Mixed luck for county hurlers

The Clare hurlers continued their preparations for the new season with games against Limerick IT and UL at the weekend.
In a lively outing on Saturday at Limerick IT, the home side emerged victorious on a score of 0-22 to 0-20, while on Sunday at UL, Clare recorded a five-point victory over the hosts in a game that finished 0-22 to 0-17.
For manager Davy Fitzgerald, Saturday’s game provided him with the opportunity to see his Limerick IT charges ahead of their upcoming Fitzgibbon Cup campaign, as well as monitoring the progress of his Clare players.

Limerick IT 0-22
Clare  0-20
There were some impressive performances in this game played in good weather conditions at the Limerick IT grounds on Saturday when a total of 10 Clare men, five of whom are currently part of the county senior panel, saw action with the college side.
The sides were level four times in the opening half before the students edged in front and opened a four-point gap by half time, when the score stood at 0-12 to 0-8.
Cratloe clubmates Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath exchanged points in the opening minutes when they converted frees. As play swung from end to end, good points came from Eoin Hayes for Clare and from Clonlara’s Cathal O’Connell and Cratloe’s Sean Collins for the college outfit. Cathal McInerney landed six points in the first half, four from frees, while Sean Collins hit three from play, with Cathal O’Connell also finding the target.
Conor McGrath  (4) and Eoin Hayes (3) were the main scorers for the Clare side in this opening half.
Early second-half points from McInerney (free) and Collins extended the students’ advantage to six points.
Conor McGrath replied with a brace for the Clare side, before substitute John Guilfoyle from Wolfe Tones quickly made an impression for LIT with two impressive points in the space of a minute.
Points from Shane Golden, Cathal Chaplin, Caimin Morey and Conor McGrath closed the gap for the Clare selection but the students held firm and were two points clear when Johnnie Ryan sounded the final whistle.
Clare: Derek Fahy (Sixmilebridge); Seadna Morey (Sixmilebridge), Conor Cooney (O’Callaghan’s Mills), Paul Flanagan (Ballyea); Stephen O’Halloran (Clarecastle), Patrick Kelly (Clarecastle), Enda Barrett (Newmarket); Liam Markham (Cratloe), Shane Golden (Sixmilebridge); Fergal Lynch (Clooney-Quin), Caimin Morey (Sixmilebridge), Cathal Chaplin (Broadford); Eoin Hayes (Newmarket), Conor McGrath (Cratloe), Ger Arthur (Inagh-Kilnamona).
Subs: Daire Keane (Kilmaley); John Conlon (Clonlara), Mark Earley (Tubber); Brendan Bugler (Whitegate).
Limerick IT: Andrew Fahy (Whitegate); Eamonn Glynn (Inagh-Kilnamona), Ritchie McCarthy (Limerick), Brian Glynn (Inagh-Kilnamona); Owen Whelan (Waterford), John O’Keeffe (Tipperary), Paudie O’Brien (Limerick); Stephen Lambert (Galway), Paul Browne (Limerick); Colin Madden (Limerick), Sean Collins (Cratloe), Sean O’Brien (Limerick); Cathal McInerney (Cratloe), Cathal O’Connell (Clonlara), Owen Ryan (Limerick).
Subs: Ronan Taffee (Tubber), John Guilfoyle (Wolfe Tones), Colin Nelson and Gary Guilfoyle (Feakle)

Clare  0-22 
University of Limerick 0-17
Davy Fitzgerald continued his search for players for the 2012 Clare senior hurling panel with a game against a University of Limerick side that included five members of the current Clare panel.
In another high-scoring tie, Clare emerged deserving winners against the hosts on a day when Newmarket’s Colin Ryan had his first game of 2012 with the county side. Sixmilebridge’s Rory Shanahan also had his first outing while clubmate Seadna Morey lined out in attack on this occasion, having played at corner-back the previous day.
Brendan Bugler (Whitegate), Shane Golden (Sixmilebridge) and Conor McGrath (Cratloe) all started for the students while Liam Markham (Cratloe) and Paul Flanagan (Ballyea) were both introduced during the course of a game refereed by Limerick’s Michael O’Connor.
Clare: Patrick Kelly (Inagh-Kilnamona); Mark Earley (Tubber), Brian Glynn (Inagh-Kilnamona), Domhnaill O’Donovan (Clonlara); Ciaran O’Doherty (Crusheen), James McInerney (Newmarket), Pat Donnellan (O’Callaghan’s Mills); Nicky O’Connell (Clonlara), Sean Collins (Cratloe); Daire Keane (Kilmaley), Cathal Chaplin (Broadford), Rory Shanahan (Sixmilebridge); Seadna Morey (Sixmilebridge), Colin Ryan (Newmarket), Ger Arthur (Inagh-Kilnamona).
Subs: Fergal Lynch (Clooney-Quin), John Conlon (Clonlara), Stephen O’Halloran (Clarecastle), Eamonn Glynn (Inagh-Kilnamona).