Sports

Clare boxers Sally Carrig and Kayleigh McCormack captured Irish titles in the national Youth and Girl Boxing Championships at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday last perpetuating a proud county tradition of fighting excellence. Both girls won in contrasting fashion with Sally from the Ennis club making her debut at this, the highest level in girls boxing. The seasoned yet precocious Kayleigh added 57kg title to the one that she won in style last year. Clare coach Seán Carrig was delighted with the two titles and was particularly proud of the three other finalists from Clare, Lee Sherlock (54kg), Caoilinn McCormack (52kg) and defending champion Antoinette Keane (63kg), fought magnificently in their respective finals.Kilfenora’s Kayleigh McCormack came through a bruising semi-final against the durable Lauren Smith (South Meath), having led from the opening bell on Friday night. Her opponent in the final, Ulster champion Rosemary Doherty from the Carndonagh club, was experienced but found it hard to cope with …

Clare karate competitors brought home a stunning five gold medals from the WSKF Irish Karate Championships, staged in Tallaght at the weekend. In a battling performance, members of the Ennis Karate Academy took home a total of 16 medals. Pride of place went the three youngest competitors, Robert McNamara (7), Lorraine Connellan (7) and Séamus Óg Enright (6), who were competing at the nationals for the first time. Robert won gold in the U-8 Kumite, or fighting, with Séamus Óg taking bronze in the same event. Lorraine won bronze in U-8 Kata. The first Ennis success of the day came when, for the fifth year in a row, John Tunney won gold in the veteran’s Kata. Séamus Enright Senior took third place in the same event, his first success at this level. Soon after, Letty Howe followed up with a bronze, this time in the ladies’ Kumite, having been very unlucky to lose her semi-final. These early successes set a …

Wexford 2-14  Clare 0-4   Clare suffered a comprehensive defeat at the hands of the All-Ireland champions Wexford last Saturday in Piercestown, Wexford, in Round 3 of the National Camogie League.Taking on the current champions in both league and championship was always going to be a daunting task for Clare, whose problems were added to by the absence of key players Sinéad Donovan, Siobhán Lafferty and Laura Linnane through injury. Wexford had the added incentive of this being their first opportunity of playing in front of a home crowd since their All-Ireland win last September, their two other games in the group having been away from home. They did not let their supporters down, treating them to a display befitting that of champions. The home side took control from the outset and by the midpoint of the opening half they had a five-point lead before Katrina Parrock goaled in the 22nd minute. Chloe Morey got Clare on the scoreboard with …

Clare 5-10 London 0-4 Clare just about warmed up for next Sunday’s pivotal league meeting with Roscommon in Cusack Park last Saturday. London competed reasonably ably for 35 minutes but their attack was one of the least dangerous to field in a national football league game. They didn’t manage to score a single point from play. Only Kilkenny can toast a less successful approach scoring record. If London had deliberately set out to be less threatening in attack they would hardly have succeeded. Although Clare eventually won by 21 points, they led by a mere 2-3 to 0-3 at half-time. Alan Clohessy picked up a bang in scoring a sixth-minute goal, going in bravely on a dropping ball lobbed in from the right by David Tubridy. Tubridy and Laurence Healy added Clare’s first-half points while Gary Brennan, who started at full-forward, goaled eight minutes before half-time after good link-up play involving Michael Foran, Rory Donnelly and Clohessy. London defended manfully …

ON Sunday, Special Olympics Ireland officially announced details of Team Ireland who will compete at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens.One hundred and twenty six athletes, along with 49 coaches will represent Ireland at the Games, which are the highest level of sporting competition for Special Olympics athletes in the world. Athletes Michael Neville, from Sixmilebridge, and Ciara O’Loughlin, from Inagh, will fly the flag for Clare at the Games which will take place from June 25 to July 4 in Athens, Greece. Team Ireland will join 7,500 Special Olympics athletes from 185 nations for the Games which promise to be one of the sporting highlights of this year. Team Ireland will compete in 12 sports: aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, bocce, bowling, equestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, kayaking and table tennis. The Irish team will also be supported by 220 volunteers from Ireland who will volunteer at the Games as well as hundreds of family members and supporters.To …

Kilmurry 0-11 Doonbeg 0-8 A SUPERB second-half display, during which Kilmurry-Ibrickane kicked eight points and kept Doonbeg scoreless, was the key to the home side’s win in Quilty last Sunday afternoon. Playing with the aid of a very strong wind into the scoreboard end, Doonbeg led 0-8 to 0-3 at half-time. Noel Downes kicked the game’s first score from play for the home club before Doonbeg replied with three successive scores, two from David Tubridy and a point from Frank O’Dea. Ian McInerney replied with a free before Tubridy with two further points and Colm Dillon put Doonbeg 0-6 to 0-2 up. Two more Tubridy frees, with Ian McInerney replying for Kilmurry, left the county champions five points up at half-time. However, they had to face into a very strong second-half breeze. Three points in five minutes from Stephen Moloney (two) and Niall Hickey brought Kilmurry right back into the game. McInerney, Niall Hickey, Mark McCarthy and Michael O’Dwyer added …

Ennis teenager Stephen Jordan who lives in Hermitage is now ranked the number one pool player in Ireland at U-15 level following his success at a weekend ranking tournament at the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin.As member of Club 147, he went into the tournament as the number two but victory has pushed him to number one. A second year pupil at St Flannan’s College, Stephen has been playing pool for just two years.“I joined the club two years ago and I started playing tournaments soon after this,” he told The Clare Champion this week. An indication of the progress Stephen has made in the short space of time is reflected in the fact that he is the number six ranked player in Ireland at U-18 level.“The Irish championships are coming up in three weeks in Westmeath and I will be playing in the senior men’s event on the Saturday and the U-15 and U-18 sections on the Sunday,” he …

  Clare 3-13 Wexford 1-10 Clare continued on their winning ways in the Bord Gais Energy National Football League when they maintained their unbeaten run and finished with nine points to spare against the 2007 All-Ireland intermediate finalists in Enniscorthy on Sunday afternoon.Clare led from the start when, like the win over Limerick last week, Niamh O’Dea got Clare off the mark with the first of her four points. By the fourth, Eimear Considine had added a goal and a point. Team captain and top scorer on the day, Niamh Keane, who went on to have a fine hour, pointed. Wexford keeper Mary Rose Kelly and corner-back Leona Tector prevented O’Dea from scoring when a goal seemed to be on and so after eight minutes the visitors were 1-3 to no score up and cruising. Sensing that the Clare full-forward line of the Considine sisters and O’Dea were all on song and causing problems, Wexford deployed their centre-half-forward Tara Moloney …