Sports

Clare 1-17   Waterford 0-12 SCORING all but a point of their impressive final tally from play, Clare got their National Football League campaign off to a winning start at Cusack Park on Sunday when they overcame the challenge of Waterford.The winning margin could have been much greater had the home side converted first-half dominance into scores but, that said, Micheál McDermott and his management team will be happy with the outcome on a day when Shane McGrath made an impressive debut for the home county of his father John, who was a leading light with Clare in the ’70s.The fact that four players, three from Waterford, were sent off might suggest this was a dirty game but there wasn’t a foul blow during the 70 minutes. All sending-offs, which were in the second half, were on second yellow cards and all appeared harsh.Such was Clare’s dominance in the first quarter that they would not have been flattered to have been …

The Munster adult 40×20 championships are now in full swing with mixed results during the past week for Clare players and plenty of action in the coming week from a number of county competitors already qualified for provincial semi-finals. The minor and junior doubles grades will hold special interest with Clare teams in both semis, while Lisa Loughnane and Anne-Marie Fitzgerald will play the Munster ladies intermediate doubles final.Tuamgraney pair Diarmaid Nash and Niall Malone will be in top-level action this weekend in the Munster senior open doubles championship. The Clare pair start with a quarter-final in Broadford on Friday against Cork’s Killian Carroll and Brendan Fleming with the winners facing a semi-final the following day in Cappagh against the team of Ger Coonan and Fergal Collins (Tipperary).Tulla’s Cathal Hannon had a fantastic junior singles semi-final win over Kerry’s John Joe Quirke (21-5, 21-6) and will take on Limerick or Cork opposition in the Munster Final in Broadford on Tuesday.Hannon, …

Gort youngster Ciara Doran had a bumper weekend, bringing home seven gold medals from the Gerry Ryan Open Gala in University of Limerick. Ciara, who is just 11, goes to Peterswell National School and is a member of Limerick Swimming Club. The enthusiastic young swimmer completed in seven events, five individual and two team and managed first place in each. On Saturday, she took part in the 800m freestyle, her first competitive effort at this distance. She swam a Division One time, managing 10.57.56. Next, she swam the 200m backstroke and was tested by very strong opposition but won with a personal best and a Division One time of 2.52.27. The Limerick team, featuring Shona Hickey, Sarah Carey and Tara Finnucane,  also won the 4x50m freestyle relay.On Sunday, Ciara took gold in the U-12 200m fly in a time of 3.00.62, missing the Division One time by just over three seconds but managing to beat her personal best by nearly …

Holders Avenue United A and premier league leaders Newmarket Celtic A made winning starts to their Clare Junior Cup campaigns on Sunday.Newmarket had a comfortable victory over Shannon Olympic A, while Avenue proved too strong for Tulla United A. Indeed, it was a disappointing day for Tulla as their B team also made their exit from the competition, going down to Sporting Ennistymon.In contrast, it was a great day for Newmarket Celtic whose B team caused an upset when accounting for Corofin Harps. The biggest surprise in the first round was the defeat of Turnpike Rovers by Manus Celtic B.Avenue United A 3Tulla United A 1 Tulla United A went into this tie with high hopes of upsetting the cup holders and things went well for the opening half, at the end of which the game was scoreless.Early in the second half Avenue United failed to take the lead when David Russell missed a penalty. Boosted by this, Tulla A …

SATURDAY’S 100 minutes of action against Limerick was “better than two weeks of training”, according to experienced Clare mentor Louis Mulqueen, a former Clare and Galway trainer.“It was intense and competitive and it will be of particular benefit to young players in helping them gain experience at inter-county level. This was actually the first competitive inter-county senior game for many of those involved,” according to the Ennis CBS school principal.“There were a couple of edges to this game. We need to start well in the league and the first game is against Limerick. Psychologically, both teams didn’t want to lose on Saturday. Standing up as a team was very important where a lot of those involved are starting their senior inter-county careers. It sends out a message that Clare will be strong and competitive and I am very happy with that,” Mulqueen said.“We went out with great heart and we fought for every ball in difficult conditions. We haven’t been …

Scariff 22   Richmond  10   Tries from Joe McGrath, James Kelly and Tom Cronin, with two conversions from Cronin and a penalty from Trevor Kelly helped Scariff to a 22-10 victory over Richmond.Conditions made any sort of continuity play nearly impossible, as the pitch cut up badly from kick-off after the heavy rain that fell earlier in the day.Richmond had a strong first half, leading at the break 5-3. Scariff, however, did have try-scoring chances in the first half but handling close to the line let them down.Richmond went further ahead early in the second with a try in the corner. After this Scariff took the upper hand and spent most of the remainder of the second half in the Richmond 22. The pressure paid off with tries from Joe McGrath, James Kelly and Tom Cronin.This weekend, it is back to business in the league with a tough home fixture against promotion-chasing Kinsale. Scariff: Joe McGrath (capt), Bernard McGrath, Paul …

St Augustine’s, Waterford 4-9   St Flannan’s College 2-9 The St Flannan’s junior lady footballers were beaten by six points in the Munster junior ‘B’ final played in Tipperary town on Wednesday. Having played with the wind in the opening half, St Flannan’s led 1-5 to 1-3 at half time. They fought hard throughout the second half, in difficult conditions but late goals from the Waterford school helped them to establish control. Aoife Keane scored the St Flannan’s goal in the first half and also slotted over a number of points from frees over the hour. Nikki Kaiser scored the Ennis schools second goal late in the second half. Clare midfielder Gary Brennan, who co-manages the team along with Emer Considine, said that St Augustine’s had the physical edge over the Clare school. “They were very physically strong. We were two points up at half time. In the second half we were under the cosh and held our own. We went …

Rice College 7-14   Doon CBS 5-8 Rice College advanced to the second round of the Munster colleges U-15C hurling championship (Corn Solo) when they defeated Doon CBS at Boher on Tuesday.Extra time was needed to separate the teams with the Ennis side taking control in the extra period.At the end of normal time it was 4-5 for Rice College to 3-8. They had dominated the opening half with Doon having the better of the second half. Conor O’Halloran scored a last minute point for the Ennis side to force extra time where Rice College took control. Substitute David Sheehy scored two goals in this periodSean O’Loughlin, Conor O’Hall-oran, Michael Lyons and Jack Lynch stood out for the winners. Rice College: Niall Duggan (Doora-Barefield) Stephen Foudy (Inagh-Kilnamona) Jack Lynch, (Kilmaley), Michael Culligna, (Clooney-Quin); Tadhg Connellan (Éire Óg) Michael Lyons, (Ruan); David Lynch, (Kilmaley); Colm Devine (Doora-Barefield); Conor O’Halloran, (Éire Óg, 0-3); Sean Murphy (Doora-Barefield), Killian Brennan (Ballyea, 1-1), Eanna O’Connor (Éire …