to bounce straight back up haven’t exactly gone to plan whereas Junior A champions Ogonnelloe have been relishing their resurrection through the ranks that has included voluntarily stepping up to the Division 2 League in 2022 where they reached the semi-final. Meeting in the middle should be an intriguing match-up but there has to be a greater kick in Tulla. Verdict: Tulla Bodyke v Inagh-Kilnamona at Fr. Murphy Memorial Park Newmarket-on-Fergus, Sunday 1pm Undoubtedly Bodyke would have been keeping a firm eye on how the no-win first versus second team clashes between St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield and …

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Seconds out round two in race for Canon Hamilton

Settle in with a cup of tea as Eoin Brennan previews this weekend’s Clare Senior Hurling Championship clashes Round 1 Group 3 Clooney-Quin v Scariff at O’Garney Park Sixmilebridge, Saturday 2pm It’s 12 years since the sides met in the senior championship but their unfamiliarity on the field doesn’t mean that the sides haven’t been scrutinising each other off it over the past few months. If they haven’t, they should have been as first and foremost with Kilmaley and Éire Óg understandably installed as group favourites, a victory in this tie is simply a prerequisite. That’s not for a minute suggesting that Clooney-Quin or Scariff cannot overcome either of the perceived top two. However, they’re realistically unlikely to beat both so therefore an opening victory would be the perfect platform to not only have two free shots at a quarter-final but also ease any relegation burden which is looming even larger this year. Both have their marquee players, with Mark …

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CAMOGIE: Extra extra effort not enough for brave Clare

All-Ireland Premier Junior Championship Semi-Final Antrim 1-16 Clare 0-18 CLARE’S dream of taking their place on an All-Ireland final stage at Croke Park was denied in the most agonising fashion imaginable this afternoon at O’Connor Park in Tullamore, as they fell one point short at the end of two separate periods of extra time against Antrim, writes Ivan Smyth. For the opening 20 minutes, Clare looked to be a nervy shadow of themselves, conceding a sloppy goal to corner forward Dearvla Cosgrove and falling 1-4 to 0-3 behind. Even as they drew level by half-time, 1-4 to 0-7, they were far too dependent on dead ball scores, with six frees from Shauna Canny and one from Kate O’Gorman making up their tally. That changed after half-time however as they worked their way back into the game, and excellent points from play from Aoife Anderson and Abby Walsh showed a different side to their game. Victory looked to be in the …

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Clare focused on result with All-Ireland final prize in sight

Derek Dormer speaks with Clare’s joint coaches and joint captains ahead of their All-Ireland junior camogie semi-final against Antrim tomorrow afternoon Clare have been here before at this penultimate stage of the competition, 60 plus minutes away from the Final. On Saturday they will face into their third semi-final in a row so does that change the approach in any way? The management team of Conor Dolan and John Carmody feel that semi-finals are all about winning no matter what, it’s just about getting over the line. (Conor Dolan): “It’s the worst game ever to lose in any sport, losing a semi-final is horrible, you’re sixty minutes away from Croke Park and the occasion of an All-Ireland Final with all the fanfare that goes with it. Lose the semi-final and all you’ll have is regrets but win and you’ll be playing in the Mecca of hurling and have memories that will last a lifetime’ (John Carmody): “For me the way …

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Ballyea in pole position as Clare hurling championship begins

Ballyea begin the defence of their crown as favourites to retain the Canon Hamilton Cup. Eoin Brennan breaks down the senior groupings ahead of the opening weekend   Group 1 – Newmarket-on-Fergus, Feakle, Whitegate, Clonlara, Sixmilebridge Considering that four of these teams have contested at least the last four stage in the past six years along with a Whitegate side off the back of their most encouraging senior championship campaign to date, it’s a pool made all the more perilous by the fact that only two will emerge unscathed to the knock-out stages. All five will legitimately feel that they can negotiate their passage to the last eight. However, the frontrunners will undoubtedly be Sixmilebridge who have consistently appeared in the business end in six of the last seven seasons with a little matter of four Canon Hamilton titles emanating from that rich period. Their neighbours Newmarket-on-Fergus, meanwhile, who are the seeded team after soaring to last year’s semi-finals, seemed …

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