Sports

EARLIER this year, after months of research, Broadford man Flan Marsh came up with a treatment for hurleys that prevents the ash from flying through the air when the hurley breaks.Now, Flan is in communication with officials from Major League Baseball in the US with a view to having baseball bats fitted with the same safety feature.“Baseball bats are made from ash and maple and, like hurleys, they break. A friend of mine was reading an article about the problems this was causing for the game and he emailed them details of what I had done with regard to the treatment of hurleys to make them safer. Within 10 minutes they responded and we have been in communication regularly over the past few weeks”, Flan Marsh told The Clare Champion this week.“They wanted to know what the technology was and asked all about the safety aspect. They were very impressed.“We asked them to send us some bats and a consignment …

FROM the moment Clare went out of the Munster championship to Waterford a few weeks back, the odds suggested that their opponents in the qualifier would be Dublin.There was no surprise when those watching the live broadcast on Monday morning saw Dublin’s name followed from the draw drum by Clare.Yes, it’s Anthony Daly v Ger O’Loughlin and the head-to-head between the close friends who grew up a stone’s throw from each other in Madden’s Terrace in Clarecastle will take place on Saturday week in Croke Park.With Dublin having home advantage in both hurling and football (Tipperary provide the opposition in football) the Dublin County Board has set up a double header for Croke Park on Saturday week. The hurling game will be at 4pm with the football taking place at 6pm.The match will start off a busy and important few days for Clare hurling. Less than 24 hours later, Clare fans will be in Semple Stadium in Thurles for the …

CLARE GAA delegates will be asked at the July meeting of the county board to ratify Micheál McDermott as senior football manager for another term.Members of the board executive met with McDermott and his selection committee earlier this week following the team’s elimination from the football championship last Saturday in Tullamore.The Cavan native has consented to allow his name go forward for the position for another term and this will be proposed to delegates at the July board meeting, which will take place on Tuesday, July 13.Speaking after the team’s defeat after extra time, McDermott clearly indicated that he would find it difficult to say no if asked by the board to continue in the position.He took the job on 12 months ago when he agreed to just one year. The team came close to winning promotion from Division 4 but, after six straight wins, lost their final two games to the Division 4 finalists, Limerick (winners) and Waterford. They …

CLARE were far more convincing winners of this Munster minor hurling semi-final last Friday evening last than the final scoreline suggests.

CLARE footballers came within a whisker of causing a major shock in the first round in the championship qualifiers when they came up against Offaly at O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Saturday afternoon.In the end, a lack of experience and failure to match the fitness of the midlanders cost the Claremen in the tie, which required extra time to produce a result.Rank outsiders Clare made the running for much of this tie and looked to be on their way to a shock win when they led by seven points with 14 minutes remaining. They were still four clear with six minutes to go but Offaly managed to level and force the game into extra time.A strong opening period in extra time decided the issue, as Offaly opened a six-point gap and while Clare fought back superbly in the second period, they had left themselves with too much to do.Clare were well on top in the opening half and were full …

Tipperary 1-12  Clare 1-9 CLARE almost pulled off a major shock but came up just short against Tipperary, who prevailed 1-12 to 1-9 in this All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship tie played at Corofin on Saturday. The Premier women led by 1-6 to 0-2 at the interval, Claire Grogan scoring 1-2, but the Banner stormed back into contention after the resumption.Points from Chloe Morey, Claire McMahon and Róisín McMahon galvanised them and Naomi Carroll bagged a goal on the stroke of normal time to reduce the deficit to three points.Clare thought they had carved open an equalising opportunity deep in injury time but were penalised for throwing the sliotar and the chance was lost.  Claire McMahon hand passed to Deirdre Murphy, who only had the keeper to beat when the Dublin referee, Eamon Mac Suibhn, blew his whistle signalling that the ball had been thrown. It was one of many decisions that frustrated the crowd and players, which meant the game …

Newmarket 0-13  Inagh-Kilnamona 0-11 Newmarket kept up their strong challenge for a place in the semi-final of the Clare Champion Cup with a hard earned win over Inagh-Kilnamona in Division 1 on Saturday.Inagh-Kilnamona played with the aid of the wind in the opening half and led by four points at half-time, when the score was 0-10 to 0-6.However, they could only manage a point in the second period against the breeze. With just over two minutes remaining in the game, the teams were on level terms but the Blues had the last two scores to seal victory and stay on course for a semi-final date. The respective free takers, Ger Arthur for Inagh-Kilnamona and Bernard Gaffney, were the top scorers on the day.Another plus for Newmarket was the return of Anthony Kilmartin for his first game this year. He has been out of action due to a serious leg injury suffered last year. Newmarket: Kieran Devitt; Brian Clancy, Stephen Kelly, …

A WEEK after hosting Féile na nGael, the national festival of U-14 hurling, camogie and handball, Clare can review the hosting of a very successful event.While there will be disappointment throughout the county that Clare didn’t win any honours in the top division in hurling or camogie, the hosts did have quite a bit of success over the weekend.Tulla won the Division 1 handball title, repeating the success achieved by their neighbours O’Callaghan’s Mills a year earlier.In the camogie, Éire Óg upset the odds when deservingly winning the Division 2 crown while both Wolfe Tones (Division 3) and Killanena (Division 4) were runners-up in their divisions.St Breckan’s won the Division 4 hurling title while Ogonnelloe were runners-up in Division 5.In conjunction with the Féile, Cumin na mBunscoil an Chlair officials Barbara Guilfoyle, Sheelagh Daffy and Sean O’Neill  organised a number of competitions and the results are listed below. Colouring competition1. Fionn Carmody, Clarecastle NS, senior infants; 2. Lara Begg, Quin …