Sports

YOU couldn’t but feel very sorry for the devastated Clare footballers. For a 20-minute spell from the 10th minute of the second half until five minutes from time, they played their most committed, no-holds barred football of 2012. It wasn’t enough and their longed-for escape from Division 4 remains on hold. Come 2013, Clare will have to face into their sixth successive year in the lowest division. They’re the bare, unpalatable facts.In front of 4,000 people in Aughrim, one of Ireland’s most picturesque venues, Clare trailed 1-10 to 0-7 just eight minutes into second half. They were playing into a very strong wind and had lost full-back Shane McNeilis to two yellow cards.It seemed Clare were heading for an inevitable hammering. Instead, they threw everything at Wicklow and ran at them from every corner of the field. Half-time substitutes Seán Haugh, Conor Talty and Shane Brennan contributed hugely to Clare’s commendable fightback as did Laurence Healy, who moved to full-back, …

Whitegate athlete Angela Hogan has just returned from Finland, where she represented Ireland at the World Senior Indoor Athletics (World Masters) Championships. Angela finished fourth and just missed out on a medal by .19 of a second. However, she set a new Irish record of 62.08 in the 400m in the masters age group. Angela is the gran-neice of Dinny Ryan, who was a runner in Whitegate in the 1940s and in whose honour the annual 10km road race on the May Bank Holiday weekend is run. “Everyone else is happy with it except me,” Angela said of her run in Jyvaskyla, which is three hours north of Helsinki. She trains five days a week and races at weekends. The indoor season has concluded now for Angela, who will be focusing on the outdoor season in the coming months. “The outdoor season starts in April and goes all the way through until August,” Angela, who has worked as a masseuse …

Fergal Lynch is preparing for a seismic week. First off, the Quin National School teacher is hoping to start against Kilkenny in Thurles on Sunday. Thoughts of possibly going head-to-head with Tommy Walsh would cram a hurler’s thoughts most weeks. This is not any week though.The following Friday, he will be standing at the top of St John’s Church in Cratloe awaiting the arrival of his fiancée, Angela O’Gorman. Kilkenny in a league semi-final followed five days later by tying the knot, not exactly a typical week. Before he can completely concentrate on April 27 however, he’s preoccupied with Kilkenny and says that if he ends up with a black eye or a nick on the forehead, he has a plan. “I’ll get over that. The make-up artist will probably be calling to Angela so if that happens, we’ll get them to call to Dangan for 15 minutes,” he laughs. Organising a wedding appears to involve minute organisation. Lynch maintains …

Three Ennis boxers made it to the semi-final stages of the National schoolboys championships in the National Stadium in Dublin last weekend and while hopes were high in the Clare camp for a hat trick of titles only 54kg defending champion Conor Doyle brought home the gold medal.57kg contender Michael McDonagh lost out in his semi-final on Friday to Colm Quinn from Castlebar in an enthralling all-southpaw battle and Brian McDonagh, who captured gold last year, lost out to Leinster champion Cathal Vint in a battle of fluctuating fortunes. Vint was to win handsomely in the final on Saturday.It was left to Conor Doyle to garner some semblance of balance to the Ennis colours and he succeeded with aplomb in a seething final battle with Adrian McDonagh from the Olympic club in Galway. Doyle, a first-year pupil in St Flannans College, beat Ulster champion Paul McCullough from the Holy Family Club in Belfast 9-1 in the semi-finals and was never …

  Kilmaley 3-7   Clarecastle 1-5 A LIVELIER and better-balanced Kilmaley side captured the Clare Féile na nGael hurling title at Cusack Park on Friday evening when they accounted for Clarecastle.The win was Kilmaley’s second in this competition in three years, while the final marked Clarecastle’s second successive runners-up award, having lost to Wolfe Tones in last year’s final.Kilmaley looked the better side from the outset but they struggled to translate this onto the scoreboard and found themselves behind at the end of the opening quarter following a David Barry goal for the Magpies.Early points from Sean O’Loughlin (free) and Cathal Darcy saw the winners hit the front and they would have extended this lead but for two excellent saves from Clarecastle goalie, Jack Hayes.The game was 12 minutes old before Clarecastle had their first score, a point from Owen O’Hara and this was quickly followed by a David Barry goal.Kilmaley, to their credit, didn’t panic and four minutes later, the …

THE Waterford football fraternity are showing signs of matching Kilkenny’s lack of interest in mastering the size five. As well as Clare played in the first round of the Munster Minor Football Championship in Cusack Park last Saturday evening, it must be noted that Waterford were useless and looked chronically under-prepared. Still, it is quite a achievement that the Clare full-forward line scored 1-16 between them. 1-13 of that return was scored by the Cleary twins from Miltown Malbay whose finishing, from play and frees, allied to their movement, was exceptional. Barry Lynch also looked the part at corner-forward in an inside line that Waterford couldn’t cope with. Clare’s next game will be at home to Tipperary on Wednesday, May 16. The reigning All-Ireland champions beat Kerry in Tralee on Saturday evening.As for Clare, they led 1-10 to 0-2 at half-time. Eoin Cleary scored the Clare goal in the eighth minute after a Waterford kick-out went disastrously awry. Cleary dribbled …

CLARE midfielder Gary Brennan couldn’t deny or hide his disappointment on Monday. Clare had travelled to Aughrim knowing they had to deliver a sustained gun-to-tape display if they were to win promotion to Division 3 for the 2013 season. For 20 second-half minutes, Clare did play superbly but that innings wasn’t matched for most of the first half, when they kicked five balls into the grasp of the Wicklow goalkeeper.Until he was forced off, having been downed with his first experience of a hamstring pull, Brennan had been playing the best football of his year at midfield. His loss, 21 minutes from time, was huge.“It’s sickening because it undoes all the good work that we had done up to this point in terms of results. Six wins and we still don’t get promoted but we had six wins two years ago as well and it wasn’t enough to get us promoted either,” Brennan reflected.“Really, if you want to get out …

DICKIE Murphy from Wexford was the special guest at the Clare GAA referees’ presentation night and dinner which was held at the Auburn Lodge Hotel on Saturday night last.Murphy who refereed at the top level throughout the past 20 years, recalled his refereeing career and encouraged more people to take up refereeing. He spoke of the enjoyment he had got from his time refereeing before making presentations to James Griffin from Doonbeg and John Nihill from Sixmilebridge, who had taken charge of the Clare football and hurling finals in 1986.Clare GAA chairman Michael O’Neill paid tribute to the Clare referees before making presentations to the referees of the 2011 Clare senior finals, Rory Hickey (senior hurling) and Pat Cosgrove (senior football). Cosgrove was unable to attend on the night. Martin Reynolds (Bord na nÓg hurling) and John Smith (Bord na nÓg football) spoke on behalf of both underage bodies.Clare referees secretary John Dolan replied on behalf of the referees.