Clare players in Munster contests

THERE were mixed results during the past week for Clare players in the Munster adult 40×20 handball championships, while the coming week will see plenty of action, with a number of Banner County competitors already qualified for provincial semi-finals.
The U-21 and junior doubles grades will hold special interest with Clare teams in both semi-finals, while Lisa Loughnane and Anne-Marie Fitzgerald will play the Munster Ladies Intermediate Doubles Championship final.
The Munster Senior Open Singles Championship was played off over the weekend and Clare’s representatives were Tuamgraney pair, Niall Malone and reigning Munster senior singles champion Diarmuid Nash. However, it wasn’t a successful outing for either, as both lost out to Cork opposition. Malone was heavily defeated by Colm Jordan in the preliminary round, while Nash went down to Killian Carroll in the third game of their quarter-final clash. Carroll went on to contest the final against eventual champion, Seamus O’Carroll (Limerick).
The Banner duo will be in action again this weekend in the Munster Senior Open Doubles Championship. The Clare pair, intermediate All-Ireland winners in 2011, kick off with a quarter-final in Broadford this Friday night against Cork’s Killian Carroll and Brendan Fleming, with the winners facing a semi-final the following day in Cappagh against the formidable team of Ger Coonan and Fergal Collins (Tipperary).
Meanwhile, there was junior doubles quarter-final success for Tulla pair, Cathal Hannon and Aidan Lynch, as they defeated Cork (Dion Cahill, Dale Cusack) 21-18, 21-9 in Mallow on Wednesday, while Seamus Lawlor and Jimmy Close also impressed by winning their quarter-final against Limerick pair, Tomás Donegan and Tom O’Brien, 21-16, 7-21, 21-15. However, Donegan exacted revenge days later when he defeated Lawlor in Newmarket in the singles quarter-final.
Cathal Hannon is still in the mix at junior singles grade after his 21-19, 8-21, 21-14 win over Cork. In junior B doubles, Paul Lynch and Danny O’Halloran (Tulla) were defeated by Tipperary. Tulla man, Trevor Vaughan had a brilliant U-21 singles quarter-final win over the much-fancied former All-Ireland minor winner Padraig O’Carroll (Limerick) and will now set his sights on delivering another Munster title. Vaughan is also still in the doubles hunt with Kilkishen’s Chris Philpott.
Minor doubles pair, Niall Bolton and Colin Crehan had a relatively easy win against Tipperary and will be fancied to do well from here. Tulla’s Bolton had a minor singles win over Cork’s Denis O’Neill, while Kilkishen man, Crehan was up against Patrick Herlihy (Cork) on Wednesday. The result was not available at the time of going to press.
Clare’s other minor doubles pair, Patrick Fitzgerald and Barry Nash (both Tuamgraney) join Bolton and Crehan in the Munster semi-finals, which will take place in Nenagh on Saturday week. Also in action on Wednesday night were O’Callaghan’s Mills brothers, John and Conor Cooney in the intermediate singles.
Clare’s first masters players into action were in the B grade and while Seamus McNamara and Dermot Kirby were defeated by Cork (21-13, 12-21, 13-21), there was victory for Mike Hayes and Tommy Hegarty in Clarecastle on Friday night, when they beat Cork 21-11, 21-11. Hayes was also in singles action during the week but lost a tight match against Cork’s Kevin Buckley 21-20, 21-17.
There was defeat in ladies junior B singles for Edel O’Grady against Waterford’s Laura Keevers, while Lisa Loughnane received a walkover in the ladies intermediate singles.
The coming fortnight will be an especially busy one with a number of competitions. The county adult leagues continue, with the race to make the various divisional finals taking shape. In the four-team Division 1, Tulla and O’Callaghan’s Mills look set to meet in the final with a Mills-Tulla repeat likely in the Division 2 final. Division 3 still looks an open race with Clarecastle, Newmarket, Tuamgraney and Shannon all confident of making the decider. Tuamgraney and Clooney are favourites for success in Division 4. Fixtures continue over the next number of weeks.
Munster Championship fixtures (Clare fixtures all at 7.30pm unless stated)
Thursday: at Galbally: Junior B Doubles Championship quarter-final, Ciaran Walsh and Tom Kirby v JP O’Connor and Mike O’Connor (Limerick); Silver Masters B Singles Championship quarter-final, John Moloney v John Ryan (Limerick).
At Broadford: Ladies Intermediate Singles Championship semi-finals, Lisa Loughnane v Catriona Casey (Cork) and Anne Marie Fitzgerald v Ashling O’Keefe (Cork).
Friday, at Galbally: Golden Masters B Singles Championship quarter-final, Teddy O’Hanlon v Jimmy Fanning (Limerick).
Monday, February 6: at Nenagh: Junior B Singles Championship semi-final, Tom Kirby v John Ferncombe (Tipperary).
At Liscarroll: Golden Masters A Singles Championship quarter-final, Mike Kelly v John Hedigan (Cork).
At Broadford, Limerick: Junior Singles Championship semi-final, Cathal Hannon v John Joe Quirke (Kerry).
At Kilkishen: Golden Masters A Singles Championship quarter-final, Pat Donnellan v Pat Griffin (Tipp); Emerald Masters B Singles Championship quarter-final, Stephen McInerney v Sean Daly (Cork).
Tuesday, February 7: at Galbally: U-21 Doubles Championship semi-final, Christopher Philpott and Trevor Vaughan v Justin Cahill and Darren Moore (Tipperary).
Wednesday, February 8: at Cappagh at 8pm: Intermediate Doubles Championship, Conor Cooney and John Cooney v Fergal Collins and Ger Coonan (Tipperary); U-21 Doubles Championship semi-final, Sam Edbrooke and Colm Halpin v Arthur O’Neill and John O’Keefe (Cork).
Thursday, February 9: at Broadford, Limerick: Junior Doubles Championship semi-final, Cathal Hannon and Aidan Lynch v John Joe Quirke and Rory O’Connor (Kerry); Ladies Intermediate Doubles Championship final: Lisa Loughnane and Anne-Marie Fitzgerald v Catriona Casey and Ashling O’Keefe (Cork).
Date TBC at Tuamgraney, Ladies Junior Singles Championship: Ashling Ftzgerald v Áine Casey.