Forristal final defeat for U-14 hurlers

IT was a busy weekend for Clare underage hurling sides, with games taking place in Waterford, Cork, Tipperary and Clarecastle.

For the first time in a number of years, Clare contested the Tony Forristal U-14A final in Waterford.
Clare hurling followers will be hoping that the final result won’t be repeated this weekend in the All-Ireland senior final. Cork captured the Forristal title with a comfortable 3-9 to 0-5 win.

Clare started the campaign with a 2-7 to 1-5 victory over the hosts and followed with a win over Limerick on a 2-7 to 2-4 scoreline. In a high-scoring semi-final, Clare were 7-9 to 3-10 winners over Antrim but had to give best to a slicker Cork outfit in the final.

In the U-14B competition, also played in Waterford, for the Sonny Walsh Trophy, Clare lost their opening game to Waterford, 1-7 to 2-7. They followed this up with a 2-9 to 3-4 win over Galway, before going out of the race when losing to Dublin, 0-8 to 2-10.

Carrigaline in Cork was the venue for the U-15A competition and Clare suffered losses to both Tipperary (1-8 to 3-12) and Waterford (1-5 to 4-11).
In the U-15B competition, Clare lost to Waterford (1-4 to 2-8) and Kerry (1-9 to 1-5).

In their opening two games in the U-16 competition, Clare had draws with Waterford (1-9 to 3-3) and Dublin (0-7 each), before losing out to Cork (0-6 to 2-6).
The U-16B team tasted defeat in their three games, losing to Tipperary (1-4 to 2-8), Kerry (1-8 to 0-12) and Kilkenny (1-5 to 2-7).

Mallow was the venue for the U- 17 competition and Clare suffered a heavy loss in their opening game, going down to Cork on a 0-10 to 4-22 scoreline.
They bounced back with a one-point win, 2-12 to 2-11, over Dublin, which saw them progress to the plate final, where they lost to Tipperary, 3-9 to 4-11.