The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Newmarket 0-13 Inagh-Kilnamona 0-11
Newmarket kept up their strong challenge for a place in the semi-final of the Clare Champion Cup with a hard earned win over Inagh-Kilnamona in Division 1 on Saturday.
Inagh-Kilnamona played with the aid of the wind in the opening half and led by four points at half-time, when the score was 0-10 to 0-6.
However, they could only manage a point in the second period against the breeze. With just over two minutes remaining in the game, the teams were on level terms but the Blues had the last two scores to seal victory and stay on course for a semi-final date. The respective free takers, Ger Arthur for Inagh-Kilnamona and Bernard Gaffney, were the top scorers on the day.
Another plus for Newmarket was the return of Anthony Kilmartin for his first game this year. He has been out of action due to a serious leg injury suffered last year.
Newmarket: Kieran Devitt; Brian Clancy, Stephen Kelly, Eoin McInerney; Shane O’Brien Jnr, Alan Barrett, Noel Frawley; Martin O’Hanlon, Sean O’Connor; Bernard Gaffney, Mike McInerney, Neil Ryan; Eoin Hayes, Enda Kelly, James Liddy.
Subs: Darren Duggan for Hayes and Anthony Kilmartin for Liddy
Inagh-Kilnamona: Patrick Kelly; Damian Hogan, Jamie Davin, Gary Lafferty; Brian Foudy, Ronan O’Looney, David Hegarty; Sean Devitt, Colm Pilkington; Dermot Gannon, Milo Keane, Shane Griffin; Conor Tierney, Ger Arthur, Haulie Vaughan.
Sub: Sean Arthur for Devitt.
Clarecastle 3-16 Clonlara 1-13
Clarecastle kept up their challenge for a place in the semi-final of the Clare Champion Cup with a merited win over Clonlara at Clarecastle last Thursday.
The Magpies led from the start, helped by goals from Alan O’Loughlin and Derek Quinn and while Clonlara battled bravely, the absence of their inter-county contingent proved too much.
To add to the South-East Clare side’s problems, they lost defender John Moloney early in the game with a broken finger. In the second half, they brought in Patrick Stritch as goalkeeper and moved Ger O’Connell to the attack on an evening in which Donal Madden was their goalscorer.
Clarecastle: John Casey; Seanie Moloney, Mark McNamara, Ollie Plunkett; Kevin Clohessy, Conor Plunkett, Gareth Barry; Tyrone Kearse, Fergus Ryan; Dara Moloney, Jamie O’Connor, Danny Scanlan; Aaron Considine, Alan O’Loughlin, Derek Quinn.
Subs: Eamonn Callinan, Niall Dunne.
Clonlara: Ger O’Connell; Senan Nihill, Brian Woods, Eoin Hackett; Patrick Clancy, John Moloney, Diarmuid O’Meara; William Slattery, Tommy Lynch; John Barry, Tomas O’Donovan, Pat O’Hare; Neil Ryan, Donal Madden, Cillian Fennessy.
Subs: James Hastings for Moloney (inj) and Patrick Stritch for Barry.
Crusheen 2-11 Whitegate 2-10
Crusheen had a point to spare over Whitegate in their Division 1 tie played at Crusheen on Saturday evening. The result may well prove costly for the East Clare side, who led the group up until last week. In their final game, they will play Sixmilebridge and will have to win this one to have a chance of contesting the semi-finals.
Last week’s outing was close throughout but early in the final-quarter the home side edged ahead, with an excellent goal from Fergus Kennedy. Gerry O’Grady had scored the winner’s first goal.
They went seven points clear with time ticking away but Whitegate finished strongly and goals from George Waterstone and Ian Fahy left the minimum between them when the whistle sounded.
Crusheen: Briain Dillon; John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon, Alan Brigdale; Tony Meaney, Ciaran O’Doherty, Cathal Dillon; Joe Meaney, Alan Tuohy; Gearóid O’Donnell, David Forde, Conor O’Donnell; Paddy Meaney, Gerry O’Grady, Fergus Kennedy.
Whitegate: Andrew Fahy; Cathal Mulvihill, John Bugler, Tomas McNamara; Ian Fahy, John Minogue, Trevor Kelly; Patrick Minogue, Raymond Cahill; Stephen Malone, Eric Minogue, George Waterstone; Michael Dooley, Shane O’Rourke, Michael O’Brien.
Subs: Colin Bleach for Minogue (inj); Terence Fahy for O’Rourke and Jody Bleach for Cahill.
Strong finish helps Tones to victory
Wolfe Tones 5-15 Corofin 2-12
Wolfe Tones finished strongly in their away clash at Corofin to collect the points and move back into second place on the league table.
Despite being short a number of their more experienced players such as Dara Shannon, Dara Clancy and Gerry Quinn, Corofin produced their best performance of the campaign and led by six points as half-time approached, helped by goals from Kieran Carkill and Kevin Heagney.
Two quick goals from the Shannon side from Johnnie Bridges and Andy Moloney left the teams level at 2-8 each at the interval.
With 10 minutes remaining, the sides were still level but then Tones struck for three goals in rapid succession from Gareth McPhillips to capture all the points and move into second place on the league table behind Broadford.
Wolfe Tones: Ray Carley; Mickey O’Connell, Jamie Roughan, John Guilfoyle; Frank Lohan, Bobby McPhillips, Sean Cahill; Barry Loughnane, Stephen McInerney; Gareth McPhillips, Gary O’Connell, Johnnie Bridges; Andy Moloney, Jamie Walker, Daniel Gallery.
Sub: Eamonn O’Neill for Gallery.
Corofin: Kevin Raftery; Shane Neylon, Paudie Barry, Pat Ryan; Martin Tierney, Luke O’Loughlin, Damian Ryan; Ollie O’Loughlin, Neil Killeen; Stephen Heagney, Kevin Heagney, Eamonn Dunne; Killoian Neylon, Kieran Carkill, Killian O’Loughlin.
Broadford 2-10 Ballyea 1-11
Broadford confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the Clare Champion Cup with a hard-earned win over Ballyea at Broadford on Saturday evening.
A contribution of 1-7 from full-forward Craig Chaplin and 1-1 from centre-forward Aidan O’Brien sent them on their way to this latest win, which also ensures them of promotion to the top division for next season.
There was little between the sides throughout this contest. The teams were level at the break and were level again as time ticked away. Broadford finished strongly and scored the last two points of the game to take the victory on a day when Cathal Doohan was the Ballyea goalscorer.
Broadford: Kevin Ryan; Mark Moloney, James Gunning, John Corcoran; Padraic Gunning, Cathal Chaplin, Niall Moloney; Ciaran Corcoran, Peter O’Brien; Padraic Taylor, Aidan O’Brien, John Clogan; Kieran O’Connell, Craig Chaplin, Dara Corcoran.
Subs: Padraic Hickey for D Corcoran; Declan Teefy for Clogan.
Ballyea: Shane O’Neill; Eamon Griffin, Kevin Sheehan, David Sheehan; Alan Carigg, Paddy O’Connell, Francie O’Reilly; Brian Murphy, Cormac Murphy; James Murphy, Cathal Doohan, Donal Chambers; Declan Keane, Tony Griffin, Barry Coffey.
Subs: Francie Nealon for Keane; James Sheehan for J Murphy and Gearóid O’Connell for Coffey.
Tubber 3-14 O’Callaghan’s Mills 1-9
Tubber proved too strong for O’Callaghan’s Mills in this Division 2A Clare Champion Cup tie played at Tubber on Saturday and the win keeps their hopes of reaching the semi-final very much alive.
Tubber led from the start and were well on the road to victory when they went to the break two points in front after playing against the breeze.
Full-forward trio Jack Neylon, Clive Earley and David Donoghue were the goalscorers for the Tubber men.
Tubber: Ronan Taaffe; John O’Connor, Patrick O’Connor, Ger Brohan; Mark Earley, Conor Earley, Nigel O’Donoghue; Barry O’Connor, Tommy Lee; Shane O’Connor, Ger O’Connor, Eamonn Taaffe; Clive Earley, Jack Neylon, David Donoghue.
Subs: Dara O’Connor for Taaffe; Paul Fogarty for S O’Connor; Conor Clancy for J O’Connor and Fergal O’Grady for Lee.
O’Callaghan’s Mills: John Cooney; Ger Frost, James Shanahan, Gerry Cooney; Damian Noonan, Diarmuid Hehir, Bryan Donnellan; Niall Donovan, John McGrath; Fergus Donovan, Declan Donovan, Adrian Flaherty; Gary Neville, James McMahon, Brendan Hannon.
Subs: Alan Duggan for N Donovan; James Hook for Hannon.
Ogonnelloe upset odds
Ogonnelloe 0-18 Smith O’Brien’s 1-10
Ogonnelloe edged out near-neighbours Smith O’Brien’s in a hard-fought Division 2B tie played in Ogonnelloe last Saturday evening. This was the Killaloe side’s first defeat in the competition but despite this loss, they are still leading the division and favourites to make it through to the competition semi-final.
The home side got off to a perfect start and despite playing against the strong wind, had points in the opening minutes from John McKenna, Peter O’Brien and Barry Kiely.
Two pointed frees and a goal midway through the half kept Smith O’Brien’s in touch but Ogonnelloe replied with further points from Barry Kiely, Rory Skelly and Peter O’Brien to leave the half-time score 0-10 to 1-5 in their favour. Kevin Walsh, one of the Killaloe side’s better players on the day, scored the game’s only goal.
Smith O’Brien’s gave it their all in the second half as they tried to get back into contention but they could find no way past a determined and resolute Ogonnelloe defence, while at the other end Ogonnelloe added further points from Barry Kiely, Rory Skelly and some huge efforts from Peter O’Brien as they ran out winners by five points.
This was a good all-round team performance from Ogonnelloe with outstanding performances from Peter O’Brien, Barry Kiely and Ozer McMahon while Kevin Walsh got most assistance from Micheál Ryan in the Killaloe side.
In the final minute, Smith O’Brien’s forward Liam Walsh picked up a second yellow card, which resulted in his dismissal.
Ogonnelloe: Eoin Sheedy; Michael Mooney, Michael Costelloe, Henry Mooney; John O’Brien, Patrick Barton, Thomas Condon; Barry Kiely, Peter O’Brien; Ozer McMahon, Henry Vaughan, Michael O’Brien; Rory Skelly, John McKenna, Robert Dreelan.
Smith O’Brien’s: Mark McInerney; Brian McInerney, Seamus Gleeson, Michael Flynn; Shane Tuohy, Paul McKeogh, Aidan McKeogh; John Cusack, Willie Neary; Ian O’Halloran, Pat Ahern, Anthony O’Sullivan; Kevin Walsh, Liam Walsh, Micheál Ryan;
Subs: Brian McKeogh for O’Sullivan; Jonathon Hayes for Ahern and Pa Kennedy for Neary.
Ennistymon 1-15 Clarecastle 0-14
Ennistymon captured the points in this tie played at Clarecastle on Saturday evening.
A strong wind made things difficult for the teams. The winners, managed by former Clarecastle player Stephen Sheedy, had the assistance of the wind in the opening half when they built up a good lead thanks to the accuracy of county minor Cathal Malone. He finished the game with a tally of 0-9 to his credit while the goalscorer was Tadhg Malone.
Ennistymon: Martin Malone; Aidan Slattery, Liam O’Driscoll, Michael A Devitt; Sean Driscoll, Paudie Kelleher, Michael Nestor; Brian McDonagh, Paudie Fahy; Cathal Malone, Michael Organ, Paudie Brennan; Tadhg Malone, Joe O’Loughlin, Tommy Hogan.
Clarecastle: Donagh Murphy; Blazé Talty, Ciaran Lynch, Barry Lynch; Adam Healy, Jason Considine, Conor O’Gorman; John Pyne, Stephen Malone; Pakie Healy, Barry Lyons, Niall Dunne; Bernard Scanlan, Niall Quinn, Cormac Donnellan.
Sixmilebridge 3-14 Feakle 1-13
Three first-half goals, two of which were fortunate scores, helped Sixmilebridge to this victory.
In a tie played at Sixmilebridge on Monday evening, the winners laid the foundations for this victory in the opening half and while Feakle fought back strongly after the interval, they had left themselves too much to do.
Paul Corbett, Sam O’Sullivan from an 80m free and Tommy Liddy were the winners’ goalscorers in the first half, at the end of which they were 3-8 to 0-6 ahead.
Helped by a goal from substitute Robert Bebbington in the second half, Feakle cut the deficit to three points but time ran out and the home side went on to record a merited win.
