Sports

THE race for the Clare Senior Camogie  Championship got underway at the weekend when the meeting of neighbours Clooney and Kilkishen produced some great action before the sides ended on level terms.Elsewhere, Newmarket, Sixmilebridge and champions Kilmaley emerged victorious in their opening ties. Sixmilebridge  8-21   Wolfe Tones  1-3 As the scoreline suggests, Sixmilebridge were always in control and had the points secured long before the final whistle. They were 7-9 to 0-2 ahead at the halfway point on an evening when they dominated in most positions.Naomi Carroll with 2-9 and Sinead Tuohy with 4-2 were the team’s top scorers while Rachel O’Brien accounted for all of the Shannon side’s scores.Sixmilebridge will play Tulla-Bodyke in the next round. Sixmilebridge: Áine McNamara; Orla Chaplin, Maire McGrath, Sinead Hyland; Aiveen O’Shea, Sinead Crowe (capt), Shauna Chaplin; Niamh Corry, Sinead Costello; Rachael O’Halloran (0-3), Chloe Morey (0-6,3f), Mairead Hyland (1-1); Sinead Touhy (4-2), Orla Fitzgerald (1-0), Naomi Carroll (2-9,2f).Subs: Anne Sweeney, Jean Chaplin, Ciara …

  Clarecastle 2-18 Broadford 2-6 ULTIMATELY, the significance of the hole on top of John Casey’s net was usurped by the excellence of Clarecastle’s second-half display in Shannon last Saturday afternoon.If Clarecastle had lost by a couple of points, Broadford’s 12th minute goal would have rankled with the Mapgies every bit as much as Sixmilebridge’s floodlights did two years ago. That evening, the lights were switched on without consultation in the ’Bridge, on an evening when Clarecastle lost to Cratloe by a point.  This time, Clarecastle goalkeeper John Casey was adamant that Niall Moloney’s shot dropped on top of the net at the scoreboard side before it slipped through a hole in roof and dropped behind him. Immediately, Joe Kelly raised the green flag, prompting ructions from Clarecastle, who had Eric Flynn booked amid the protests. Casey was yellow-carded before a ball was pucked at the start of the second half, for another comment on the issue to his ‘new’ …

Clonlara 2-18 Corofin 0-10 THE emphatic scoreline suggests that Clonlara won very easily. Certainly they pulled away in the second half but Corofin didn’t help themselves by shooting eight first-half wides, with the breeze at their back, in Shannon.

  Crusheen 1-14  Ballyea  1-8 The result shows a win for the favourites but for three quarters of Friday evening’s senior championship clash between Crusheen and Ballyea the underdogs looked the likely winners.They led from the third minute until two minutes into the final quarter. A further seven minutes passed until Crusheen took the lead for the first time with a Fergus Kennedy goal but Ballyea should have been awarded a free out because Gerry O’Grady’s pass to the goalscorer wasn’t a proper hand pass.It was an evening when Ballyea should have done better and Crusheen players and mentors were the first to admit this after the game. A goal in the third minute by Tony Griffin after Gearóid O’Connell made the break gave Ballyea a lead they would hold until midway through the second half. Crusheen closed the gap to the minimum on a couple of occasions but their finishing on the evening was atrocious, a fact highlighted by …

ENNIS will host Nenagh in the Munster semi-final of the JB Carr seniors’ inter-club competition next Monday. This is one of the most popular inter-club competitions, as the numbers playing seniors golf have increased in huge proportions in recent years.Ennis beat Ceann Sibeal from Kerry in their last outing and now face a difficult assignment as Nenagh have a formidable team. Lahinch The captain’s (Eugene Gilligan) prize was played at the weekend and there was a full timesheet on both Friday and Saturday. The leading qualifiers from both days went through for a nine-hole play-off on Sunday.West Clare native Pascal Looney emerged as the winner with 60 points and he had two to spare from Jim O’Leary, with Gerry Buckley in third spot on 59 followed by Diarmuid Leonard on 59, Parry Mandal on 58, Jimmy Condon on 57, Frank Keating on 57, Danny McGrath on 56 and Matthew Griffin on 55.The gross was won by Thomas Neenan on 49 …

FOLLOWING round two of the junior A football championship last week, a number of teams have edged closer to the play-offs but there is still a lot to play for in the final round in a few weeks’ time.Meelick, Coolmeen and Cooraclare all have full points after two rounds and are almost certain of quarter-final places. In fact Coolmeen, trained this year by former Doonbeg and Clare star Tommy Tubridy, are safely through and the second qualifying spot from this group will go to either Kilmihil or Kilfenora, who meet in the final round.Coolmeen caused a surprise last week when they accounted for Kilfenora on a score of 0-12 to 1-4. Their final game is against Smith O’Brien’s, who conceded a walkover to Kilmihil at the weekend.Kilmihil and Kilfenora will meet in round three and this will be a straight knockout tie with the winners joining Coolmeen in the quarter-finals.In group one, Division 5 league winners Meelick continued their winning …

  O’Callaghan’s Mills 0-17   Tulla  1-11 FROM an early stage in this clash of neighbouring sides at Cusack Park on Saturday evening, it was clear there would be little between the teams.At the end of a tie in which they were level on six occasions, the Mills finished the stronger and scored a three-point win to take the honours and strengthen their chances of making it to the play-offs.Ten minutes from the end and at a time when the sides were level, a flare up in front of the tunnel resulted in the sending off of Conor O’Halloran and Pat Donnellan, after both were shown straight red cards by referee Johnnie Healy. The Mills went on to finish strongly and claim the points, a result that leaves Tulla in danger of not making the knockout stage.The game was eight minutes old before the first score came and it was to the winners, with Adrian Flaherty converting a 55m free. It …

Cratloe 0-22 Wolfe Tones 2-12   HOLDERS Cratloe took a step closer to the play-offs in the race for the Canon Hamilton Trophy when they accounted for Wolfe Tones at Cusack Park on Sunday. The final scoreline is a little flattering to the Shannon outfit, who scored 2-1 in the last four minutes of play.Cratloe’s determination to hold on to the title they won for the first time last October was evident from the start and a tally of 22 scores, shared by eight players, is certainly impressive.They started well and after seven minutes were 0-5 to 0-1 in front. With the game in danger of slipping away from them, Wolfe Tones stepped up a gear and had drawn level at 0-6 each by the 17th minute. Two minutes later they were two clear and it looked like it was going to be a real battle but Cratloe clearly laid down a marker in the last eight minutes of the …