Sports

Éire Óg will chase qualification for both the senior hurling (Clare Champion Cup) and senior football (Cusack Cup) on Sunday when they see semi-final action against Newmarket and St Joseph’s.Clarecastle will host the first of the Clare Champion Cup  semi-finals this Sunday when Newmarket and Éire Óg clash at 1pm.Newmarket have been in the concluding stages of this competition for the past number of years and they will start as favourites.Inter-county man Enda Barrett remains a doubt because of a hamstring injury, which has kept him out of action since the middle of June.Colin Ryan, James McInerney, David Barrett and Stephen Kelly are again expected to play key roles for the Blues as they attempt to reach another final.Winners of the intermediate title last year, Éire Óg,  have continued to improve this season and a win here would further highlight their progress.They have a good mix of youth and experience, with Fergus Flynn and Mark Fitzgerald filling key positions and …

  Clare   2-22 Waterford  0-0 CLARE may have carried the favourites’ tag for the Munster U-21 Hurling Championship semi-final last Thursday but even the most ardent supporter would not have predicted such an easy passage to the provincial decider, where they will play Tipperary.Waterford had the first score, a point from Brian O’Halloran in the opening minute, but thereafter there was only one team in the contest as Clare dominated throughout the field. By half-time, they were 10 points clear and they stretched this to 13 early in the second half when Paudge Collins struck for their second goal.The visitors had the aid of the breeze in the second half but failed to make any impression and the result was clear long before the final whistle.A crowd of 3,176 attended Thursday’s game and this is expected to double for the final, which will also be played at Cusack Park on Wednesday, August 8.Clare’s opening score in the semi-final came from …

WHEN Michael Cusack’s won the Division 4 Football League title recently, they delivered their club president the perfect birthday present. The club was formed in 1962 and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Hendy (Henry) Neylon has been an integral part of the Carron-based club since the beginning.“It was great for the club to win last week. Due to emigration and retirements, our numbers are small and it’s a while since we won a title,” the club president told The Clare Champion.As he celebrated his 90th birthday last week, he spoke passionately about his beloved club and a lifetime of involvement in the GAA.He played for Carron in 1944 when they won the junior novice title, beating Moveen in the final. Two years later, the club was known as Belharbour and he was a member of team that beat Caherea in the junior championship in Miltown.“We had no field of our own then. We trained in our own areas and …

  Cratloe  4-14 Crusheen  1-7 CRATLOE won the 11-a-side senior hurling tournament, organised to celebrate 125 years of Clare club championships, when they overcame Crusheen in the final at Clarecastle on Sunday evening.The South-East Clare club came up with the idea to run this tournament and emerged as deserving winners, running up impressive tallies along the way.They opened with a 7-16 to 6-10 win over Kilmaley in a lively tie on Saturday afternoon. In the other quarter-final games, Crusheen were 4-13 to 1-13 winners over Clarecastle, Éire Óg had an 4-11 to 3-5 win over St Joseph’s and Tulla were 6-9 to 3-8 winners over Smith O’Brien’s.In the semi-finals, Crusheen had two goals to spare over Éire Óg, winning on a 5-7 to 3-7 scoreline, while Cratloe again ran up a tally of 7-16 when accounting for Tulla, who scored 2-18.Cratloe’s running style game saw them dominate at vital periods in all of their games.In Sunday evening’s final, the winners …

  Sixmilebridge   1-13 Éire Óg  0-8 SIXMILEBRIDGE won their second round minor A game against Éire Óg in a tame affair at Sixmilebridge last Wednesday evening. The game had to finish under lights, due to a late start because of camogie in O’Garney Park. The ’Bridge started better and were four points up inside the first 10 minutes with Eoin Flynn, Jamie Shanahan, Mark Hehir and Alex Morey all on the scoresheet.Éire Óg were playing an extra man in defence and this thwarted many ’Bridge attacks. County minor Shane O’Donnell opened the Ennis side’s account in the 10th minute with a fine point from play.The teams traded points up to half-time with Cian Darcy for Éire Óg scoring some excellent frees. The hosts led 0-8 to 0-4 at the break. The second half continued at the same pace with Conor Deasy, now at full-forward, scoring some excellent points. Shane O’Donnell and Darcy continued to keep the Townies in touch. Jamie …

THE annual Ned Doyle Memorial Hurling Tournament was a great success at Bodyke last Saturday. Clooney-Quin emerged as the competition winners. Their captain is Conor Harrison and the other members of the victorious panel were Derek Ryan, Brian McInerney, Shane McNamara, Peter Duggan, Fergal Lynch, Paudie Ward, Donnacha Murphy, Mick Daffy and John Earls.The tournament went off very well in ideal conditions for hurling on Saturday. Bodyke captured the first semi-final spot with wins over Ogonnelloe and Smith O’Brien’s in Group 1.In Group 2, it went down to the last puck of the game to decide the winner. Parteen defeated Killanena and O’Callaghan’s Mills defeated Parteen to leave the outcome of the last game between Killanena and O’Callaghan’s Mills crucial to determining who would go through.The group decider again went down to the last puck of the game. Killanena had a chance to snatch victory with a 21m free but it ended up over the bar for a point, resulting …

A POWERFUL defensive display against a strong wind in the first half was the primary reason Killanena/Whitegate captured the Division 2 Munster League title on Sunday. A three-way play-off between Killanena/Whitegate, Wolfe Tones and Feenagh/Kilmeedy was won by the East Clare side to gain qualification to the final against Cork side Carrigaline.In their previous two games, the Killanena/Whitegate defence had been miserly, conceding just 1-5 and this continued in this hard-hitting final played in Charleville on Sunday evening.  The winners elected to play against the elements in the first half and Rachel Bleach, who was superb at midfield, opened the scoring. Two converted frees from Evelyn Glynn, who was top scorer again, left Killanena/Whitegate three points clear before Carrigaline had managed an attack. The Cork side scored three frees in the first half and in the second quarter, Glynn added two more scores. The winners were in a comfortable 0-5 to 0-3 position at the interval with the strong wind …

Éire Og  7-4 Inagh/Kilnamona  1-2 SCORES, particularly points, were difficult to come by on this murky, windy July evening when Éire Óg were hosted by Inagh-Kilnamona at Inagh in Round 1 of the Minor B Championship. Orla Devitt opened the scoring for Éire Óg with a well-taken goal. A pointed free, followed by a goal from Shaunagh O’Brien, gave the Ennis side a five-point lead before Inagh-Kilnamona pulled back a point from a 45. 2-1 from Devitt pushed Éire Óg into a 12-point lead at the break, with the hosts managing just another point in the half.Once again, it was Éire Óg that made their mark first in the second half with a Gráinne Nolan point. Further scores from Orla Devitt (1-0), Shaunagh O’Brien (1-1) and a goal from Nolan ensured victory for the visitors. The host’s only score of the half came from a free that was initially saved but they found the net after a goalmouth tussle.Éire Óg: …