Sports

The recession is hitting GAA teams throughout Clare very hard but in Australia it has resulted in a huge gain for new and existing clubs who are keen to promote hurling and football.

Regional Utd  3     Avenue Utd  2   AVENUE’S dream of Munster Youths Cup honours this season ended at the Fairgreen on Saturday when they went under to Regional United from Limerick. When players and officials of the Ennis club sit down to review the third-round game, they will point to a couple of costly errors as reasons why they bowed out of the competition.They got off to a great start when Cathal Nolan scored the game’s opening goal but they found themselves in arrears at half-time having conceded two goals.Avenue recovered from this disappointment and levelled midway through the second half when David Smith scored but 10 minutes from time, the visitors got through for what proved to be the winning goal.The winners did have an edge on their Clare opponents in physique and Avenue found it difficult to deal with the superior strength and height of the Limerick visitors.The Ennis side will hope to return to winning ways this …

With just one competitive outing under their belts this ­season, St Flannan’s face into a Corn U í Mhuirí, Munster ­colleges senior A football championship quarter-final clash against St Brendan’s from Killarney next Wednesday at 2.30pm. A venue for this game will be finalised at the weekend and amongst those being considered is Newcastle West.With just 11 teams taking part in the competition this season, St Flannan’s found themselves in group four, in which the only other team was Chorca Dhuibhne (Dingle Community School). However, before a ball was kicked, both teams knew that they were through to the quarter-finals and all that was at stake when they met back last October was their positioning.The Kerry side emerged as comfortable winners on a score of 1-14 to 0-8 to secure top spot.While St Brendan’s will go into Wednesday’s quarter-final as favourites, St Flannan’s will be boosted by the knowledge that teams from the Ennis school have quite a good record …

Rory Chesser, Ennis Track, produced a marvellous piece of running to win the senior men’s title at the Munster Senior and Junior Cross Country Championships and the juvenile inter-county relays for U-10, U-12 and U-14 at Carraig Na Bhfear in Cork.In the junior men’s race, Cathal O’Connor, running with Dooneen AC and Clare, captured the silver medal, with Clare taking the inter-county award. Ennis Track won the inter-club title, with St John’s taking the bronze medals.There was gold for Clare in the girls U-12 inter-county relays, while Clare captured silver medals in the girls U-10 and bronze in the boys U-10 and U-12.In the inter-county relays, four out six Clare teams won medals. In the first race of the day, the girls U-10 4x250m, comprising Alex O’Neill, St Cronan’s; Tara Kelly, St Mary’s; Mary Conneally, St Cronan’s; Emer Hanrahan, Ennis Track  and Caoimhie Hogan, Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare, were just pipped on the line by Kerry and had to settle for …

  A haul of 15 gold medals was just the tip of the iceberg for the 62 grade C swimmers representing Ennis Swimming and Lifesaving Club at a Munster Graded Gala at St Enda’s Sports Complex in Limerick.With 32 of the team taking part in their first competition at this level, the club won 45 medals, 13 gold, 19 silver and 13 bronze, in the individual events and a total of eight medals, two gold, three silver and three bronze, in the relay events. In the boy’s 12-13 age group, Gerard Kennedy made the Grade B qualifying times. He captured gold in the 100m individual medley in a personal best (pb) time of 1.38.53. He added two silver medals in the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke. In the girl’s U-11 age group, Odette Gleeson put in consistent swims in earning two silver medals in the 100m individual medley and the 50m butterfly and a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke. …

  Tubber jockey Derek O’Connor made the perfect start to the 2010 segment of the point-to-point season when riding six winners in 48 hours over the weekend. After a blank spell due to the recent bad weather, the first action of the New Year between the flags went ahead at Aghabullogue, Cork on Saturday afternoon where O’Connor posted a winner when guiding Rossbrin (5/2-3/1)), owned and trained in Tipperary by Roisin Hickey, to a facile success in the five-year-old geldings’ maiden. This son of Flemensfirth assumed command on the downhill run to the final fence before steadily drawing clear to beat Tomcoole Lad by a very easy 15 lengths. On Sunday afternoon O’Connor was in action at the Scarteen Foxhounds session at Kilfeacle, Tipperary where he totally dominated proceedings when taking the first five races on the card.  O’Connor struck first when guiding 6/4 favourite Society’s Best to an all-the-way success in the opening confined maiden. This fellow was always …

Clare senior hurling team captain, Brian O’Connell wants to see the media spotlight focusing on the Banner boys for all the right reasons in 2010.

Although known throughout the county from his years working in the meat business, his dart throwing and for his role as a Gaelic football umpire, Pat ‘Butcher’ McCarthy has now branched into the travel agency business.