Sports

Inagh-Kilnamona 1-17 Clonlara 3-11 Leading by five points with just a few minutes remaining at Clarecastle on Sunday, Inagh-Kilnamona looked to be on their way to the Clare Champion Cup final.A storming finish by Clonlara left the mid-Clare side having to come from behind for Ger Arthur to score the equaliser in injury time.In difficult conditions, the teams produced some good hurling and while each will point to missed chances, a draw was a fair outcome.John Conlon had the game’s first score but Inagh-Kilnamona hit back with three unanswered points through the Arthur brothers before Conlon struck again.At the mid-point of the half, Conlon won possession from a Tomás O’Donovan delivery and he turned quickly and blasted to the net. As half-time approached, the sides were level at 0-8 to 1-5 but Inagh-Kilnamona finished strongly and Conor Tierney struck for a goal to help them to a 1-9 to 0-5 lead at the break.Points were swapped twice early in the …

Rochestown, Cork 2-10 St Flannan’s 1-12 ST Flannan’s College suffered a heartbreaking one-point defeat in the opening round of the Corn Uí Mhuirí (Munster Colleges Senior Football Championship) at Charleville on Wednesday.Making their defeat all the more disappointing is the fact they lined out without two of their leading players, Tony Kelly and Jack Browne from Ballyea, who were withdrawn from the team by their club ahead of Saturday’s minor hurling semi-final in which Ballyea will play Clarecastle.Two other members of the Ballyea minor team, Tadhg Lynch who, like Kelly, plays his club football with Clondegad and Martin O’Leary, who plays football with Kilmihil with whom Browne also plays football, choose not to obey the club directive and played with the college team in this outing. It is understood the instruction to the players came from the Ballyea minor management team.Early points from captain, Conor Cleary and Barry Lynch helped Flannan’s to a 0-4 to 0-1 lead but Rochestown hit …

Sliabh Luachra (Kerry) 4-15 Banner Ladies 0-11 The writing was on the wall for Banner Ladies at half time when they trailed the Kerry champions by seven points in this Munster Senior B Championship final in Askeaton last Saturday. Sliabh Luachra had defeated Ballymacarby of Waterford in the semi-final and with players the calibre of Aoife Lyons, Lorraine Scanlon, Aisling Leonard, Elaine O’Connor, Margaret O’Donoghue and Mary O’Keeffe in their starting line-up, they were always going to be difficult to beat. On Monday of this week Leonard, Scanlon and O’Donoghue were named as All-Star nominees.The Castleisland-Scaraglin outfit scored 3-13 from play over the hour and got the opening score courtesy of a Leanne Mangan point. Banner replied with points from Naomi Carroll and a Niamh O’Dea long-range free but this turned out to be the only time in the match that the Clare club held the lead. Midfielder Lorraine Scanlon and corner-forward Mary O’Keeffe, with a point apiece, equalised before …

Clarecastle 2-14 Clooney-Quin1-8 A contribution of 1-9 from Eamonn Callinan helped Clarecastle advance to the Senior B Hurling Championship final when they overcame the challenge of a disappointing Clooney-Quin outfit at Sixmilebridge on Saturday. An early goal from Conor O’Gorman sent the Magpies on their way and they led 1-2 to 0-0 after six minutes. Clooney-Quin never really recovered from this early set-back as the Magpies held the lead for the rest of the tie.Five points separated the sides at half time, 1-9 to 0-7, and Clooney-Quin hopes of getting back into the contest were dealt a blow at the beginning of the second half when Callinan pounced for his side’s second major.The winners were 1-6 to 0-2 in front at the end of the opening quarter and while the losers hit the next three points, they never looked like they would get through for the goal desperately needed to get back into contention.When the next goal came it was …

Shannon Gaels 1-7 Kilrush 0-8 Following an exciting, tense Senior B Football Final replay in Cooraclare on Sunday, Shannon Gaels ended their season on a positive note, capturing their first adult title since 2005. Nigel Hehir scored the only goal of the game midway through the first half when he finished a move involving John Paul O’Neill and Shane Tubridy. That score put the winners ahead for the first time, 1-1 to 0-3. Kilrush had made an excellent start and raced into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead, playing into the car park end in Cooraclare. Young full-forward Eoin Tarrant and Ruaidhrí O’Connor (0-2) put over the early Kilrush scores. Michael Coughlan put over Shannon Gaels’ first score from a free as the Gaels began to win more ball in the midfield area. Ten minutes before half-time, Kilrush introduced Donal O’Sullivan for Martin Griffin. However, the Gaels stretched their advantage as the interval approached with John Paul O’Neill from play and …

New Clare senior hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald (pictured) wasn’t surprised when last Thursday’s draw for the 2012 Munster Senior Hurling Championship pitted Clare against Waterford in the semi-final.“In the lead-up to the draw, I felt that it was going to be the pairing. I have had great times with them in recent years but that’s over now and I will be doing all in my power to help Clare win next summer,” he told the Clare Champion at the weekend. Fitzgerald recently stepped down having served almost four years as Waterford boss during which time he led them to the provincial title.Clare and Waterford will clash in the semi-final with Cork getting a bye into the other semi-final where they await the winners of the Limerick v Tipperary first-round tie.In football, Clare also received a bye into the semi-final and here they will meet the winners of the first round game between Waterford and Limerick. A Clare v Limerick game …

Ennistymon 2-13 Kilmihil 1-7   Leading 2-10 to 0-1 at half-time, everybody in Miltown at last Saturday’s minor A final knew the Hennessy Cup was definitely heading back to Ennistymon for the first time since 2007. The only small detail to be ironed out was how much would they win by.Bearing in mind the magnitude of the half-time deficit, Kilmihil must be credited for showing sufficient pride and resolve to outscore Ennistymon 1-6 to 0-3 in the second half. They could have completely capitulated had they been less inclined to ignore the scoreline. Instead, they threw their best shot at Ennistymon and showed why they reached the final in the first place. That said, Ennistymon played excellent football in the opening half and simply had too many lively forwards for Kilmihil to cope with. Both Ennistymon corner-forwards, James McConigley and Barry Keating knew exactly what they were doing movement-wise and they contributed 1-4 between them. Joey Rouine was the best …

As ecstatic as Kilrush people were following the clubs first minor championship win since 1990, nobody in Miltown would deny that the new minor B champions, must have been one of the most motivated teams ever to play football. Speaking after the game Kilrush mentor Pat ‘Rico’ Clancy nearly deafened the packed stand, such was the passion with which he delivered his verdict to a startled press corp. It was this type of passion that drove the Kilrush youngsters to glory, with 15-year-old Liam Madigan especially eye catching. The Kilrush number 15 scored a hat-trick of goals from play, one as opportunistic and as calmly despatched as the next. Madigan also slotted over three points from frees to cap a superb innings. “It’s been a long time coming for Kilrush. We’re 21 years waiting for this. People might say it’s only a B but it’s gone so long now we had to win something,” Pat Clancy said after the match, …