Sports

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 …

  Inagh-Kilnamona 1-2   Newmarket 1-7 THE race for the 2012 Clare Champion Cup got underway at the weekend with the meeting of last year’s finalists Inagh-Kilnamona and Newmarket at Kilnamona on Monday.This time the mid-Clare club came out on top, avenging last year’s final outcome.A strong second-half showing saw them turn a three-point half-time deficit into a five-point win.Weather conditions were cold and wet for Monday’s game and the players also had to contend with some surface water.The respective free-takers, Colin Ryan (Newmarket) and Niall Arthur accounted for most of the scores with Ryan firing home his side’s goal from a 20m free in the opening half as they moved to a 1-5 to 0-5 interval lead.The Clare forward had scored his side’s first two points from play, while David Barrett also scored a brace of minors in the first half.The home side had much the better of the second-half exchanges and they went in front when Eoin Vaughan ran …

Wolfe Tones 2-11   St Joseph’s 2-8   THERE was little between Wolfe Tones and St Joseph’s in this Division 1B tie played at Shannon on Sunday. Both sides had a number of players new to senior hurling in their line-ups.At the end of the first half, the winners led by a point, 0-6 to 0-5 after St Joseph’s had wasted a number of scoring opportunities, particularly from frees.The home side edged in front in the second period and managed to hold that advantage to the finish on a day when Gareth McPhillips and Shane Chambers scored goals. Declan Malone and Alan O’Neill scored the St Joseph’s goals. Wolfe Tones: Paul Hogan; Joe McGauley, Brendan Hughes, Barry Loughnane; Jamie Roughan, Brian O’Connell, John Guilfoyle; Kevin McCafferty, Shane Chambers; Aaron Cunningham, Alan Hehir, Stephen McInerney; David Reidy, Gareth McPhillips, Gary Leahy.Subs: Niall Murphy for McInerney; Johnnie Bridges for Chambers.St Joseph’s: Kevin Moloney; Declan Meehan, Marty O’Regan, Sean Flynn; Greg Lyons, Mark Hallinan, …

Ballyea 1-13   Clonlara 0-12   IN close contests, goals more often than not prove the difference and this was the case at O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge on Friday evening, when Ballyea accounted for Clonlara in the semi-final of the U-21A Hurling Championship.There was little between the sides in the opening half and just a point separated them at the half-time whistle. They had each added a point to their tally in the early minutes of the second half before Ballyea made the vital breakthrough.A James Murphy delivery caused problems for Clonlara and Niall Deasy pounced for the game’s only goal. It put his side four points clear and gave them an edge they held to the finish.The sides had swapped points three times in the opening quarter with the respective freetakers, Tony Kelly (Ballyea) and Cathal O’Connell, key members in the Clare minor team last year, on target.By the time the half-time whistle sounded, Ballyea had edged a point clear, …

  NEIGHBOURS Clooney-Quin and St Joseph’s will contest the U-21B Hurling Championship final after their victories over Crusheen and Smith O’Brien’s respectively on Friday. Clooney-Quin 3-16   Crusheen 3-9 A MAGNIFICENT contribution of 3-13 from Peter Duggan was the highlight of Clooney-Quin’s victory over a fancied Crusheen side at Newmarket.Lining out at centre-forward, he displayed his vast range of skills with scores from play and frees, while he also included a trademark point from a sideline cut.Crusheen got off to a dream start with a goal from Colin Vaughan after two minutes but 10 minutes later, the winners were a goal to the good after Duggan had found the net twice, once from play and then from a penalty after Seamus Conroy was fouled.Crusheen responded with points from Conor O’Donnell, Jamie Fitzgibbon, Ethan O’Donnell and Sean Weir to cut the winners’ lead to the minimum, 2-2 to 1-4, but this sparked a strong response from the winners, who scored six unanswered …

  Feakle-Killanena 1-13   Whitegate 1-8 BEATEN finalists last year, Feakle-Killanena are back in the U-21C Hurling Championship final but only after a strong finish against East Clare neighbours, Whitegate at Scariff on Friday.An outstanding performance from goalkeeper Eibhear Quilligan was key to the victory. Last year’s Clare minor goalie was outstanding and produced a number of excellent saves.Leading by eight points, 0-11 to 0-3, after playing with the aid of the breeze in the first half, they found themselves under great pressure when play resumed, as Whitegate fought back to level with only five minutes remaining.A Keelan McNamara goal five minutes from the end suggested that Whitegate would win the tie but almost immediately Feakle-Killanena launched, an attack which ended with an Oisín Donnellan goal, a score that turned the tie back in their favour.Whitegate will be disappointed, as they had dominated the second half exchanges up to that point. Indeed, they would surely have been in front at that …