Sports

THE 49th Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare Athletic Club and Run the Banner 2019 Road Race Series number 2 and Michael Egan Memorial five-mile road race and 5km fun walk attracted a very high-quality field of runners and walkers to the start with Kenneth Rodgers, St John’s, having the field on a big chase when he set out on a very fast pace from the Quilty Tavern, along with Rory Chesser, Ennis Track, and Cian McDonald, Ballyroan/Abbeyleix and District AC. The group of three were together for three miles, until Rodgers made a decisive move with the wind to his back and on the Quilty-Kilrush Road, he had 20 seconds on Chesser with a mile remaining and he held that lead all the way to the finish to retain his title in 26.40 from Chesser (26.57) and McDonald (27.20). Ennis Track took the team title and the Michael Egan Shield, with a total of 28 points. Second were St John’s on 45 …

A meeting will be held on Thursday night to decide on the future of the 2019 Clare U-21 hurling championships. Clubs will be asked to vote on reducing the Clare U-21B championship from 15-a-side to 13-a-side in order to counteract the loss of U-17 players at the grade. Controversy has reigned in the last two weeks after a Croke Park ruling stated that U-17’s are not eligible to play in U-21 competitions. This is despite the official rule-book stating that the U-21 grade shall have a five year span, but an interpretation of that ruling from the Rules Advisory Committee issued this week contradicted that statement. Clubs have been informed that players must be 17 or over on January 1 of the championship year, with serious concerns expressed by a number of the clubs present at Tuesday night’s meeting that this would impact on their ability to field a team. Sixmilebridge U-21 manager Tommy Liddy stated that up to 13 …

On this week’s podcast: Peter O’Connell is joined by Eoghan Moloney, Joe Garry and Fergie O’Loughlin to review the weekend’s sporting action.

Clare’s hopes of promotion from Division Two of the NFL took a serious blow after a 1-16 to 0-13 loss against Kildare in Newbridge. Clare welcomed back Eoin Cleary for his first start of the season as the Miltown man recovered from a hand injury. Kildare hit the opening three points of the game through Neil Fynn after he claimed an attacking mark, while Tommy Moolick landed two great scores from distance. Clare responded well, with David Tubridy slotting a free after Keelan Sexton was fouled, while Sexton himself sent over “45 just moments later. Kildare then struck for a penalty, but Clare were the authors of their own misfortunes as Pierce DeLoughery’s kick-out was intercepted by the Kildare attack. Gordon Kelly committed the foul just inside the area to stop a certain goal, which saw the Miltown man dismissed to the bin on a black card. Tommy Moolick stood over the kick, and made no mistake with a good …

Clare boss Colm Collins insists his side must hit the reset button ahead of this weekend’s trip to take on Kildare in Newbridge. An impressive performance in Cusack Park last time out against Cork saw Clare pick up their first victory of the campaign, with thoughts now turning to getting one over on a Lilywhite’s outfit trained by former Clare coach Alan Flynn. While there was plenty positives to take from the result against the Rebels, Collins feels Sunday will be a whole other ball game. “The important thing to keep in mind is that every game is different and it doesn’t necessarily transfer in terms of form, so you have to approach the Kildare game in the same way as any other. You have to make sure your work-rate is up to scratch and you are hitting your targets, and if you are doing that, you give yourself every chance. I have said it 1000 times, we are very …

Clare will complete their National Camogie League campaign on Sunday when they host Dublin in Cusack Park at 11.45am. It is a game of no consequence in terms of the league for Clare, as they are out of the running to make the knockout stages. Manager Ger O’Connell says while that is disappointing, it is important to finish the campaign on a positive footing. “It’s unfortunate that we are not in the running for the semi-finals, but Sunday is still a competitive game for us. It may not be as important as we had hoped but it still gives us a chance to look at a few more players on the panel and build that competition for places. It’s a new whole new structure in terms of the players and management so we were all getting to know each other during this campaign and bringing in a new way of playing so it is a work in progress. Hopefully every …

When Colm Collins went about putting together his Clare senior football backroom team for the 2019 campaign, one of the men he recruited was former All-Ireland winner with Kerry Declan O’Keeffe. The Rathmore native is now resident of Quin, with the Garda lining out in the green and red before hanging up his boots for the last time. He won two All-Ireland’s between the sticks for the Kingdom, and was chosen as the best in the land with an All-Star award on both occasions too. He is now imparting his wisdom on the current crop of Clare net-minders, with Rob Eyres, Eamon Tubridy and Pierce DeLoughery all working under his close watch. He says when the call came to be part of the Clare set-up, he had no hesitation in taking up the offer. “The call came around last October from Colm asking would I get involved, and naturally enough I was delighted to. I’m living locally for a long …

Clare make the trip to Cavan on Saturday for round three of the National Ladies football league Division 2. James Murrihy’s side are yet to pick up their first win of the campaign, but are still undefeated after draws against Kerry and Wexford in their opening two rounds. It is their first year under the watchful eye of new coach DJ Collins, and the Cork native admits he was coming into a set-up that he already knew plenty about. “I know some of the Clare players from being involved with UL, especially the likes of Niamh O’Dea and Laurie Ryan. James contacted me and said he was looking to someone to help out in the coaching side of things this year. I had taken a year out from the inter-county scene but I knew the girls and I also knew what James was about too, so when they asked I thought it sounded like a good idea. It didn’t take …