DICKIE Murphy from Wexford was the special guest at the Clare GAA referees’ presentation night and dinner which was held at the Auburn Lodge Hotel on Saturday night last.Murphy who refereed at the top level throughout the past 20 years, recalled his refereeing career and encouraged more people to take up refereeing. He spoke of the enjoyment he had got from his time refereeing before making presentations to James Griffin from Doonbeg and John Nihill from Sixmilebridge, who had taken charge of the Clare football and hurling finals in 1986.Clare GAA chairman Michael O’Neill paid tribute to the Clare referees before making presentations to the referees of the 2011 Clare senior finals, Rory Hickey (senior hurling) and Pat Cosgrove (senior football). Cosgrove was unable to attend on the night. Martin Reynolds (Bord na nÓg hurling) and John Smith (Bord na nÓg football) spoke on behalf of both underage bodies.Clare referees secretary John Dolan replied on behalf of the referees.  

  Leeds United and Republic of Ireland soccer legend John Giles was in Clare on Saturday to announce details of a fundraising event for local clubs, schools and community groups next month.Hundreds of people from throughout the county will participate in the second annual John Giles Foundation Walk of Dreams, which will begin and finish at the Lees Road Sports and Amenity Park in Ennis on May 7. The 5km sponsored walk will take place simultaneously in 20 locations across Ireland, including Limerick City and Galway.As well as raising funds for the Foundation, the walk also will raise funds for soccer clubs that participate.Half of all the money raised will go directly to the fundraising clubs and organisations, while the remaining funds will be subject to a grant application process, with money being distributed to sporting and community projects that achieve the aims of the Foundation.More than 600 people participated in the inaugural Clare Walk of Dreams at Lees Road …

Waterford Bohemians 3   Avenue United 0   AVENUE United’s dream of becoming the first Clare club to capture the Munster Youths title ended at sun-splashed Ozier Park in Waterford on Sunday, when the home side deservedly took the honours.Waterford Bohemians justified favouritism with a superb performance and while a 3-0 scoreline might be a little flattering to them, they were deserved winners of a title they last held in the 1995/’96 season.Beaten finalists last year, the experience they had gained stood to them this time around and next week they will try to move a step closer to another title when they play in the National Youths Cup semi-final.They settled quicker and caused a lot of problems for the visitors’ defence in the opening quarter. Such was the extent of the pressure they applied that the Avenue defence was stretched on a few occasions before the opening goal came in the eighth minute from Niall McCabe.With McCabe and, in particular, …

  Rhine Rovers 3   Bridge United A 3(after extra time, Bridge Utd A won 4-3 on penalties) This Clare cup quarter-final at Lees Road on Sunday proved to be a tremendously exciting contest, with Adrian Whyte’s save from Martin Reidy’s penalty proving to be the final act in a tie that provided plenty of entertainment. When the final whistle sounded, the Bridge players’ and supporters’ ecstasy was in stark contrast to Rhine’s anguish. A 3-0 half-time lead for the Bridge was clawed back with two minutes remaining in a classic comeback from Rhine that featured two sendings-off, extra-time and the drama of a penalty shootout.Rhine were the authors of their own downfall, gifting three goals to Bridge in the first half.  The first, an own goal, ricoched wickedly off Jamie Fahy, before some weak defending saw Bridge nick a second through Adrian White on the half-hour mark and the writing appeared to be on the wall for Rhine.  Just before …

Sixmilebridge 0-14   Kilmaley 1-11 FOR the third time in recent weeks, Kilmaley have played a draw in the U-21A hurling championship. On Sunday, they finished level with Sixmilebridge, having had to play Newmarket three times in the previous round before eventually winning through.Sixmilebridge equalised in the final minute of Sunday’s game when Pa Sheehan converted a free, the decision to award that annoyed Kilmaley supporters.Sixmilebridge supporters will argue that the decision to award Kilmaley a penalty that Daire Keane pointed, earlier in the second half, was equally dubious.Both sides will point to missed chances which, if converted, could have won them a place in the final against Ballyea.Kilmaley missed a couple of goal opportunities in the first half, while Stephen Fleming produced an excellent save on another occasion. Titleholders Sixmilebridge, for their part, were guilty of 15 wides over the course of the hour’s play.Sixmilebridge lined out without the injured Jamie Shanahan who was replaced by Conor Deasy who, like …

THE peaceful tranquillity of the Burren was interrupted last weekend when the sound of F1 style engines dominated as this year’s Connacht Competition Engines Hillclimb and Sprint Championship for the Frank Keane Trophy was staged. The Clare and Galway Motor Clubs joined forces for the second year to arrange a double header weekend on two of the great Irish Hillclimb venues, Corkscrew and Ballyallaban. Sunny weather on both days and a large entry of 43 competitors for Saturday and 58 for Sunday made for a smooth running of the event. The grippy tarmac and high speeds saw drivers getting a practice run and five timed runs on Saturday, followed by a practice run and three timed runs on Sunday.Local ace Sylvie Mullins and championship leader after the first two rounds in Wexford was on hand, as was 2011 Hillclimb champion Simon McKinley.Mullins set a new record of 48.39 seconds for the hill in his Judd V8 powered Gould in 2011, …

Clonlara 3-11   Sixmilebridge 0-11   Two goals in as many minutes, midway through the opening half, set Clonlara on their way to victory over Sixmilebridge on Saturday. Sixmilebridge lined out without their U-21 players due to their championship semi-final in this grade on Sunday.At the end of the first quarter, the ’Bridge led by three points to two but this changed soon after as John Conlon and Cormac O’Donovan struck for goals for the visitors, who led 2-3 to 0-6 when the half-time whistle sounded. Just before the break, Ger O’Connell in the Clonlara goal made a good stop from Brian Culbert.Cathal O’Connell and Caimin Morey traded scores from placed balls at the start of the second period before the latter had an effort from play to reduce the lead to two. The winner’s lead was four points entering the final quarter, with Tomas O’Donovan, Nicky and Cathal O’Connell and Cormac O’Donovan scoring for the winners while Niall Gilligan and …

Ruan 2-16   Crusheen 1-10 Ruan won their second game in Division 2 as Crusheen in their first year at this level with their second side have yet to get off the mark despite a spirited attempt in this Crusheen hosted tie on Sunday afternoon.Aidan Lynch dominated at full-forward in the first half, scoring six points and setting up the first-half goal for Patrick Keegan. Crusheen fought hard to get back and were six points in arrears at the interval, 1-9 to 0-6. Shaun Dillon (3), Colin Vaughan and Alan Touhy (2) were the first-half scorers for the home side.Brendan Lyons opened the second-half scoring, only for three scores in a row from Vaughan (2) and Touhy to reduce the Ruan lead to five, with Crusheen pressing hard. The game was decided when Brendan Lyons struck for the second Ruan goal and despite a stunning goal from John Weir, three late points from Lynch and veteran John Punch, sealed the win …

Galway 1-11    Clare 0-10   CLARE’S involvement in this season’s National Camogie League ended on Saturday at Clarecastle but not before the Banner side made highly rated Galway battle all the way for victory.Clare went into this tie needing a victory to force a play-off against Cork, whereas Galway were already through to the competition semi-finals.In what turned out to be an entertaining game, it was Clare’s failure to get the better of a strong Galway defence which proved decisive.The sides were evenly matched in the opening quarter at the end of which the visitors led by 0-3 to 0-2. Galway had marginally the better of the second quarter and got through for the game’s only goal, a vital score, in the 21st minute when corner-forward Orla Kilkenny applied the finish.This score helped them to a five-point lead at the break, when the score was 1-5 to 0-3.Clare went into this tie without centre-back Susan Vaughan and forward/midfielder Deirdre Murphy …

The U-14 Hurling Championship continued at the weekend, with some lively contests across all divisions.Clonlara 3-10   Sixmilebridge 5-1In what was an entertaining and evenly contested game on a sunny Friday evening in Clonlara, the home team defeated Sixmilebridge by three points.After six minutes, Cian Moriarty got the first score of the game for the home side but straight from the puck-out the visitors responded and Ethan Slater goaled. Clonlara continued to tack on the points but Slater struck again in the 11th minute with another goal for the visitors. The half ended with Paul Corry slotting over a nice point for Sixmilebridge, leaving the score at 2-1 to 0-4 in favour of the visiting side going to the break.The ’Bridge were caught napping in the first five minutes of the second half, with Clonlara scoring 3-1 without reply, two of the goals coming from the impressive Michael Stritch. Slater got through for a third goal in the 11th minute, which …

  THE mini rugby season concluded at Ennis RFC’s headquarters on Sunday with all groups from Leprechauns to U-12s well represented.Bright sunshine made for a great day’s fun and adding to the occasion was the presence of Munster players Wian du Preez and Ian Keatley, both of whom had played for the province on the previous evening at Musgrave Park. Proceedings concluded with a tag rugby game between the U-12s and their coaches.Sunday also marked the changing of the guard in the mini section with Niall Mangan heading on to youths rugby with his group of players. Ken Butler succeeds Niall as mini co-ordinator. Ennis U-9s host end of season blitz LEES Road saw the biggest U-9 blitz of the season with Greystones lining out five teams, Kilrush, one team and Ennis putting out four teams, making a total of 10 teams with 97 kids playing. Challenges were tough and tackling was full on with each team competing at a …

LAST Sunday, the annual quadrangular challenge between Kilkee, Kilrush, Spanish Point and Lahinch golf clubs was played on the Castle Course at Lahinch. Played as a four-ball better ball, with five cards to count, Spanish Point were the clear winners with a score of 217 points giving them a margin of 46 points ahead of the runners-up, Kilkee. The best score for Spanish Point came from John J Skerritt (11) and Páidí McGough (11) with 45 points.This weekend sees the beginning of the 2012 Golfer of the Year season with the first of the counting singles on the fixture list and this is in a strokeplay format.The Dan Gallery Cup club matchplay entry sheet is on the noticeboard and this is also a counting event for golfer of the year points.The Munster Country Clubs Cup team under manager Martin Glenny play Templemore in Dromoland Golf Club on Saturday, April 28 at 1.30pm and the Jimmy Bruen team sheet is now …

The ninth annual Matt O’Connor Memorial Open Sports were held at Lees Road, where Jessica O’Connor from the host club won the confined girls’ U-16 title and the Ciara Conroy Memorial 100m title from Anna Courtney, with Emily Barry in third spot.There were great races in each age group and a fine turnout of athletes, with the first double going to Ailbhie Landy (Ennis Track) in the girls’ U-7, who won the 60m and 80m, while in the boys’ U-7, Darragh Culligan (Fergus AC) also recorded a double victory.Allanah Attewell (St Mary’s) won gold in the U-8 60m and 100m, Sultan Akinwale (Ennis Track) claimed double gold in the U-10 100m and 300m and in the U-11 boys, Ferdia O’Lionain (Tulla) was very impressive in the 100m and 400m.Rachel Hosey (Limerick AC) claimed a double in the girls’ U-12 100m and 600m while in the boys’ U-14 Tony Odubuto (Ennis Track) took first place in the 100m and 800m.In the …

Imelda Cahalan, sales, commercial and operations manager at the Limerick Greyhound Racing Stadium, said they were delighted to welcome back Roches Feeds and it was fantastic to see support like this coming from a local business. A full complement of 48 entries has been received and some top-quality racing is being looked forward to over the next four weeks.It proved to be a very exciting event when staged for the first time, attracting a lot of big names with some great times being recorded. The inaugural winner was Sharon Hardy’s Cornmaddy Swift (He Said So-Clonteen Tornado) in 28.46. She won by three parts of a length from Local Flyer owned by members of the Pistol Knight Syndicate. Beaten and a short head into third place was Tyrur Tinkerbell, trained by Paul Hennessy for Miss Grace Hennessy.   Not quite Slick enough A GOOD run down the back by the Cooraclare-owned Good Slick was not sufficient to prevent Rockchase Bullet from …

East Clare trainer Ronnie O’Leary was among the winners at last Sunday’s Co Limerick Hunt point-to-point meeting at Kilmallock when his 7/4 shot Musical Knight ran out a good winner of the first division of the five-year-old geldings’ maiden.A promising second at Templemore on his previous outing, Musical Knight, who races in the silks of his trainer’s wife Vicky, was ridden by Wexford jockey Matt O’Connor and, having hit the front on the run to the final fence, the son of Vinnie Roe quickened up impressively from there to beat runner-up Credos Island by two lengths.The win delighted Ogonnelloe-based O’Leary, with the Cork-born former jockey commenting: “This is a good horse and he went very close to winning last time. He travelled really well all the way today and jumped superbly. He has plenty of scope to come on again from this run and he may be sold now.” There was also good news for local pointing fans in the …