Sports

THIS week the Clare senior football panel is preparing for the most significant hour and 10 minutes of their inter-county careers do date. Win and Clare will be playing Division 3 league football in 2013. Lose and they will have to face into another season of slogging it out in division four, playing Mickey Mouse teams like Kilkenny. Out of touch traditionalists might still think that championship is paramount. They are wrong. For a county like Clare to make progress, improving their league station is far more important in the medium term. An ideal year for Clare in 2012 would be to win promotion and to qualify and compete manfully in a Munster final. Possibly followed by winning a game or two in the All-Ireland qualifiers. But if Clare aren’t promoted, a seventh successive year of Division 4 football would overshadow everything even if they did beat Limerick or Waterford and reach a Munster final. Winning on Sunday in Aughrim …

Kilrush 1-6    Doonbeg 0-8 Maybe Doonbeg thought this result was sewn up when they led 0-6 to 0-0 20 minutes into the first half. Or perhaps Kilrush decided that they had nothing to lose and they might as well throw everything at their opponents. It transpired, however, that Kilrush fought back superbly to record their first Cusack Cup win of the new season and they now join Doonbeg on two points from their opening three matches. Doonbeg were well beaten by Kilmurry Ibrickane in their previous outing. Doonbeg cannot point to the absence of David Tubridy as a factor either. The Doonbeg man and his Kilrush inter-county team-mate John Hayes both lined out for their clubs in what could be a seminal week of their county careers. Points from Colm Dillon, Tubridy, Frank O’Dea, Brian Egan and Shane Killeen established Doonbeg’s early lead. Come half-time, they led 0-6 to 0-2 as Kilrush fought their way back. Niall Clancy and Jim …

The national juvenile boxing championships are under way in the National Stadium in Dublin this week , and there are seven Clare boxers in action at the famous venue, with hopes high for three of the much-prized titles.Brothers Eddie and Paddy O’Donovan both box out of the OLOL club in Limerick City and got their respective aspirations in motion on Tuesday in the 36kg and 39kgs. Youngest sibling Eddie defeated Dubliner Daithi McDonagh on a 9-4 scoreline, while Paddy, who is defending his national title, won comprehensively against Oran McNaughton from Antrim, 14-5 .All four Ennis boxers weighed in comfortably on Friday last and newcomer Martin Doherty will be the first in action in his 42kg class opener on Thursday and should he come through will box Dubliner Pierce O’Leary for a place in Saturday’s final.Conor Doyle won the 48kg title last year in his first year in boxing, and has now moved up to the 52kg division in search …

Liscannor 1-12   Lissycasey 0-6 A PHYSICALLY stronger Liscannor maintained their winning run in the Garry Cup when they accounted for Lissycasey in this league tie played at Liscannor on Saturday. As a result of this win, the North Clare men top the league table after three rounds.The winners laid the foundations for victory in the opening half when they built up a six-point lead when playing with the aid of the breeze to lead 0-8 to 0-2 at the break.Lissycasey tried to get back into contention in the second period but they were unable to break the midfield dominance of Brian Considine.The winners’ goal came from Robert Lucas in the final minute. Liscannor: Noel Kilmartin; Kieran Roche, David McDonagh, Robert Lucas; Denis Murphy, Michael Foley, Ronan Slattery; Ray O’Brien, Brian Considine; Gerry Considine, Johnnie Considine, Adrian McDonagh; Niall Considine, Alan Flaherty, Dara Blake.Subs: Declan Fawl, Aidan Murray, Paul Guerin, David Commane and Ciaran Considine.Lissycasey: Shane Normoyle; Brendan O’Connor, Michael Melican, …

Rounds three and four of the Connaught Competition Engines Irish Hillclimb and Sprint championship 2012 will take place near Ballyvaughan this weekend on two of the most famous hills in the country.Saturday will test all competitors on the Corkscrew Hill, which consists of challenging hairpins and fast sweeping bends. Local Ballyvaughan man Sylvie Mullins will be attempting to make it three from three on the Corkscrew, having taken victory for the past two years.Sunday sees a move just over the road to the most challenging and longest hill climb of the year on Ballyallaban. Simon McKinley, who holds the hill record, will face stiff competition from local man Mullins, the returning three-time champion Paul O’Connell and the hard-charging John Byrne in his Jedi.After Mullins’ double win in Wexford two weeks’ ago, he will be looking to make it three in a row.  This year’s 12-round championship takes place over six weekends, taking in some of the most scenic parts of …

COLIN Crehan and Niall Bolton were crowned All-Ireland 40×20 minor handball champions at Cappagh on Saturday.The Clare pair won a thrilling tie that went right to the wire. They started impressively and took an early 6-0 lead on their way to a comfortable first game on a 21-12 scoreline.The Tyrone pairing of Gabhainn McCrystal and Pol Clarke missed some easy chances in the first game, when they made a number of unforced errors. In the second game, the tables turned and Tyrone, particularly McCrystal, really came into the game. It was Clare’s turn to squander chances.The Kilkishen/Tulla pairing led 7-6 but then found themselves 7-17 and 9-20 behind, before upping their game again to reach 16. However, they could not prevent their Northern opponents from winning the game and levelling the tie. The best handball was undoubtedly played in the third game and this time the momentum and lead swung both ways a number of times.Clare again started well and …

  The inaugural Clare camogie/Clare Haven 10k run/walk/cycle took place on Bank holiday Monday. ResultsMen – 1. Thomas Grimes 34.10; 2. Kieran Towey 38.11; 3. John Neylon 42.11 Women – 1. Rose Enright 42.11; 2. Liz & Mags Murphy 47.02; 3. Anna Geoghegan 48.01 Walkers – 1. Patricia O’Connor 1.08.30; 2. Orla Keating 1.13.10; 3. Catherine O’Loughlin & Margaret Lafferty 1.14.20 Cyclists – 1. Eoin Doyle 31.51; 2. Micheal Reid 40.02.

There was blood in the water and on the canvas last Saturday night as Phoenix Kickboxing Club’s Mark ‘The Shark’ Duffy lived up to his killer nickname at  Ultimate Rising in Galway, with an impressive TKO win over local fighter Martin Greaney.Taking the fight on just a week’s notice, the lanky light heavyweight faced a stern challenge in Greaney, who is trained by WKN world middleweight champion Ken Horan but showed scant regard for his opponent’s pedigree.In his first bout under the Phoenix Kickboxing banner, Duffy weighed in at a lean 78.9kg, taking a very slight weight advantage over Greaney.It was all forward motion from the start for The Shark, who flew out of his corner for the first round throwing lunging front-snap kicks and following up with heavy punches.Making good use of his reach, Greaney was on the back foot from the off and Duffy was landing early and often in the initial exchanges.The Phoenix fighter was unlucky not …