Sports

Blazing Tempo continued trainer, Willie Mullins’ hot streak when upsetting odds on favourite, Noble Prince (9/10F) to win the Grade 2 Norman’s Grove Chase at Fairyhouse on Sunday.Champion trainer, Mullins, who has been sweeping all before him this season, has a battalion of top class horses at his disposal – the Closutton handler saddled seven winners in 48 hours last weekend – and he struck early when taking the opening three races at the Meath track.The Norman’s Grove success was the most valuable prize (€24,500 to the winner) and 9/4 shot Blazing Tempo, who is proving a real money spinner having landed the Galway Plate at Ballybrit over the summer, is certainly holding her form well, running on powerfully in the closing stages under Ruby Walsh to beat the Paul Nolan-trained market leader by three parts of a length.The winner now has the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham as her long-term target. In addition to Blazing Tempo’s success, the all-conquering Mullins/Walsh …

The first major event of the new year at the Limerick Greyhound Racing Stadium, the Vetsearch Recharge open 525, got off to a lively start on Saturday night with some exciting times for the first round heats. The Graham Holland trained and Mallow-owned Calling Spice (Ballymac Maeve-No Joke Spice) was in absolutely flying form when setting a new record time of 28.27 for the 525-yards trip in Limerick. Drawn in trap two, in heat six, he led from the second bend and went on to win by five lengths from Colourful Champ.Cratloe owner, Pat Carey, also had a good winner with his black dog, Hollywood, in heat four. The son of Hondo Black-Cabin Rose also had a trap two draw and he was always in front for his 28.80 win. Boherna House, in trap one, challenged for the lead over the two last corner but in a very close finish Holly Wood held out to win by a head.The other …

There were eight cups on display in the Clare Inn Hotel on Saturday night when Newmarket-on-Fergus GAA, camogie and ladies’ football clubs held their victory social.The members of the camogie team collected their medals from long-serving club and Munster officer, Bridie O’Looney. Bridie presented medals to the ladies, who won the minor A and senior A championships. Clare Camogie was represented by county chairperson, Orla Considine. Outgoing Clare ladies’ football chairman, Johnny Hayes was on hand with Marie Louise Kaiser to present the Newmarket Ladies with their intermediate football medals. The Newmarket men were responsible for four ­pieces of silverware including the Clare Champion Cup, the senior B, junior A and junior C championships. County board chairman, Michael O’Neill presented the senior hurlers with their medals and legendary clubmen Paddy McNamara and Mike O’Leary ­presented the junior A and C medals. The Clare Champion, sponsors of Clare GAA’s senior leagues, was represented by Liam Duggan.Enda Barrett presented plaques on behalf …

THE national senior, junior and masters ladies and men’s track and field indoor combined events plus the National Junior Championships were held at the Nenagh Indoor Arena on Saturday and Sunday and there was a fine turnout of Clare athletes.Keith King (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) won a bronze medal in the senior multi-events pentathlon.David Tierney, who hails from Ennistymon and competes with Leevale AC, Cork, captured the gold medal in the 56lbs for distance with a throw of 8.16m.In the masters’ pentathlon, O-35-O-49, David Courtney (Ennis Track) and Tommy Greene (St John’s) were in action with James Sexton (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) in the quadrathlon O-50.Courtney and Greene were first into action in the 60m hurdles with Tommy recording a time of 11.46 and David a time of 11.48. In their next event, the long jump, there was another close battle with David jumping 4.90m and Tommy clearing 4.88m. In the shot putt, Tommy Greene produced a very big throw of 11.12m …

Ennis 19   Scariff 3 ENNIS collected valuable league points when they accounted for Scariff in this all-Clare clash in Division 2 at Ennis on Sunday.Two second-half tries proved decisive for the winners, who have now moved onto the same points total as the East Clare outfit.The greater experience of the Ennis side proved decisive in this tie, the first competitive clash of the clubs at junior level.They will renew rivalry at the same venue on this Sunday when they meet in the race for the Munster Junior Cup. This week’s tie will kick off at 2pm.Scariff, with former Clare and Galway hurling manager Mike McNamara assisting on the sideline, will hope to have learned from this outing when, in the first half in particular, they made things difficult for their more fancied opponents.Ennis took an early lead in the league clash when Dylan Tynan O’Mahoney kicked a penalty in the fifth minute. The lead was shortlived as Scariff outhalf James …

Munster hooker, Damien Varley has been bypassed by Declan Kidney for the Six Nations Rugby Championship in which Ireland open their campaign with a home game against Wales on February 5. Instead, the Killaloe man, who received a late call up to the World Cup in New Zealand following injury to Jerry Flannery, has to make do with a place on the 22-man Ireland Wolfhounds squad for the game with England Saxons at Sandy Park on Saturday.Originally from Ballyvalley, Damien won Munster Schools honours with St Munchin’s College in 2002. He studied at the University of Limerick and came to senior prominence in the colours of Garryowen. He made a number of Magner’s League appearances for Munster in the 2005-2006 season before moving to London, where he played for Wasps in the English Premiership. He returned to Munster at the beginning of the 2009-10 season and has now become a regular match squad member. In the continued absence of Flannery …

Former Clare hurling All-Star Jamesie O’Connor has a new role as selector with the Munster hurling team for this year’s Martin Donnelly inter-provincial series.The Munster team is managed by Tipperary’s Liam Sheedy, with Waterford’s Stephen Frampton making up the triumvirate.Munster face Leinster on Sunday, February 19 in Nolan Park, Kilkenny, with the final scheduled for Sunday, March 4.In the football equivalent, Ger O’Sullivan (Kerry) will manage the team and he will be joined by John Kennedy, coach of Clare county champions Kilmurry Ibrickane, and Maurice Horan (Limerick). Munster play Leinster in the semi-final in Parnell Park on February 19, with the final on Sunday, February 26.

There is no point in glossing over Clare’s 13-point defeat in Pairc Uí Rínn last Sunday. The most disappointing aspect wasn’t that they were beaten, it was their collective lack of urgency, physicality, tendency to lose the ball in contact and poor distribution. As Clare manager Micheál McDermott explained afterwards, the panel trained heavily the week before the game and were without some key players including David Tubridy, Laurence Healy and John Hayes. Yet bar some notable exceptions, the players who lined out against Cork will have to up their game considerably if Clare are to have any chance of eventually emerging from Division 4.    Cork led 1-5 to 0-1 after 26 minutes, which clearly underlines their superiority during that period. Michael O’Shea scored Clare’s first point from a free, won by Gary Brennan, but they didn’t notch another point for 23 minutes, when O’Shea pointed again after Stephen Tierney had been fouled. In the interim, the Kilkee man and …