Sports

European Tour Championship Director Simon Allis is confident Lahinch’s turn at hosting the Irish Open will be a roaring success when the event tees off in July. With just nine weeks to go until an expected crowd of almost 100,000 people descends on the famous North Clare links, preparations for the event are ramping up as the first tee-off now moves into sharp focus. Last week’s media day marked the latest indication that the event is now just around the corner, with the signage at the tee boxes erected to give a visceral feel of the transformations to come at the course for the event. Storm Hannah must not have been impressed though, as course officials were forced to take down the signs again for fear they might end up as part of the new rock armour protecting the coastline. Allis admits the countdown to this year’s Irish Open is now well and truly underway. “It’s the age old story …

They say it takes a good team to win one All-Ireland, but you need to be exceptional to win two. In that regard, Diarmaid Nash and Colin Crehan have firmly placed themselves into the exceptional category. Not only did last weekend see the duo win their second All-Ireland handball doubles title, they did it back-to-back. In doing so, they became the first Banner pairing to achieve the feat since the Kirby brothers in the latter part of the 1970’s. The Tuamgraney and Kilkishen clubmen took down another sibling duo to win their second title as they got the better of Galway brothers Martin and Diarmuid Mulkerrins in the decider at Kingscourt in Cavan. They did in with a straight sets win, taking the first game 21-17 before wrapping up the title with a 21-12 victory in the second. Nash admits it was a sweet win. “It was a relief as much as anything else in a way really because we …

The countdown to the Irish Open in Lahinch this July is starting to pick up pace as the amount of weeks left until it tees off ticks over to single figures. Last week’s media day at the course saw the likes of the BCC, Virgin Media and The Clare Champion descend on the course for the latest publicity drive. Central to the message being espoused by the likes of Paul McGinley, Simon Allis and the rest of team was the development of the festival atmosphere to be built around the golf tournament. A Championship village with local food and drink, games to encourage those not of a golfing inclination to get involved, live music on the promenade by night and lots to keep the children entertained were all repeatedly promoted as the main stakeholders moved from one microphone to the other. And why not? It makes sense to do it. While the main reason that North Clare will host the …

Both the Clare senior hurlers and footballers are facing the prospect of being without key players ahead of the opening rounds of the Munster championships. Joint manager Gerry O’Connor has confirmed that Ian Galvin, the goal-scoring hero from last year’s memorable win over Tipperary in Thurles, will miss out on the entire campaign after suffering a hand injury. Jamie Shanahan, Daragh Corry and Conor McGrath are also currently on the long-term treatment table. “Jamie had an operation on his back two weeks ago so he is definitely out. Conor McGrath had an operation on his shoulder after Christmas and he’s definitely out. Ian Galvin had an injury on his arm a couple of weeks ago so he’s out too. I wouldn’t say we’ll see them this year, definitely not. They are all gone so that’s a significant loss but we probably wouldn’t have got as much game time into Diarmuid Ryan, Aidan McCarthy and Shane Golden if those guys were …

On this weeks podcast: We talk GAA refs, look ahead to the Munster GAA championships and review the sporting weekend in Clare. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/613034727?secret_token=s-fiZTg” 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” /]

Clare go in search of a first ever All-Ireland Minor A camogie title this weekend when they face Cork in the 2019 decider. It is the fifth time Clare have reached this stage of the championship, and the second time in the last three years. 2017 saw Galway come out on top, but Clare bounced back to reach the last four 12 months later, when Saturday’s opponents brought the curtain down on their season. It is the first time these sides will have squared off in the showpiece event, as Cork go in search of just their second title at the grade. Inagh/Kilnamona clubman Eugene Foudy has been a part of this minor management team for the last four seasons, and makes no apologies for wanting to go on step better than they have to date. He feels the win over Tipperary in the semi-final is something they will take huge confidence from. “Victories don’t come much sweeter than that. …

Another busy weekend of club football action lies in store.  The Clare Champion’s Derrick Lynch has been looking ahead to the games in the Cusack and Garry Cups as the closing rounds come into focus. Cusack Cup St Breckan’s v Kilmurry Ibrickane in Lisdoonvarna on Saturday at 6.30pm These two sides come into this contest knowing points are crucial but for different reasons. After a slow start to the campaign it looks like Kilmurry’s run of eight consecutive titles will end in 2019, with a semi-final spot probably beyond their reach with just three rounds to go. St Breckan’s know they will at least consolidate their place in the top tier with a win while also keeping hopes of the knockout stages alive. Donie Garrihy’s side edged a titanic battle with Cooraclare last time out and they will take great heart from the way they saw out that contest. The Brick’s were also forced to battle last time out as …

With eight minutes played in Saturday’s All-Ireland minor camogie semi-final, Robyn Conway set the tone for what was to come. The full-forward raced out to put pressure on a Tipperary defender who was about to launch a ball down on top of the Clare defence. She robbed the ball from under her opponent’s nose, and quicker than a u-turn on water charges, she was gone and headed for goal. It took a fairly hefty and possibly dangerous tackle on the Feakle woman to halt her progress, but her team benefited from it as the resultant free was converted. It sent a message to an undoubtedly over-confident Tipperary side that they were in the white-heat of battle and would get nothing easy. The Premier confidence in the stands was voiced as patrons wondered about a wedding that was on the following weekend that would clash with the final. As it turns out, they can rock the boat without any crisis of …