Sports

THERE was a large entry and many charities benefited from the seventh annual Clare 10km mini-marathon, which was staged around the streets of Ennis last Saturday, starting and finishing at the Lees Road Sports Complex.

  O’Callaghan’s Mills-Bodyke 2-8    Cratloe 2-7 In a most entertaining U-14A Hurling Championship final at Sixmilebridge on Friday evening, the O’Callaghan’s Mills-Bodyke amalgamation emerged with a one-point win over Cratloe.Both sides were chasing their first success at this level, with the Bodyke-O’Callaghan’s Mills combination in their first year in competition.Cratloe got the better start when Billy Connors had a goal after just 20 seconds. Jack Danaher followed with a point and Cratloe led 1-1 to 0-0 after five minutes. It would be another 16 minutes before Cratloe would get their next score; in the meantime, the East Clare combination had 1-2 from Ian Murray.Connors, Michael Danaher and Jack McInerney hit back with Cratloe points but a further brace from Murray left the sides deadlocked at the break at 1-4 each.  Ben McLoughlin scored two excellent points for the eventual winners in the first and sixth minutes of the second half. Gary Cooney goaled in the 10th minute to help the …

CAPTAINS’ prizes were played for at Dromoland, East Clare, Ennis and Gort in the past week, while the Clare Teachers’ Society also had their captain’s day at Ennis, which brought to an end a very successful year for the society.

THE Limerick Greyhound Racing Stadium received a timely boost with the announcement that it is to host Ireland’s second richest event next March.

CLARE manager Davy Fitzgerald was full of praise for his charges and Waterford after Sunday’s game. “I am not going to give out to the lads. They gave everything they had. I was laughing today at certain stuff which made us favourites. So many of those guys have been in All-Ireland semi-finals and finals and they didn’t get the credit they deserved. They are great players. I wish them the best in the Munster final.”Fitzgerald went on, “Trust me, our lads will be back again. There is a lot of fight in them. They didn’t give up. We had a chance or two at the end and we missed two or three easy frees and that’s tough. I don’t begrudge Waterford their win. We gave it everything we had and it was an exciting game out there.”Asked about John Mullane’s celebrations in front of the Clare manager at the final whistle, the Sixmilebridge man declined to make anything out of …

Waterford 2-17 Clare 1-18 THERE was no shortage of talking points this week as hurling followers reflected on Sunday’s Munster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final in which Waterford confirmed their recent dominance over Clare.The Banner’s disappointment is understandable given they had chances to win a tie that was played at a lively pace and with great intensity. A wrong call by referee James McGrath (Westmeath) in awarding Waterford a penalty 15 minutes into the game had a big bearing on the result but, despite that, Clare’s failure to convert a number of good chances, allied to the concession of a soft second goal, contributed hugely to the end result.In addition to the missed chances, Clare struggled in a number of key areas and the outcome might have been different had changes been made in these positions earlier. As predicted, Waterford’s greater experience proved a key factor on the day.Sean Collins, as expected, missed out on the game due to a hamstring …

The final round of games in all of the adult football leagues took place at the weekend clearing the way for the knock out stages of the competitions.The big talking point this week is the fact that both Cooraclare and St Senan’s Kilkee will play in Division 3 next seasonIn the race for the Cusack Cup, a play-off is required after Miltown and Éire Óg not only ended on the same points but also have the same score difference.Titleholders Kilmurry-Ibrickane have topped the table while St Joseph’s, Miltown and Éire Óg each finished with nine points. St Joseph’s have the superior score difference but Miltown and Éire Óg could not be separated here either.Prior to last weekend’s series of games, Shannon Gaels and Kilrush were relegated.In the Garry Cup Liscannor are through to the final where they await the winners of the Lissycasey v Clondegad semi-final. Cooraclare and St Senan’s Kilkee have been relegated to Division 3.Kilmurry-Ibrickane will play in …

The Munster adult 60×30 handball championships are in full flow and a number of Clare players will be in championship action over the coming week. Thursday night, in particular, will be a busy night with Mike Baker playing Cork’s Rory O’Sullivan in Cullen in an over 35 B singles quarter-final and a double-header in Ballina as Clare pairs take on Tipperary in junior B doubles (Paul Healy and John Kirby) and silver masters B doubles (John Nihill and Tom Stack). Already this week, Mike Kelly and Pat Donellan (golden masters A doubles) received a walkover from Limerick and Ciarán Walsh was defeated by Patrick Frawley (Limerick) in junior B singles. Last weekend saw the completion of two big alley tournaments run by Tuamgraney handball club. The Michael O’Neill Memorial Cup and Teach Ui Bhriain Cup tournaments were both 60×30 doubles events and featured players from right across the county. Early rounds were played off over the last three weeks and …