The first major event of the new year at the Limerick Greyhound Racing Stadium, the Vetsearch Recharge open 525, got off to a lively start on Saturday night with some exciting times for the first round heats. The Graham Holland trained and Mallow-owned Calling Spice (Ballymac Maeve-No Joke Spice) was in absolutely flying form when setting a new record time of 28.27 for the 525-yards trip in Limerick. Drawn in trap two, in heat six, he led from the second bend and went on to win by five lengths from Colourful Champ.Cratloe owner, Pat Carey, also had a good winner with his black dog, Hollywood, in heat four. The son of Hondo Black-Cabin Rose also had a trap two draw and he was always in front for his 28.80 win. Boherna House, in trap one, challenged for the lead over the two last corner but in a very close finish Holly Wood held out to win by a head.The other …

There were eight cups on display in the Clare Inn Hotel on Saturday night when Newmarket-on-Fergus GAA, camogie and ladies’ football clubs held their victory social.The members of the camogie team collected their medals from long-serving club and Munster officer, Bridie O’Looney. Bridie presented medals to the ladies, who won the minor A and senior A championships. Clare Camogie was represented by county chairperson, Orla Considine. Outgoing Clare ladies’ football chairman, Johnny Hayes was on hand with Marie Louise Kaiser to present the Newmarket Ladies with their intermediate football medals. The Newmarket men were responsible for four ­pieces of silverware including the Clare Champion Cup, the senior B, junior A and junior C championships. County board chairman, Michael O’Neill presented the senior hurlers with their medals and legendary clubmen Paddy McNamara and Mike O’Leary ­presented the junior A and C medals. The Clare Champion, sponsors of Clare GAA’s senior leagues, was represented by Liam Duggan.Enda Barrett presented plaques on behalf …

THE national senior, junior and masters ladies and men’s track and field indoor combined events plus the National Junior Championships were held at the Nenagh Indoor Arena on Saturday and Sunday and there was a fine turnout of Clare athletes.Keith King (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) won a bronze medal in the senior multi-events pentathlon.David Tierney, who hails from Ennistymon and competes with Leevale AC, Cork, captured the gold medal in the 56lbs for distance with a throw of 8.16m.In the masters’ pentathlon, O-35-O-49, David Courtney (Ennis Track) and Tommy Greene (St John’s) were in action with James Sexton (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) in the quadrathlon O-50.Courtney and Greene were first into action in the 60m hurdles with Tommy recording a time of 11.46 and David a time of 11.48. In their next event, the long jump, there was another close battle with David jumping 4.90m and Tommy clearing 4.88m. In the shot putt, Tommy Greene produced a very big throw of 11.12m …

Ennis 19   Scariff 3 ENNIS collected valuable league points when they accounted for Scariff in this all-Clare clash in Division 2 at Ennis on Sunday.Two second-half tries proved decisive for the winners, who have now moved onto the same points total as the East Clare outfit.The greater experience of the Ennis side proved decisive in this tie, the first competitive clash of the clubs at junior level.They will renew rivalry at the same venue on this Sunday when they meet in the race for the Munster Junior Cup. This week’s tie will kick off at 2pm.Scariff, with former Clare and Galway hurling manager Mike McNamara assisting on the sideline, will hope to have learned from this outing when, in the first half in particular, they made things difficult for their more fancied opponents.Ennis took an early lead in the league clash when Dylan Tynan O’Mahoney kicked a penalty in the fifth minute. The lead was shortlived as Scariff outhalf James …

Munster hooker, Damien Varley has been bypassed by Declan Kidney for the Six Nations Rugby Championship in which Ireland open their campaign with a home game against Wales on February 5. Instead, the Killaloe man, who received a late call up to the World Cup in New Zealand following injury to Jerry Flannery, has to make do with a place on the 22-man Ireland Wolfhounds squad for the game with England Saxons at Sandy Park on Saturday.Originally from Ballyvalley, Damien won Munster Schools honours with St Munchin’s College in 2002. He studied at the University of Limerick and came to senior prominence in the colours of Garryowen. He made a number of Magner’s League appearances for Munster in the 2005-2006 season before moving to London, where he played for Wasps in the English Premiership. He returned to Munster at the beginning of the 2009-10 season and has now become a regular match squad member. In the continued absence of Flannery …

Former Clare hurling All-Star Jamesie O’Connor has a new role as selector with the Munster hurling team for this year’s Martin Donnelly inter-provincial series.The Munster team is managed by Tipperary’s Liam Sheedy, with Waterford’s Stephen Frampton making up the triumvirate.Munster face Leinster on Sunday, February 19 in Nolan Park, Kilkenny, with the final scheduled for Sunday, March 4.In the football equivalent, Ger O’Sullivan (Kerry) will manage the team and he will be joined by John Kennedy, coach of Clare county champions Kilmurry Ibrickane, and Maurice Horan (Limerick). Munster play Leinster in the semi-final in Parnell Park on February 19, with the final on Sunday, February 26.

There is no point in glossing over Clare’s 13-point defeat in Pairc Uí Rínn last Sunday. The most disappointing aspect wasn’t that they were beaten, it was their collective lack of urgency, physicality, tendency to lose the ball in contact and poor distribution. As Clare manager Micheál McDermott explained afterwards, the panel trained heavily the week before the game and were without some key players including David Tubridy, Laurence Healy and John Hayes. Yet bar some notable exceptions, the players who lined out against Cork will have to up their game considerably if Clare are to have any chance of eventually emerging from Division 4.    Cork led 1-5 to 0-1 after 26 minutes, which clearly underlines their superiority during that period. Michael O’Shea scored Clare’s first point from a free, won by Gary Brennan, but they didn’t notch another point for 23 minutes, when O’Shea pointed again after Stephen Tierney had been fouled. In the interim, the Kilkee man and …

Changes in the format of the senior football and hurling championships, a drop in the number of regradings to be allowed, a reduction in the number of senior hurling teams from 20 to 16 over the next two years, delaying the start of the U-21 Football Championship until the end of September and putting a limit of five years on the term in which county board delegates can serve are just some of the proposals that will go before a special meeting of Clare GAA next Monday night.These recommendations are contained in a 20-page report circulated to clubs this week arising from the deliberations of the seven-person structures committee set up back in November. Monday’s meeting will consider the proposals and it seems likely that the majority of recommendations will be adopted.Committee chairman Padraic Boland from Broadford outlined how the committee endeavoured to undertake as comprehensive a review and consultative process as possible within this short timeframe. “All clubs were …

AS Clare senior hurling trainer, Joe O’Connor talks to The Clare Champion, a bevy of aides bustle about the UL dressing room. It was just after 6pm and training is not due to start until 7pm. Already every player’s training top, complete with his name on the back is hanging above their neatly laid out training gear and towels. Joe O’Connor, who has lectured on the health and leisure course at Tralee IT for six years, arrived for training at 5pm to oversee some rehabilitation work with Diarmuid McMahon, who is recovering from an ankle injury. Normally the Tralee-based Limerick man arrives an hour and a quarter before training.  His background is in steeple chasing and he is an Athletics Ireland tutor. In fact, he once worked for that organisation as a regional development officer. O’Connor isn’t unknown in Clare. He worked with the Clare minor hurlers in ’05 and ’06, while he has also worked with the Waterford hurlers …

Thirty-five players saw action as Clare continued their preparations for the upcoming competitive hurling season with games against Westmeath and Galway at the weekend.In front of about 200 spectators at Corofin on Saturday, the home side were 2-22 to 1-12 winners over Westmeath while, before a similar attendance at Clarecastle on Sunday morning, Galway won on a 2-19 to 1-18 scoreline.Clare continued with the tactic of playing a short passing game and, in both matches, opted for a two-man full-forward line for most of the game. Clare 2-22 Westmeath 1-12 Two Cathal McInerney goals in the third quarter gave Clare the upper hand in a hard-fought tie at Corofin on Saturday. After playing against the breeze, Clare held a two-point advantage, 0-10 to 0-8, at half-time but a strong third quarter during which they scored 2-5 without reply put them in the driving seat.The sides were level five times in the first half before the home side finished strongly and …

One of Clare’s brightest hurling stars played through the pain barrier for as long as he could but corrective surgery on his hips means that Darach Honan should make a return to action in time for this year’s Munster championship.The Clonlara and Clare forward expects to be back jogging in three weeks time following surgery on both hips prior to Christmas. The hip bones were not sitting properly in their sockets and this has been corrected. Now Darach is going through an intensive rehabilitation programme designed to strengthen the muscles and the hips.Out of the game since Clare lost to Tipperary in the Munster semi-final last June, Darach spoke to The Clare Champion this week about the injury that has confined him to the role of spectator.“I had the first operation on November 18 and the second on December 16 and I hope to be back jogging in three weeks time. I won’t be running for another three weeks,” he …

THE 12th annual Clare Athletics Sports Star award winners were honoured on Friday at the Auburn Lodge Hotel, Ennis.The special guest was Mossy Woulfe, chairman of the Munster Athletics Association and together with Michael Lillis chairman Clare AAI, they presented the awards to all the winners. The overall award and the West County Hotel Trophy went to Sean Hehir (Kilkishen and Rathfarnham AC) for his outstanding achievements over cross country, track and field and road championships.Forty years ago in 1972, his mother Cushla (Murphy) was the overall winner at 16 years of age when she was the All-Ireland U-16 Cross Country Champion and the national track and field 1,500m and 3,000m champion. Girls’ U-8: Ciara Meehan (Marian), Clare Track and Field Championships 1. 150m, 200m, ball throw; 2. 80m, Clare Cross Country; 2. U-8; 5. U-9. Boys’ U-8: Noah McConway (St Cronan’s), Clare Track and Field Championships 1. 80, 150m, 200m, ball throw. Clare Cross Country 1. U-8. Girls’ U-9: …

A discussion document on the GAA’s amateur status and payments to team managers will be debated at a behind-closed-doors ­meeting of county officials this Saturday.According to GAA officials, “This is a discussion paper only and is not a set of proposals. An open, frank and honest debate must take place within the GAA before firm proposals to deal with the question of unregulated payments to managers and others can be brought forward.”The document has been written with two objectives – to stimulate debate/reflection on an issue that can no longer be ignored and to benefit from the ideas that will emerge so as to allow the association to formulate a policy on the issue of payments to managers and management teams.Any policy that will emerge from the upcoming debate will, in the view of officials, need to be consistent with the association’s amateur ethos, be consistent with the current accepted practice of paying for the provision of certain services, recognise …

An all-weather training pitch at Lisbiggeen, in the centre of the parish, is the latest project completed under the direction of Kilmaley Meitheal. This is part of an ongoing community initiative that has already seen the construction of a children’s playground at the same location, which will also host adjacent playing facilities for the GAA and camogie clubs. These facilities will incorporate two full-sized playing fields and dressing rooms.The all-weather facility is 63 x 36m with surrounding fence, floodlighting and other fixtures and was constructed by Kilkee-based Sportslawn Ireland Ltd. In addition to local contribution, the initiative received valuable financial support from Clare Local Development Company through the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 and the European Union. This represents another milestone in the completion of facilities, which can be used by both the local community and people from the surrounding areas. “The development committee is extremely pleased with the generosity of parishioners to the fundraising initiative, which is ongoing for the …

Waterford Colleges 1-13   St Flannan’s 1-12 Despite having an extra player for the entire match, a fancied St Flannan’s were knocked out of the Dr Harty Cup, Munster Colleges Senior A Hurling Championship, at the quarter-final stage at Tipperary on Wednesday afternoon.While the Ennis outfit will point to the concession of some soft frees and to a couple of bad misses as contributing factors to their defeat, they must acknowledge that the amalgamation of Dungarvan CBS and St Augustines from Dungarvan were a better side on the day and deserved their win.The first and, arguably, biggest talking point of the afternoon came before the ball was thrown in. Players from both sides were in their positions and referee John O’Brien was preparing to get the game underway when an incident at midfield left St Flannan’s midfielder Martin O’Leary on the ground. The referee immediately issued a red card to Kieran Power, O’Leary’s direct opponent.Throughout the 60 minutes the winners never …