The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
The Burren Tug O’war Club, under coach/trainer Gus O’Loughlin, have won the Lightweight Munster League for 2013.
The win was sealed on Sunday last at Watergrasshill in cork where the final round was held.
The Clare club was unlucky in the heavyweight division. They went into the final round on top points but ended in third place on the day, which meant they lost three points. the Shop from Thurles, who were two points below them, won the competition on Sunday and ended up one point ahead of the Burren to capture the title.
Sunday’s final round was hosted by the Glenhill club in Cork.
Five teams competed in the 640kg category – The Shop, The Burren, Farrenreigh, Glenhill and Donoughmore, and after some fine pulling, there was little between any of the teams. In the first senior semi-final were the Shop v Glenhill, which went to a three end pull with Glenhill taking the first end but the Shop came back hard and took the other two.
In the other semi-final, the Burren came up against Farrenreigh, and the Burren took this in two straight ends.
In the final, Burren took the two ends and received the Batt McHugh Memorial Perpetual Cup from the Glenhill club. They were also the overall winners of the Munster League, where they received the Munster Board Perpetual Cup and the gold medals
In the heavyweight competition of 720kg, six teams competed: the Shop, Burren, Farrenreigh, Glenhill, Cuan Rithe and Araglin, This was also a great competition with little between the teams.
The semi-final pairings were the Shop v Burren, where the Shop were winners in two straight ends, a result which denied the Clare club the league title.
On Sunday, the first of the Munster championships will be held at Thurles Racecourse. The competitions are youths U-18, 630kg novice/senior and Catchweight novice/senior. Competition will commence at 1.30pm.
