Minor hurling put on hold for inter-county game

Round three of the Minor Hurling Championship, scheduled for this Friday evening, has been deferred to August 12 because of Clare’s involvement in the All-Ireland minor hurling semi-final on Sunday week.
In round two last Friday, Ballyea recorded their second successive win in the A championship when they were comfortable 2-23 to 4-4 winners over Newmarket.
Despite having 13 points to spare, it’s worth noting that the winners hit in excess of 20 wides and they will be concerned at the manner in which they conceded some goals.
A contribution of 1-13 from Clare minor captain Tony Kelly helped the home side greatly and they were also helped by Kelly’s inter-county teammates Gearóid O’Connell and Jack Browne. Niall Deasy and Martin O’Leary were others to the fore for the winners on a day when Ryan Corry (2) Oisin Pender and substitute Eoin Frawley had goals for Newmarket.
County minor panellist Frank Melody who has been unable to play for Clare up to this because of a recurring shoulder injury, lined out for the blues and scored all of their points.
Meanwhile, Clonlara recovered from a heavy first round defeat from Sixmilebridge to inflict an 11-point defeat on Clarecastle. Behind at half time, they put in a strong second half performance with goals from David Poland and county minors Colm Galvin (2) and Cathal O’Connell.
Clooney-Quin had to pull out all the stops to overcome the challenge of Éire Óg on a final scoreline of 1-18 to 2-11.
Sixmilebridge had their second win of the campaign when they overcame Doora-Barefield but they had to work hard for a two-point victory, 1-15 to 1-13.
In the B championship, Kilmaley got their first points of the campaign when they overcame Broadford on a 4-16 to 1-11 scoreline. Corofin accounted for the Crusheen-Tubber combination while Inagh-Kilnamona were too strong for Cratloe.
Meanwhile, the U-16 championship continued at the weekend when Clarecastle had three goals to spare over Sixmilebridge, 4-11 to 1-11. In the same competition Clonlara were 2-12 to 1-11 winners over Ballyea.