Sports

For Killimer it’s a huge day and a huge opportunity as they bid to go where no team from the parish has gone before and claim a Junior A title — a success they have been striving for over a long number of years and different generations writes Joe Ó Muircheartaigh There’s always an early start on Sundays back Knockerra and Killimer way — for some like Pat Culligan it’s the same every day as there are cows to milk, cattle to feed and there’s mass to go to, never mind picking up the Sunday papers for a glance. This Sunday gone though, there was something extra for the people of Killimer and Knockerra, especially the followers of the green and gold as they were out in force to ensure that as much of it as possible was visible and proudly flying around the parish. Sunday, October 22, was Mission Sunday, but the big mission for the likes of Pat …

Doora-Barefield’s Ethan Coughlan made his first competitive start for Munster as the province started their defence of the United Rugby Championship (URC) with a victory, writes Ivan Smyth.. Coughlan also managed to cross in the left corner for his first Munster try as the home side defeated The Sharks 34-21. The Ennis RFC graduate lined out alongside Irish international Joey Carbery in what was his fourth appearance in the URC for Munster. His try came in the 77th minute as John Ryan produced a fine pass out wide. Alex Kendellen sucked in the defence before finding Antoine Frisch. The centre took the ball into the tackle before offloading to Coughlan as the scrum half dived over in the corner. Shannon RFC’s Kieran Ryan was one of three Munster players to make their competitive debuts. The game was also notable for Andrew Conway’s first Munster start since June 2022. It was a shaky start for the reigning URC champions with Shane …

Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final Clonlara 3-18 Crusheen 2-16 It was the perfect Cinderella story as arguably having suffered more heartbreak than any other team in the county, Clonlara soared to a first Clare Senior Hurling Crown since 2008 in Cusack Park, writes Eoin Brennan. Three agonising final and six semi-final reverses in the intervening 15 years were wiped away by a commanding final performance that saw them lead from Micheál O’Loughlin’s emphatic breakthrough goal in the 18th minute to the finish. Having somehow been denied a hat-trick of goals up to that juncture including a break taking Donal Tuohy stop from Colm O’Meara in only the fifth minute, O’Loughlin’s strike following great work from Aidan Moriarty and Ian Galvin felt like a weight was lifted off Clonlara’s shoulders as they outscored Crusheen by 1-3 to 0-2 for the remainder of the half. Again Moriarty raced through the centre, this time offloading to Colm Galvin to flick to the net from …

Another hero from 2010, Gearóid O’Donnell, feels that maiden title was a moment that will stay with him forever. “It’s truly a moment I’ll never forget, walking under the bridge with the Canon Hamilton for the first time in the history of the club. We had lost a final in 2007, a semi-final replay in 2008. 2009 was all about soul searching. It was a hurtful campaign after not getting out of the group. Like this current group we used that hurt and 2010 was our deliverance day. We had been coming but to finally get over the line was an unreal feeling, one I’ve told the young lads about, one that will live forever.” His successful side were on a path to the title for a couple of campaigns but this current crop have been transformed in literally a matter of weeks. It really has been Roy of the Rovers stuff. “Let’s be honest this was definitely out of …

Michael Browne has had huge success over a distinguished coaching and managerial career. He was at the helm when his beloved Crusheen made their historic breakthrough in 2010 and retained the Canon Hamilton in 2011. After having been on a rollercoaster of a journey this time around he finds himself once more only sixty minutes away from glory but is very reluctant to take little or any credit for this remarkable run. “I have very little to do with it. The guys I got involved with our set up this year have been there and done that. They know what it takes to win, the sacrifices one has to make but more importantly they know what joy winning brings. At the start it was very difficult to sort things out. I’ll be honest and say we struggled to get everyone to buy into what we were doing. Aidan Harte though has been a massive addition. He is a really top …

If you ever wanted to know what Clonlara means to Dónal Madden just default to that time when he was part of the side that made the big breakthrough by bringing Clare hurling’s greatest prize back to the home parish of Canon Hamilton. This week 15 years ago — October 18, 2008, and the black and amber had just dished out a 0-13 to 0-5 drubbing to Crusheen in the county semi-final, after which they’d go on to win the final against Newmarket-on-Fergus. Dónal made the biggest impact on the scoreboard in that semi-final played in Clarecastle, with 0-7 on his scorecard. Here was the Tulla man abroad in Clonlara, but very much at home there. A year after Tulla had beaten Crusheen in the county final to bridge a 74-year gap to their last county championship success — now Clonlara were 60 winning minutes away from bridging an even longer gap of 89 years. A penny for Dónal’s thought …

Clonlara captain Jathan McMahon has got his hands on the Canon Hamilton trophy before. And not just his hands either as being related to Clonlara’s 2008 winning captain Paul Collins, his first memories of watching his club were celebratory ones. “There’s a photo at home of me sitting in the cup. “I was only eight and obviously small so there’s plenty of photos of me and my uncle-in-law Paul and the family. “I was in my element and really looked up to the players that won it. I also distinctly remember going into school the following week, it was an just unreal atmosphere. “It’s mad now to think that I’m playing alongside John [Conlon] and now preparing for a senior final of our own.” Much like Conlon and the Class of 2008, their momentum-fuelled charge stemmed from a strong core of of exciting young players who soared to the club’s first ever Minor A title five years ago, led by …

Oscar Traynor Trophy Munster Region Round 1 Limerick District League 2 Clare District League 1 Clare’s grandstand finish proved too late to derail neighbours Limerick who relievedly held on for an opening victory in this year’s Oscar Traynor Cup in Jackman Park Limerick on Wednesday evening. Two first half strikes including a decisive sucker-punch just before the half-time whistle catapulted the home side into the ascendency that they would never relinquish despite a late injury-time backlash for Donie Garrihy’s side. With the Avenue United contingent delayed due to a car malfunction en route, Clare’s request to delay the kick-off time fell on deaf ears and it would a disconcerting blow as the visitors lacked bite early on and would be punished on the break in the 12th minute when Kieran O’Connell centred for waiting Shannon native Eoin Duff to finish at the second attempt. Jack Ryan came closest to regaining parity in the 29th minute when Nathan Boaventura’s corner wasn’t …