Sports

St Joseph’s 2-5Lissycasey 1-6 TWO second-half goals from Enda Lyons  helped St Joseph’s to a narrow win over Lissycasey in their Garry Cup tie played at Gurteen on Saturday evening.Lissycasey went to the break leading by a goal, 1-4 to 0-4 with the goal coming from Danny Lynch. They should have been in a stronger position at this stage but it was a different story in the second half.The switch of Kevin Dilleen to midfield early in the second half helped give the Doora-Barefield side the upperhand in this vital area and this resulted in a plentiful supply of ball to their forwards. With Colm Mullen directing operations from the 40’, they piled the pressure on the Lissycasey defence and Lyons capitalised when the goal chances came this way.Mullen kicked three good points while David O’Brien and Lyons also had points on a day when Declan O’Keeffe, Seán Flynn, Gavin O’Sullivan and Niall White also impressed.Cathal Doohan, until injured, Cathal …

THE Downes family from Killaloe are still interested in the outcome of the Red Mills Produce Stakes at Clonmel as their Big Ego and Droopy’s Lennon have qualified for the semi-finals next Sunday night.They survived the quarter-final sessions last Sunday when punters had a bad night as all four favourites were beaten and half of them failed to qualify for the semi-finals.With his main rival, Broadstand Lad missing from trap one, the Paul Hennessy-trained Colourful Champ was expected to ease through in the opening heat. However, he encountered traffic problems around the opening bends and had to rely on a grand-stand finish to earn third place. The Owen McKenna-trained Faypoint Dave led all the way for a 28.61 and two-and-a-half-length win over Cooladerry Fizz.Heat two saw the Eddie and Denis Fitzgerald-owned Castlelyons Ralf score another trap-to-line victory. At the finishing line, he had one a half length on the Mitchelstown-owned Movealong Catch. His clock of 28.60 was the best of …

THE 26th annual Michael (Sonny) Murphy Memorial 10 mile road race and 10k fun walk were held in beautiful weather conditions and attracted a turnout of 110 walkers and almost 300 athletes from all parts of the country.Labeta Debela, Limerick AC and Brian Murphy of Carrick On Suir, Tipperary went through the first mile in 5mins15secs. The Limerick man broke away in Corofin village to take the 26th title in 54mins53secs from Brian Murphy and Mick Byrne, Sli Chulainn Wicklow.Limerick AC won the team title on 52 points with Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare second on 150 points, West Limerick on 159 points and Midleton fourth on 166 points.The senior ladies’ title went to a first time winner, Tracy Roche of Dooneen in a time of 66mins07secs. She had a minute to spare over Mary Sweeney, St Finbarr’s with Marie Carey, Ennis Track third.The team title went to West Waterford with 24 points followed by the 2008 champions Ennis Track on 35 …

Cork 1-9Clare 0-9 POINTS in the second, third and fourth minutes of injury time earned Cork a victory over Clare in the opening round of the Munster Minor Football Championship at Cusack Park on Wednesday evening.

  Sligo 3-5Clare 2-7 THERE was heartbreak for Clare in round seven of the National Ladies’ Football League on Sunday in Tubbercurry when their opponents, Sligo, struck for a goal in injury time to snatch victory. It was a cruel blow to Clare, who needed to win to retain their position in Division 2 for next season.Clare were the better team in the first half, enjoying a greater share of possession, and they were full value for their three-point interval lead.  All of the Banner girls’ scores in the opening half came from playA goal from Louise Henchy, who had an outstanding performance, gave the visitors a tonic start after just three minutes. By the eighth minute Áine Kelly had extended the lead with a fine point. Noelle Gormley converted Sligo’s opening score in the 13th minute and five minutes later Stephanie O’Reilly found the Clare net with the game’s equalising score following a solo run by her midfield colleague …

HARRIETT Flynn was the big winner for Clare at the national juvenile U-12 to U-19 national indoor track and field championships that concluded in Nenagh last weekend, taking home the gold  medal in the girls’ U-18 1500m race. The Shannon athlete also won the silver medal in 800m competition.Amy O’Donoghue, Emerald AC, captured the girls U-17s 800m title while three other Banner County athletes captured silver medals – Rachel Clancy, St John’s, in the high jump; Claudia Loughnane, Marian, in the 1500m walk; and Darragh Lynch, Ennis Track, in the 800m.There were bronze medals for Laura Egan, Kilmihil, in the 800m and 1500m and Fergal Conlon, Tulla, in the 1500m walk.In girls’ U-14 high jump competition, Rachel Clancy, St John’s, had a magnificent leap of 1.4m to come away with the silver medal. Laura Egan, Kilmihil, had a great race in the girls U-16 1500metres to take the bronze medal in 5mins.01.80secs.  In the 800m she won another bronze medal …

  LAST weekend, 160 of the best chess playing children in Ireland came to fight for a title in their own age groups at the Auburn Lodge Hotel in Ennis. Players from as young as four and as old as 18 vied for the title of All-Ireland junior champion. Among the Clare winners were five-year-old Paul McNamara from Cree who won in the U-6 category, followed by Hannah Hassett from Knockerra. Cian Wall from the Doora Chess Club came second in the U-8 division, with Victoria Fennell from Knockerra taking the girls’ prize in this grouping. Speaking at the event, Mayor of Clare, Councillor Tony Mulcahy, said it was a great honour for Ennis to host this year’s championships. “I was not aware that the game of chess was so popular in Ireland, let alone Clare. I am pleasantly surprised by the fact that it is an immensely popular game and am equally delighted that one of the chess community’s …

CLARE handball’s future stars were to the fore at the weekend as the county was involved in five All-Ireland juvenile 40×20 finals, all played at Tuamgraney on Sunday. First up was the girls’ U-16 doubles decider, where Kilkenny (Mary Love, Ciara Mahon) had a convincing win over Clooney pair Paula Loughnane and Shaunagh O’Brien. In the girls’ U-15 doubles final, Galway duo Mary Fahy and Shannon Keady proved too strong for Natasha Coughlan and Michelle Nihill (both Clooney). In the third final of the day, Tuamgraney pair Alice Akers and Stacey Wright broke Clare’s duck by winning the girls U-17 doubles final on a 21-17, 21-12 scoreline against Dublin pairing Lisa McKenna and Susan Clinton. This was noteworthy as both Clare girls are relative beginners in handball terms and were playing a full three years above their grade. Tulla’s Colin Corbett scored an impressive 15-11, 15-8 victory over Wicklow’s Daniel Curry to claim the boys U-14 singles title before Barry …