Sports

St Senan’s 4-11  Wolfe Tones 3-7 THE final scoreline shows a margin of seven points in the first of the Clare senior football championship quarter-finals played last Saturday in brilliant sunshine. However, it is not an accurate reflection of what was a very closely contested tie at Hennessy Park in Miltown.

Cooraclare 2-6  Doonbeg 1-9 THERE was never any doubt that the meeting of these neighbouring rivals would provide plenty of excitement and so it proved at Quilty on Saturday evening. They produced a grandstand finish with first Cooraclare and then Doonbeg looking to have secured a place in the semi-final of the Clare Senior Championship.

  The race for the various primary schools hurling, football, camogie and handball titles is about to commence and last week, the executive committee, based in the Holy Family senior school in Ennis, launched the 2009/2010 fixture schedule.A comprehensive booklet giving the fixtures for the different divisions has been published and sent out to all the schoolsIn charge of the different sections are:Girls’ football: Pat McNamara and John Corbett Knockanean NS.Boys’ football: Peadar McMahon, Barefield NS and Donal Ó hAiniféin, Gaelscoil Mhichíl CiosógCamogie: Michael Cummins and Chris Morley Clarecastle and Siobhán Marren, Ennis NS.Hurling: John O’Byrne St Conaire’s NS and Brian Torpey Tulla NS.Handball: Brian Torpey Tulla NS.The Clare Primary School Football Board consists of chairman, John Joe McMahon; secretary, Marueen O’Shea; treasurer, Phil Morgan and PRO, Michael O’Connor.The executive committee comprises Sean O’Neill, chairman; Margaret Cooney, vice-chairperson; Barbara Guilfoyle, secretary; Barbara Gill, assistant secretary; David McCormack, treasurer; Joe Ryan, assistant treasurer; Majella Lillis, PRO and Jillian Bridge, assistant PRO.Short …

The Clare Motor Club has received a huge local entry, with a total of 34  crews taking part. Patrick Kelly and Martin Casey have entered the junior section along with nine other drivers, while the rest of the Clare crews are entered in the main field. Topping the Clare list is Ruan man Anthony O’Halloran, with Ennis’s Charlie McEnery calling the notes in their Mitsubishi Evo 9.

FINAL preparations were put in place earlier this week for this Sunday’s Auburn Lodge Clare Stages Rally. Drivers and navigators will arrive on Saturday morning at rally headquarters, the Auburn Lodge Hotel, where they will sign on, get their road books and pace notes and will then be allowed a maximum of three passes over the stages at normal road speed, where they make or check their pace notes.

There was further success for Clare handball last weekend when two All-Ireland 60 x 30 titles and a runners-up award were captured in Roscommon.

The O’Loughlin Family in conjunction with the St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield Camogie Club will hold a tournament in memory of the late Enid O’Loughlin on Saturday, September 26, in Gurteen.

IN a season of contrasting fortunes for Clare hurling, the prospect of contesting an All-Ireland final didn’t appear likely a few months ago.Thanks to three magnificent performances, the county U-21 team take on defending champions, Kilkenny at Croke Park on Sunday with the All-Ireland crown as the prize. Such has been Clare’s form in beating Limerick, Waterford and Galway that they are considered to have an excellent chance of taking a first ever All-Ireland title in this grade.