Sports

Clare 0-22   Offaly 1-19 A goal from a 20m free in the final minute of the game earned Offaly a share of the spoils with Clare in this senior hurling challenge game played to mark the official opening of new facilities at Crinkle in Offaly on Saturday evening last.“It was a good workout and a useful exercise. Overall, giving what we were missing, we were happy,” Clare manager Ger O’Loughlin said this week.Clare were short the Cratloe players, Sean Collins, Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath due to a club senior football championship engagement. Their clubmate Liam Markham (pictured) missed the weekend games because of a broken finger suffered when Cratloe beat Scariff in the senior hurling championship the previous weekend. The injury will keep the half back/midfielder out of contention for a place in the side for next week’s clash with Tipperary. Darach Honan was an absentee due to a groin injury while his Clonlara clubmate Nicky O’Connell also missed …

St Breckan’s 3-11   Éire Óg 1-10IT will go down as a big shock but for anyone at Corofin on Saturday evening, there can be no denying the merit of St Breckan’s victory over Éire Óg in their first-round tie.In a high scoring tie played at a tremendous pace, the Lisdoonvarna outfit were the superior team throughout and if they can reproduce that form in the remaining rounds, they will be strong candidates for a place in the concluding stages of the competition.Short a number of last year’s intermediate-winning side due to injury and emigration, they had a few others back in the panel having missed their march to the provincial intermediate final in 2010. From the moment veteran Denis O’Driscoll gave them the lead in the second minute, they made all the running and this is reflected in the fact that they never trailed.Five points in front as half-time approached, the North Clare side conceded 1-2 in the closing minutes …

Cratloe 2-11   Shannon Gaels 2-9 ENTERING injury time in Cusack Park on Saturday, Cratloe and Shannon Gaels were tied at 2-9 apiece. It looked likely that both clubs would pick up a point heading into round two of the championship. Cratloe, however, converted two close-range frees to seal a narrow win. Cathal McInerney’s free taking was a central plank of the South-East Clare side’s win. The Clare senior hurling panellist converted all nine of his frees, the furthest of which was about 35 yards out.Of course, Shannon Gaels’ tendency to concede frees aided Cratloe, who only scored two points from play.Shannon Gaels’ free taking was also impressive, with Michael Coughlan converting six of his seven frees, the other dropping into the goalkeeper’s hands.Cratloe made a blistering start and led 1-3 to 0-1 inside the first quarter. McInerney scored all three points from frees, while Podge Collins scored the Cratloe goal, set up by a perfectly weighed McInerney pass.John Paul O’Neill …

AN injury-time 1-1 produced a lopsided scoreline in Doonbeg on Monday. Kilkee definitely deserved their win but a three or four-point margin would have been a more balanced reflection of the hour’s football.The game, which was originally fixed for Saturday, was played under a heavy pall of sadness following the sudden death of Cooraclare clubman Pat Lillis, whose sons, Fergal and Cathal lined out in the full-back and full-forward lines respectively. Pat won a championship medal in 1986 (midfield) and was also part of the 1997 Cooraclare championship-winning panel.All flags in Doonbeg were at half-mast and the pre-match minute’s silence was impeccably observed by everyone, while the late Niall White was also remembered.The game lacked the bite expected of championship football. This was reflected by the absence of yellow cards and the low free count of just 28.Kilkee led narrowly at half-time, 0-6 to 0-5. They had been 0-5 to 0-3 down five minutes before the interval but a trio …

Ennistymon 0-10  Liscannor 0-8WHAT will delight Ennistymon as much as the result was the resolve they showed to recover from poor starts to both halves in Miltown on Sunday evening.By the 15th minute, Ennistymon found themselves 0-4 to 0-1 down to their neighbours in a game where players had to contend with a very strong cross-field wind. Ennistymon could have let self-doubt get the better of them even at that early stage but instead they kept their composure, fought their way back and were tied 0-5 each at half-time. They started the second half slowly as well and, in fact, it took them 12 minutes to register a score. Points from Brian Considine and Alan Clohessy, who scored four in total, had put Liscannor 0-7 to 0-5 up. It was in the remaining 18 minutes that Ennistymon showed what they were made of. In this period Kevin Scales, Joe Dowling, Danny Rouine and Seán O’Driscoll excelled when it really counted.The …

Kilmurry Ibrickane 1-9   Kilmihil 0-9 WITH half of the team that played in last year’s championship now living overseas, Kilmihil were rank outsiders going into their first-round clash with form team Kilmurry Ibrickane at Cooraclare on Saturday. At the end of an hour’s play, they were unlucky not to have gained at least a point from a tie they dominated for long periods.Kilmihil led by four points at half-time, 0-6 to 0-2, having played with the aid of the breeze. It was 0-7 to 0-4 eight minutes into the second half when the winners struck for a fortunate goal. A Paul O’Connor delivery was added to by Enda Coughlan, before Noel Downes managed to scramble the ball to the net.Twelve minutes into the half, with the sides level at 1-5 to 0-8, Kilmihil were dealt a massive blow when Timmy Ryan was shown a second yellow card by referee Tom Stackpool. The Clare panellist had picked up the first card …

The draws for the 2011 Clare U-21 football championships were made on Wednesday evening, producing some interesting pairings.The A titleholders, Ennistymon, will begin the defence of the crown with a quarter-final tie against Wolfe Tones while last year’s beaten finalists, Lissycasey, will face Éire Óg at quarter-final levelCratloe also received a bye to the last eight, where they will play the winners of the first round between Clondegad and St Joseph’s. Kilrush play Miltown in a first-round tie, with St Breckan’s taking on Kilmurry-Ibrickane in another first-round game. The winners of both of these games will meet in a quarter-final game. Eleven teams will compete for the A title, with eight battling it out for the B crown and four competing for the C title.The championships get under way on the weekend of June 25-26. U-21A: Byes: A Éire Óg; B Cratloe; C Ennistymon; D Lissycasey; E Wolfe Tones. First round: F Kilrush v Miltown; G Clondegad v St Joseph’s; …

Crusheen 4-23   Broadford 2-8 Crusheen strolled to an easy win over Broadford in this Clare Champion Cup tie played at Crusheen on Tuesday evening. The result was never in doubt as Crusheen dictated matters throughout the field. They raced into a 1-6 to 0-0 lead before Padraig Hickey opened the East Clare side’s accountConor O’Donnell had the first Crusheen goal with a long range effort that found the net. Paddy Meaney (2), Fergus Kennedy, Shaun Dillon and Gearóid O’Doherty (2) were the point scorers. Craig Chaplin (2f) responded for Broadford before Crusheen went on a scoring spree in the second quarter adding 3-11 in 15 minutes. Paddy Meaney scored 3-1 and Gearóid O’Doherty (3) Fergus Kennedy (3), Niall Fitzgibbon (2), Alan Brigdale and Ciaran O’Doherty added points.There was little Broadford could manage in the second half when Alan Brigdale and Ciaran O’Doherty shone in the Crusheen defence with Gerry O’Grady and Fergus Kennedy controlling midfield. Padraig Hickey scored a great …