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Level pegging at the Park

Clarecastle 0-12 Clooney-Quin 0-12 KILMALEY’S hopes of being involved in the knock-out stages of the Clare Senior Hurling Championship were ended at Cusack Park on Saturday evening despite the fact that there wasn’t a Kilmaley player on the pitch.There were, however, quite a few amongthe attendance for the meeting of Clarecastle and Clooney-Quin, hoping that one or other of the teams involved could win by a margin that would bring Kilmaley back into the title race.In a group that had already produced three draws, it wasn’t a major surprise that this tie ended all square. After all the teams were level nine times and a share of the spoils was a fair result on this occasion.By the end, Kilmaley, despite being unbeaten, are out of the title race. At the end of the group stage in this division, three of the five teams are unbeaten which is somewhat surprising.Saturday’s contest won’t go down as one of the better games this …

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Ennis crowned All-Ireland champions

ENNIS were crowned All-Ireland JB Carr champions at Woodenbridge on Sunday when they defeated Galway Golf Club in the final. In Saturday’s semi-final they defeated the Leinster champions, the Island. Both matches were won on three and two scorelines.A huge crowd from Ennis made the trip to the scenic Wicklow venue for the weekend’s matches and the victory sparked off huge celebrations which continued at the Ennis club on Monday night when the winning team was given a heroes’ welcome on their return.In Saturday’s semi-final, Ennis accounted for the Leinster champions, the Island with Noel Pyne and Paddy Cahill, Paul Higgins and Seán O’Gorman, Tony Kehoe and Matt Flynn the winning pairings. Luke Coote/Larry O’Farrelly, Eamonn Corry and John Finn were both beaten.Team manager Jimmy McNamara opted for an unchanged team for Sunday’s final against Galway. This was a nail-biting affair with the outcome decided on the 19th hole where Noel Pyne and Paddy Cahill won their match with a …

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Lissycasey and O’Curry’s battling to avoid relegation

LISSYCASEY or O’Curry’s will be playing intermediate football in 2011 after both lost their relegation replays at Labasheeda on Saturday last.They face up to each other at the same venue this Saturday with the loser making the drop from senior.Having been unlucky not to win the drawn games a week earlier, both struggled to re-produce that form last week. St Senan’s 1-10 Lissycasey 1-6 Trailing by three points after playing against the breeze in the first half, Lissycasey looked to be in a strong position heading into the second half on Saturday. They scored the opening point of the second half to reduce the leeway to two but they failed to build on that and the Seasiders dominated the remainder of the third quarter.Leading by double scores 10 minutes into this half, they struck a crucial blow at the mid-point when Gearóid Lynch got through for the all-important goal. There was some debate as to whether or not the score …

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Liscannor’s late blitz floors St Joseph’s

  Liscannor 0-10 Doora-Barefield 0-8 When men were needed it was Liscannor hands that shot up. Four points down, 0-8 to 0-4, five minutes from the end of normal time, St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield looked virtually certain to tie down a place in the county semi-final for the first time since 1998. Maybe that certainty seeped into their thinking. Or maybe Niall and Brian Considine upped the tempo and St Joseph’s, who are still a developing team, couldn’t cope. In fact there is no “maybe” about Niall Considine’s role in Liscannor’s ruthless comeback. He kicked four points from play in the closing four minutes of normal and four minutes of injury time. That’s efficiency. Up until then, Considine, along with most of his team-mates had been a peripheral figure. When it mattered though, he showed his class and temperament. Liscannor are noted for their bite and fight but for 55 minutes in Sunday’s replay, it looked as if their most admirable …

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No dividing townies from the blues

  Cooraclare 0-11 Éire Óg 2-5 (AET) It has got to the stage where Cooraclare and Éire Óg resemble conjoined twins who cannot be separated. When one edges a few points ahead, they agreeably allow whoever is trailing to pull themselves back into the game. They have spent so much time in each others company over the last two Saturdays – nearly two and a half hours – that they probably found it impossible to countenance not spending an intense hour in each others company this weekend.  They’ve got their wish because for the third successive game, Cooraclare and Éire Óg will go at it hammer and tongs for a place in the county semi-final on Sunday.Last Saturday’s replay in Lissycasey featured a lot in terms of incident and talking points including three sending-offs (two straight reds), on-field altercations, a one-sided sideline shemozzle, curious refereeing decisions, soft goals, extra time and late scores. The quality of football wasn’t always awe-inspiring …

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McInerney points the way for Tulla

Tulla 2-15 Whitegate 0-15 TWO goals from Brian Lynch and seven points from play from county minor panellist David McInerney helped Tulla to victory over Whitegate in their Round 5 tie at Shannon on Sunday.The result means Tulla are safely away from the relegation battle and will now go on to compete for the senior B title, as will Whitegate.The highlight of the tie was the performance of 17-year-old McInerney. Son of team boss Jim, he picked off some excellent points and caused a lot of problems for Whitegate throughout.The other main talking point was the sending off of Whitegate defender Brendan Bugler midway through the second half. The loss of such an experienced player was clearly a big blow to Whitegate’s hopes.The first 20 minutes were evenly fought, at which stage the sides were level at 0-6 each. Tulla finished the half strongly and a superb goal from midfielder Lynch helped them to be five clear at half-time, when …

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Cannonball Run

John Cronin and David O Donoghue with their 1969 Fiat 500 after arriving with the Cannonball Run to Clarinbridge as part of the official opening of the Oyster Festival. Photograph by John Kelly

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Ballyea too strong for Corofin

  Ballyea 2-14 Corofin 2-10 DISPLAYING the greater hunger for victory, Ballyea proved too strong for Corofin in their senior hurling championship tie at Cusack Park on Sunday. It was a disappointing game with little free-flowing hurling but Ballyea looked the livelier outfit throughout.That said, Corofin will wonder what the outcome might have been had they had a full complement of players for the full game. They were reduced to 14 men four minutes before the break when Kieran Carkill picked up a second yellow card.The winners got off to a great start when Cathal Doohan finished a Gearóid O’Connell cross to the net in the third minute and they quickly followed with points from Francie O’Reilly and Tony Griffin before Killian Neylon got through for a Corofin goal in the seventh minute.A Stephen Heagney pointed free was the only score in the next 10 minutes before Gary Brennan struck for the winners’ second goal seven minutes from the break. …

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