Sports

A late flurry of green flags sealed the deal as St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield beat Clooney-Quin 4-9 to 1-8 in the U15 Division 1 final Three goals in the last 20 minutes finally cemented St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield’s Under 15 Division 1 title retention over neighbours Clooney-Quin in Cusack Park, Ennis on Tuesday evening. Despite only possessing three survivors (Liam Clune, Darragh Ball, Diarmuid Boyle) from the side that contested last year’s final victory over Lissycasey, the Parish led from start to finish in a fully merited win. Soaring as much as nine clear against the conditions in the opening period, Doora/Barefield were anticipated to canter to victory on the restart but instead saw their comfortable cushion whittled down to just two by a determined Clooney-Quin by the two-thirds mark. However, that scare only seemed to motivate St Joseph’s into life once more as three goals in the space of just 17 minutes through substitute Graham Ball (2) and captain Liam Clune …

The Clare Intermediate Football Championship begins this Saturday – Eoin Brennan previews the first round action Round 1 Group 1 Kildysart v Coolmeen at Lissycasey, Saturday 3pm A rare civil war between these underage amalgamation partners but while both will fancy their chances of emerging from the group, it’s Kildysart that possess the genuine title ambitions and should have too much firepower for their neighbours. Verdict: Kildysart Naomh Eoin v Kilrush Shamrocks at Shanahan McNamara Park Doonbeg, Saturday 6pm A rare coastal derby at intermediate level at least as it’s only three years since Kilrush edged out the first Naomh Eoin/O’Curry’s adult partnership at senior championship level. The Shams also have nine points to spare the previous season over Naomh Eoin on their way to the intermediate crown so while the margin should be tighter, the same result is anticipated. Verdict: Kilrush Shamrocks Group 2 Banner v Cooraclare at Lissycasey, Saturday 4.45pm Only five years ago three championship tiers separated …

Eoin Brennan runs the rule over this weekend’s action as the Clare senior football championship kicks off Round 1 Group 1 Éire Óg v St Breckan’s at Cusack Park Ennis, Saturday 4.30pm Easily the headline act of the opening weekend as depending on how the sides approach it, this heavyweight showdown will either be a timely evaluation of where these Jack Daly contenders are or a cautious must-not-lose affair led by fear rather than ambition. With three to emerge to the last eight from this group, it should be closer to the former and certainly much nearer in terms of scores than last year’s semi-final masterclass from Éire Óg that stifled a normally swashbuckling St Breckan’s before they could get into their stride. The Townies are still the team to beat but going on the hurling version, may need a bit of time to blow off the cobwebs of their meticulous gameplan as they’ve had no competitive opportunities to put …

Eoin Brennan previews the senior and intermediate ladies football championships which get underway this weekend   With a vice-like grip over the Clare senior ladies football championship over the past 15 seasons, will Banner Ladies latest challenge be a potentially lucky or unlucky 13th title bid? With their age profile rising with every passing year, the Ennis-based side still possess a vastly experienced core and remain the team to beat but what do the chasing pack hold in terms of threat to potentially knock them off their perch? Having contested five of the last six senior deciders, Kilmihil, who managed to take the Banner’s scalp in a historic 2019 final breakthrough, are the main contenders. The only other side to lower the Banner were West Clare Gaels in 2010 but there were precious few survivors for the peninsula amalgamation when humbled by the Banner in the 2020 final. Senior B winners St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield look to be the side best …

Following back-to-back Junior A Final reverses in only the space of three months last year, Ballyvaughan will be determined to dust themselves off for a real drive for silverware this time around. The North Clare side’s strength in depth isn’t overly healthy while their age profile isn’t getting any lower either but they do possess quality with their spine to be vying for honours come October. For the first time though, there are five more flagship sides looking to overtake Ballyvaughan including their most frequent championship rivals Killimer, a Liscannor side just down from intermediate level, Junior B champions Parteen and sleeping giants St Senan’s Kilkee and Clooney-Quin. Indeed, Ballyvaughan are embroiled in a real group of death with Killimer and Liscannor for only two quarter-final spots while in contrast Group 1 is an all-second string pool comprising of Cratloe, St Joseph’s Miltown, Lissycasey and Clondegad. It will be also interesting to see what the reserves of last year’s semi-finalists …

AN INTENSE two weeks for tennis player Mia Gavin have been rewarded with two tournament victories and one runner-up spot on the international circuit. The 14-year-old has spent the past month preparing and competing in the TenPro Global Junior Tennis Tour which is a series of international tennis tournaments for young highly talented tennis players. Mia’s first tournament in the series was the prestigious Dutch Bowl 2022 which took place in the Netherlands. During her run in the Netherlands she beat national champions from Iceland, the Netherlands and Romania and came runner-up in the U-15 category. The event was played on hard court, a surface Mia does not train on so she was more than pleased with her performance. Mia’s second tournament in the series was in Belgium at the world-renowned Kim Clijsters Tennis Academy. The surface this time was clay which is Mia’s favourite surface as it rewards her leftie style of play. Mia competed in both the U-15 …

All-Ireland Minor C Ladies Football Final Clare 3-13 Wicklow 3-12 ABBY Downes’ injury time point ensured Clare were crowned ZuCar All Ireland Minor C Ladies Football champions after a thrilling showdown with Wicklow, writes Ivan Smyth. This was a stunning triumph for David O’Brien’s side as they faced a five point deficit at two separate stages of the second half. They had also shipped 1-2 without reply to go in level at the break despite dominating much of the opening period. Throw in the loss of goalkeeper Katie McMahon, who was withdrawn four minutes in to the second half after landing awkwardly towards the conclusion of the first period and Clare faced no shortage of adversity. The win appeared unlikely when Wicklow scored 2-4 without reply either side of half time to leave Clare trailing 2-10 to 1-8. Even when Abby Downes fired a ferocious left footed effort to the net to slash the deficit to two points after 40 …

Michael O’ Connor rounds up the action in the Junior A hurling championship first round. Crusheen 0-14 Eire Óg 1-11 The start of the race for the John Daly cup for Junior A hurling commenced at the weekend. Corofin was the venue for the keenly fought out tie between Crusheen and Eire Óg. The countryside team who were finalists in 2021 defeated Eire Óg by 13 points last year. It was a far different story on this occasion as Crusheen led (0-8) to (0-6) at half time with Ethan O’ Donnell and Niall Kearney to the fore for Crusheen in the scoring stakes. Both defences were on top in the second half. Barry Murphy put Crusheen four ahead entering injury time. Eire Óg did not succumb and scored a goal from a free and added the equaliser. Rory Brennan and Colin Malone worked hard at midfield for the Ennis side as Niall O’Connor was efficient from placed balls. Kevin Moynihan …