Sports

A huge weekend of soccer action saw four sides book their spots in the Ennis Carpets Clare Cup semi-final. Meanwhile, Kilrush Rangers picked up a precious three points in their battle to avoid the drop in the Maloney Hardware Premier Division. Kilrush Rangers jumped to sixth in the Maloney Hardware Premier Division as they secured a vital win over fellow relegation battlers Coole FC. Both these sides are battling to avoid finishing second from bottom, which would mean they would have to face the team that finishes third in the First Division to secure their status. This was Kilrush Rangers’ most important win of the season. They beat Coole FC 3-1 despite only being able to call upon 12 first team players on the day. Jamie Griffin opened the scoring when he cut through the Coole defence while they doubled their lead after 30 minutes when Jack Cleary reacted quickest to an early ball in to the box. Coole did …

IN late 2020, Shannon’s Ryan Nolan was on the brink of something big. A graduate of Inter Milan’s academy, the young centre back had been on the bench for Spanish club side Getafe twice in La Liga games. He was a couple of days away from making his club debut in the Copa Del Rey (Spanish Cup). He was on the brink of a career disaster. Two days before he was set to make his debut for one of Spain’s bigger clubs he tore his cruciate ligament, and more than a year out of football would follow. The 24 year old is back on his feet now, literally and figuratively, anchoring the Raith Rovers defence in the Scottish Championship. For the first time he has had a long run of games in a club’s first team, rebuilding his sharpness and confidence. Nolan was eight years old and attending Clonmoney National School, when his parents opted to move the family to …

Seven talented underage Clare boxers will compete in the upcoming National Championships. Ennis Boxing Club’s trio Patrick Sweeney, John Sweeney and Jack Liddy will all be competing in the National Championships alongside Kilfenora BC’s Aaron Murphy, Pat O’Donoghue and Kirsty Gilligan. Shannon BC’s Mariah McDonagh will also lace up her gloves for this event. In order to reach the All Ireland series, these seven talented boxers needed to come through County and Munster Championships Patrick Sweeney will fight in the 68kg category as he faces Charlie Ward at the semi-final stage on April 11. Should he come through that bout, the Cooraclare native will then box either Tommy Harper or Dublin’s Kyle Keating in the final. His brother John is a talented boxer who also plays rugby with Ennis RFC. John has previously claimed an Irish title. The older Sweeney brother will be keen to regain national silverware. Jack Liddy will compete at the 65kg weight class. He will fight …

THERE were victories for Ennis boxers and brothers Edward and Paddy Donovan at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night. They were fighting on Jay Quigley’s undercard, with the Donegal man making his first ring appearance since coming up short in his world title challenge against Demetrius Andrade in 2021. Edward had a hard fought six round contest against Frank Madsen, and while he ultimately secured a wide points victory, ‘the Dominator’ had to earn it against a tough opponent, who never stopped trying. Edward’s support was one of the features of the night, so enthusiastic at times that it almost looked like they’d climb in the ring to help their man. For Paddy it was a more straightforward night’s work, as he knocked down Luis Eduardo Borges Da Silva four times before the referee called a halt in the very first round. The victory brings his record to 10-0 with seven knockouts. Paddy is set to have his …

Munster Under 20 Hurling Championship Round 2 Clare 1-19 Limerick 1-19 A never-say-die Clare again spring to life in injury-time to rescue a draw, this time rallying with the last three points to halt Limerick’s perfect start to the Munster Under 20 Championship in the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Wednesday evening, writes Eoin Brennan. Perversely having been overturned twice in injury-time in their two group matches in 2022, the shoe has been on the other foot for this campaign as it took the last puck of both games to eke out a share of the spoils. How valuable two draws will be is debatable but it’s infinitely better than last year’s heartbreak so while Clare have still only secured one victory at this level since 2015, the fact that they are still unbeaten with two matches to play and have their fate in their own hands is a major positive. It seemed as if their chance had vanished as a …

Cusack Cup Division 1 Football League Round 1 Kilmurry Ibrickane v Ennistymon at Páirc Naomh Mhuire Quilty, Friday 11.30am Based on the standard of last weekend’s hurling equivalents, it would be some feat to come even remotely close to their epic 140 minute senior championship semi-final showdown last October that went all the way through extra-time and penalty before sudden death finally inched Ennistymon through to a first county final in four years. Instead, it will probably be all about blowing off the cobwebs of the new season and trying to unearth more options for their flagship sides. Kilmurry Ibrickane Management: James Murrihy (Manager); James Mannion, Enda O’Halloran (Coaches); Gary Sexton (S&C): Diarmuid Whelan Ennistymon Management: Mark Shanahan (Manager); Ger Quinlan (Coach); John McInerney, Brendan Rouine (Selectors) Clondegad v Doonbeg at Ballynacally, Friday 4pm While Doonbeg gained confidence from last year’s Cusack Cup run to a semi-final, only these minimum separated the sides in the subsequent championship group stages, with …

Referee Chris Maguire from the Wolfe Tones club in Shannon departed from the airport on Saturday evening to officiate London versus Carlow in the National Football League. While there is nothing unusual about this what does make it a particularly unique trip is for the very first time travelling referees were allowed to bring their own umpires. In Ruislip on Sunday five Clare men officiated over proceedings with Maguire bringing his trusted umpires namely Frank Mee from the Kilmurry Ibrickane club, Jamie Divilly from Wolfe Tones, Martin Frawley from Kildysart and Cian Collopy from Wolfe Tones. Speaking exclusively to the Clare Champion Chris is extremely proud to be a referee and feels that officiating matches has enhanced his love for all things GAA. ” I’m in my ninth year as a referee and to be honest it’s not something I planned on. I was below in my own club one evening when they had no referee for a Junior match. …

Similar to the demise of the National Hurling League in terms of significance in the inter-county calendar as all eyes are firmly fixed on championship fare, the new split season for all its hugely positive attributes have essentially further diminished the Clare Cup as well. Without county seniors and initially at least Under 20’s too, the appetite for league silverware is predominantly replaced by the hope of finding new players and honing squads ahead of the summer assault on the Canon Hamilton or Paddy Browne cups. It wouldn’t be so bad if every club had a similar level of preparation ahead of this weekend’s throw-in as even allowing for the discrepancy of some teams having bigger inter-county contingents than others, at least managers would know that their opponents are taking it seriously. However, the chief problem is that much like Clare’s bloodless recent visit to Wexford, one can expect one-sided results that will have no bearing on the championship if …