Sports

WHEN Shane Meehan answered the phone to The Clare Champion the 19-year-old was almost drowned out by the cheers and excitement of the children hurling behind him. That morning and afternoon, Meehan was down at his own club, Banner, helping the club run their Easter camp. With over 100 kids attending the camp, hopes are high within Banner that they can continue their recent upward trend across all codes. The evening prior Meehan and the Clare U-20 hurlers saw their Championship campaign come to an end after falling to an agonising two point against Cork. For the second game on the spin, Clare let a winning hand slip as Meehan’s final year at the U-20 grade came to a close. Despite the disappointment, the Mary Immaculate student, headed down to coach the young players coming through the ranks. When Meehan spoke to The Champion after the camp, he reiterated the point that heading down to his club helped him deal …

For someone with the mercurial touch of Tony Kelly, it’s intriguing to hear the Ballyea man discuss improving upon and refining his artillery for Championship combat. After requiring ankle surgery last October, Kelly was forced to watch from the sidelines as Ballyea showed remarkable grit to eventually emerge triumphant and lift the Canon Hamilton. The 28-year-old was part of the St. Flannan’s management team when the Ennis school lifted the Dean Ryan Cup in November, three days after Ballyea were crowned county champions for the third time in the club’s history. The teacher believes he can take lessons from watching his clubmates and the students he coaches between the white lines. “It gives me a different perspective when I’m watching games on the sideline. Something I enjoy doing is coaching the younger players. No matter what age you are you can pick up a thing or two watching other players. You can learn a lot from different players.” After a …

With Clarecastle and Feakle having defeated Broadford and Éire Óg respectively already this week, Eoin Brennan previews the rest of the Clare Cup Division 1A and B action with an array of interesting clashes in prospect Clonlara v Sixmilebridge at Clonlara, Saturday 2pm (Rory McGann, Newmarket-on-Fergus) As part of the reparation process post-lockdown is the long-awaited resumption of the Clonlara v Sixmilebridge derby which has been absent for the past three years. At the time, Sixmilebridge were on the cusp of what would eventually become back-to-back county titles for the first time in 27 years whereas Clonlara have had to be content with back-to-back senior B versions over the past two seasons. Under new managements, it will be interesting to see how much water has flowed under the bridge in the intervening period as while they won’t be near full strength, the winner will remain in contention for Clare Cup honours. Cratloe v Ballyea at Páirc Uí hEithir Cratloe, Saturday …

Clare are set for a mouth-watering group decider against neighbours Galway after maintaining their perfect start with a 0-17 to 0-16 victory over North Cork in Charleville last Saturday. It was another gritty character-filled display from Ger Hickey’s side that looked to have blown their chance when eleven first half wides with the aid of the conditions left them with only a minimum advantage by the break at 0-6 to 0-5. That narrative appeared to be playing out when the Banner trailed their gale-assisted hosts by four entering the final ten minutes. However, much like their opening derby with Limerick seven days previously, Clare remained composed under pressure and managed to play their way back into contention. Indeed, it was substitutes Padraic O’Donovan and Eoin Heffron that provide hugely influential in turning the tide as the Smith O’Brien’s clubman scored one and assisted three more points while O’Donovan would raid for six points overall including the injury-time winning free to …

Michael O’Connor was in Rathkeale to see Clare battle hard but fail to overhaul the hosts who did the damage early on and ran out 2-8 to 0-9 winners. NEXT weekend Shannon will host the game that decides the season for Dermot Coughlan’s men. Following an emphatic 26-point win over Waterford in round 1 his charges were left gasping for breath for the opening 15 minutes against a very impressive Limerick side in Rathkeale on Thursday evening as the Shannonsiders scored their first win of the campaign. Waterford are now out of the Minor football championship and play Limerick having lost both games to date by a cumulative total of 46 points. Tipperary are on four points with a scoring average of +27 points. Clare are on two points with a scoring average of +21 points as Limerick are on two points and a scoring average of -2. Clare must win against Tipperary and even then, it may not be …

GORT boxer Cliona D’Arcy won the European Youth Championship 81kg+ title in Bulgaria this evening, defeating Ukrainian fighter Polina Cherenko. It was a fine display from D’Arcy, who four of the five judges having her as the winner, with only one giving the nod to the Ukrainian. Indeed, three of the five had the Gort woman winning every round. While Cherenko had a clear advantage in strength and size, D’Arcy had far better movement and frequently caught her opponent with clean shots. The Ukrainian came forward almost continuously, but she was made look rather predictable by the cuteness of the Gort teenager, who ended up winning in some style in front of raucous Irish fans.

Derek Dormer was in Clarecastle to witness the home side defeat Éire Óg 2-18 to 0-15 in the Clare Cup A GAME with all the hallmarks of a local derby – ferocious tackling, fierce exchanges, yellow cards and a vocal crowd – provided an excellent spectacle on Wednesday evening in Clarecastle. Éire Óg started the game at a frenetic pace racing into a five points to one lead by the tenth minute but failure to score for the remainder of the half was hugely detrimental to their hopes of success. Dominanation at restarts, winning their own easily and overturning the opposition’s, provided the platform for three David McNamara points, an Oran Guilfoyle beauty and a fine Michael Heneghan score. From here though until the half time whistle Clarecastle simply took over with Killian McDermott inspiring his teammates with some fantastic scores. With Stephen O’Halloran, Rory O’Connell and Darragh Healy now dominating primary possession the Magpies moved through the gears and …