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Sixmilebridge edge into last four

Sixmilebridge 0-17 Inagh-Kilnamona 0-15 AN excellent game of hurling on Saturday evening was spoiled in the closing seconds by a nasty incident that ended with Inagh-Kilnamona’s Cathal Lafferty being dismissed on a straight red card.Two minutes of injury time had been signalled by match official, Rory Hickey and this had almost expired when the incident happened. Inagh-Kilnamona were trying to mount a last attack in search of the goal they needed to keep their championship hopes alive when all hell broke loose. The match official had no hesitation in dismissing Lafferty before blowing the final whistle. It was a disappointing end to what had been a most entertaining game of hurling.On the run of play, Sixmilebridge just about deserved their win but Inagh-Kilnamona will feel they could now be preparing for a semi-final, such was the closeness of the contest.While there were some excellent scores, both sides failed to capitalise on goal chances. The majority of these chances came in …

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Kilmihil reach first minor final since 1995

Kilmihil 0-11 Kilmurry-Ibrickane 1-7   Eight points down four minutes into the second half, Kilmihil’s participation in the 2011 minor A county football final was nestling firmly in the ‘highly unlikely’ category.Kilmurry-Ibrickane had led 1-5 to 0-1 at half-time and when Niall Hickey pointed his fourth free early in the second half, the game looked up for Kilmihil. Their chances of reaching their first minor A final since 1995 looked as likely as an Irish man and a Greek being handed control of the IMF for a month. Darren Sexton scored Kilmurry’s goal from the penalty spot 13 minutes before half-time. Sexton himself was fouled and he buried the penalty, which actually went through the net at the scoreboard end in Doonbeg. Sexton also pointed from play in the first half, while Aaron Murrihy, along with Niall Hickey, was Kilmurry’s other first half scorer as Kilmurry took advantage of a strong wind. Martin O’Leary was Kilmihil’s only scorer in the …

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Champions dominate to seal semi-final spot

Crusheen 1-24 Broadford 0-10   TITLEHOLDERS Crusheen were comfortable winners over Broadford at Clarecastle on Sunday.The foundations for the victory were laid in the opening half, at the end of which the winners were ahead by a point after playing against the very stiff wind.The teams were level on five occasions in the opening half and they exchanged points at the start of the second half before the titleholders hit five in-a-row in as many minutes, after which the Broadford challenge faded.The East Clare outfit were unable to match the experience of the Clare champions and were always struggling in the second half.The teams exchanged points twice in the opening minutes before Broadford took a two-point lead by the eighth minute. However, they failed to build on this, finding it difficult to get past the winners’ half-back trio of Ciarán O’Doherty and the Dillon brothers, Cian and Cathal.The winners were back on level terms by the end of the opening …

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McGrath and McInerney too good for Tulla

Cratloe 4-12 Tulla 0-15 THE twin striking force of Conor McGrath and Cathal McInerney proved too much for Tulla in the first of the Clare Senior Hurling Championship quarter-finals at Cusack Park last Saturday.Between them, they accounted for all but four points of Cratloe’s total and, as they had done a week earlier for the club’s footballers, helped them become the first of the 2011 quarter-finalists.This victory for Cratloe keeps their double dream alive. This week, the focus switches back to football and the club’s county semi-final date with Kilmurry-Ibrickane. They are also in the U-21A football final and the club’s minor footballers qualified for the C championship final, where they will play St Breckan’s.While Cratloe were deserving winners on Saturday, the final scoreline is a little unfair on Tulla. The winner’s third goal came in the 59th minute of the game, while Cathal McInerney completed his hat-trick of goals in the fourth minute of injury time.While Tulla had the …

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Sending off costly for Clonlara

Kilmaley 1-13 Clonlara 1-11   A STRONG closing quarter saw Kilmaley edge out Clonlara in a well-contested quarter-final at Cusack Park on Sunday evening and while Kilmaley will feel they just about merited this victory, Clonlara followers will reflect on a contest in which they had enough opportunities to win.Reduced to 14 men for the final quarter, following the sending off of Tomás O’Donovan on a second yellow card, the South-East Clare side will point to this and eight second-half wides as a major contributory factor in their defeat.It was a game they looked to have control of on a few occasions over the hour but credit must go to Kilmaley, who refused to give up. Corner-forward, Niall McGuane played a huge part in the win. He created the opening for Seamus Hurley’s goal 11 minutes into the second half, a score that levelled the tie, and he went on to put his side into the lead with an excellent …

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Magpies press home advantage in second half

Clarecastle 1-14 St Joseph’s 0-10Clarecastle progressed to the semi-final of the Senior B Hurling Championship when they proved too strong for St Joseph’s at Gurteen on Saturday.Overall, it was a poor contest and, during the first half in particular, spectators were questioning if either side wanted to win the game.The Magpies stepped up a gear in the second half and emerged as worthy winners.Jarlath Colleran gave St Joseph’s the lead after five minutes but this was quickly cancelled out by a David Greene effort for the Magpies. They were level at 0-3 each after 20 minutes and two minutes later the game’s only goal came from Derek Quinn after good work by Jonathon Clancy.The home side outscored their opponents 0-4 to 0-1 in the last five minutes of the half but the Magpies led at the break on a score of 1-6 to 0-7. The home side closed the gap to the minimum when Ivor White landed a free early …

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Lahinch retain Clare junior title

Evidence of a bright future was seen at Lahinch Golf Club last week when the club retained the Clare Junior Cup League title. The Clare Junior Golf League, a competition organised on a team basis, has been running since 2007. Eight boys under the age of 16 represent each club. They play five outings in the year at Lahinch Castle Course, Ennis, Shannon, Dromoland and East Clare. The five best Stableford scores from each team count. After the five rounds were played this year, Lahinch had finished first and so had a home venue for the play-off with Ennis, who were in second place. The format for the final was match play-off handicap. On a very windy afternoon last Sunday, Lahinch emerged victorious by 51/2 matches to 21/2. Golf was of a very high standard considering the conditions. It is Lahinch’s third time winning the league, they previously won in 2007 and 2010. They now go on to play Castletroy, …

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