Sports

The Munster Senior and Masters Track and Field Championships were held at Templemore in very hot and humid conditions. There was a fine turnout of Clare athletes and they came away with 12 gold, 12 silver and six bronze medals.Darragh Lynch (Ennis Track) was very impressive when taking gold in the 1,500m in 4.08.05. In the 800m he went through the 400 mark in 56 seconds and came home in second place with a time of 1.57.23. In the 5,000m, Brian McGinley (Ennis Track) won the gold medal in 15.28, with Brian Murphy looking good to take the second spot but on the home straight he was out-sprinted and had to settle for the bronze medal.In the senior men’s hammer, there was a big surprise, when Colm Griffin took the gold medal with a throw of 36.66m and he also captured a bronze medal in the 56lbs for distance.The big race was the 400m, where Tim Crowe (Sixmilebridge and Dooneen …

SOME familar Clare faces were in the winners’ arena during the course of racing in Galway on Thursday night.Aisling Arthur from Inagh was the first of them after her Triggs of Inagh triumphed in the second race on the card, a sprint race for A7 graders. The daughter of Droopy’s Scolari-Cathy of Inagh in trap two and Quick Brae in one led from the start and after rounding the opening bend, the advantage was with Quick Brae, the 5/4 favourite. But on the run home, Triggs of Inagh found another gear to take the lead and win by half a length in 29.72.Newmarket-on-Fergus owner, Brendan Carroll, won the next race on the card, an A9-graded 525, with Steragel Mine (Westmead Hawk-Sarge’s Beauty) in trap three. The pace was set by the Ennis-owned Brakes Off in five and Susie Longsox in four but as they came to the opening bend Steragel Mine (trap three) came storming through on the inside and …

THE Coffey family from Oatfield, Sixmilebridge will be represented in the semi-finals of the Con Kirby Memorial Open 550 at the Limerick Greyhound Racing Stadium on Friday night.O’Garney Patch, trained by Bernard Coffey for his wife, Helen, qualified from a second-round heat last Friday. The  son of Ballymac Maeve-O’Garney Peral had a slow start from trap six; was baulked at the opening bend but made a good recoery to take third spot. The  30.07 winner of the heat was Laughill Billy, who led from the second bend to beat the Bridie Moore-trained Serious Sam by five lengths. O’Garney Patch was four lengths farther back for third place.The talking dog of the second-round heats was the Rachel Wheeler-trained and Richard A Wheeler (Leyburn) owned Cama’s Crash (Crash-Mary’s Opal). The fawn dog certainly set a hot pace when leading all the way in heat one to win in a magnificient time of 29.64. He gradually drew clear of the field to win …

  Ruan 2-0 Tulla 1-4 DESPITE the torrential downpour on Friday evening, this Camogie LIT League clash between Tulla and Ruan got off to a lively, if slippery start. This was the first meeting of these clubs in competition this year and a certain amount of nervousness was evident in the first few minutes. Tulla settled into the game quicker and had Ruan’s defence under pressure. However, Ruan soon settled but despite having the majority of possession in the first half, they were guilty of some wides and following a defensive error, Tulla hit a goal to leave the score at 1-2 to 1-1 at the end of the half. The second half continued in a similar manner with both sides fairly evenly matched. Ruan were again guilty of some missed chances from placed balls and play, whilst Tulla converted any frees awarded to them. Tulla’s defence stood up well to the ongoing attack from the Ruan forwards. In the …

QUIN trainer John Hassett was on the mark as his 10/1 shot Lough Ferrib landed the sixth race of his career when successful in a 10-furlong Ratoath handicap at Fairyhouse on Wednesday of last week.Hassett will forever be remembered as the scourge of bookmakers when landing a string of well-executed gambles over the past 30 years and, while the Ballyhannon-based veterinary surgeon now runs a much smaller operation, he still retains his enthusiasm for a tilt at the ring every now and then.Having been backed at 12/1 in the morning, the now 11-year-old Lough Ferrib turned in a gutsy effort when hitting the front at the furlong pole under his useful Galway-born 5lb claimer, Leigh Roche, when running on powerfully from there to beat runner-up Asian Wing by a length.Lough Ferrib was recording his second win on the flat, to add to his four successes over hurdles and he made a quick reappearance when turning out again at Cork last …

WITH the future of this team and their management dangling by an increasingly thinning thread, only a man with a special talent and icy temperament could have rescued them.

CLARE captain Alan Clohessy readily acknowledged it was a nervous finish. “It was nervous from the middle of the second half. We made hard work of it but we got there. It’s great to be able to say we are in a Munster final but there is little point in going there just to play in it. We want to try and win it and help put Clare football back on the map.”

Clare          1-13Limerick    0-15SATURDAY, June 9 will be remembered as Clare football’s most memorable evening since the county’s 1997 Munster semi-final win over Cork in Ennis.