Wexford  3-11 Clare  0-10 Taking on the All-Ireland champions, whatever the code, is never an easy task and this is particularly the case when the defending champions need victory to strengthen their chance of retaining the title.Wexford came to Cusack Park on Saturday for round four of this year’s race for the National Senior Camogie Championship title in fifth place and in danger of not making the semi-finals. They left a sunny Clare headquarters as worthy winners and very much in contention for the 2011 title.Two goals in the space of a minute early in the second quarter turned this tie in favour of the Slaneysiders. Clare had raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead at the end of the first quarter and following the Banner Ladies’ victory over Tipperary a week earlier, supporters were beginning to hold out hopes of another win.A couple of defensive errors proved costly for Clare as Ursula Jacob and Evelyn Quigley pounced for the …

There was success for Ennis Brazilian jiujitsu (BJJ) fighter John Eustace in Cork last weekend when he won gold and silver medals at the Munster Brazilian Jiujitsu Championships.Head trainer at his gym, Fightsports Clare, Eustace won the blue belt middleweight category in the gi competition (the gi is the uniform traditionally associated with martial arts) and came second in the blue and purple belt no-gi open weight category.With nearly 200 competitors in attendance, the tournament is the largest of its kind in Ireland and the first to ever have a black belt category. BJJ is still a relatively new sport to Ireland, one of the cornerstones of the sport of mixed martial arts, so this was a watershed moment for the sport.BJJ fights are won either by submission due to choke or joint lock or on points.Weighing in at 82kg (12 stone 9lbs approx) for the gi competition, Eustace won the first of his three six-minute bouts by points. He …

A tremendous week for Wolfe Tones U-14 footballers came to an end in Cork’s Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday in the final of the All Ireland Féile Peil na nÓg.For the large majority of the boys the journey had begun a week earlier when they travelled to Galway on Friday to represent Clare in the Féile na nGael Iomaint All Ireland finals.First up, in Division 1, were the host team Craughwell, beaten Féile finalists in Galway, and the game was played in driving rain which became heavier as the game went on. Having won the toss, Craughwell elected to play with the wind and the Shannon boys were playing catch-up from the start. The game was level with minutes to go and Wolfe Tones were in the driving seat but the swirling wind made accuracy impossible and the sides finished level with 1-2 apiece.The other two teams in the group were Athenry and Clonoulty/Rossmore, and Athenry had beaten the Tipperary …

Ger O’Loughlin didn’t hang about. With the best will in the world a manager in charge of a team that capitulated as meekly as Clare did in Salthill last Saturday, would have be honest with himself. In stepping down, although technically his term was up, Ger O’Loughlin faced up to reality.  When a team is badly beaten, be it at club or county level, the manager cannot hide from taking much of the responsibility. Players should be held accountable too and in this instance the Clare County Board but most of the onus rests with the manager. Anybody who takes over a team, at any level, knows that. If they don’t, they shouldn’t take it on. Ger O’Loughlin’s contribution to Clare hurling shouldn’t be viewed merely through the prism of his two-year management of the senior hurling team. Long before he went into management he was an integral part of Clare’s two All-Ireland winning teams and contributed hugely to Clarecastle …

Clare 1-9   Kilkenny 0-8 Clare qualified for their fourth consecutive minor All-Ireland semi-final last Wednesday with a 1-9 to 0-8 win over Kilkenny in Kilmanagh.Kilkenny stopped Clare securing the much-coveted Minor A title in 2008 and again the following year so when Clare drew Kilkenny in the preliminary round of the 2011 championship, it might have been presumed that Kilkenny were going to send the Clare girls into the next round needing a win if they wanted to get to the semi-final.Instead, it is Kilkenny who have to face Derry as Clare extended their unbeaten run in 2011. Clare opened the scoring in the second minute with a Chloe Morey free, Kilkenny levelled matters and were a point in front by the seventh minute before Clare reclaimed the lead within the next four minutes. Susan Fahy was on hand to gather a breaking ball from a scramble in the Kilkenny goalmouth in the 12th minute and she crashed home the …

  Clare 3-12   Limerick 1-12 Conditions were excellent as Clare travelled to Kilmallock to meet their neighbours Limerick in the first round of the U-16A Munster Championship on Saturday.Limerick were quicker to settle, notching up two points from Caoimhe Costelloe in the first six minutes after Aoife Wilson and Deborah Murphy were fouled. Clare captain Niki Kaiser brought Clare into the game when she pointed in the seventh minute and equalised when she pointed from a 45 a minute later after Orla Devitt sent a high ball into the Limerick goalmouth, which was saved by goalkeeper Áine Bresnihan.In the ninth minute, Kaiser again sent the ball between the posts to edge Clare ahead but they were level again in the 10th minute when the accurate Caoimhe Costelloe pointed from a free after Deborah Murphy was fouled. Limerick’s Leona McCarthy edged her team ahead when she pointed in the 11th minute. Clare had a goal disallowed a minute later when Kate …

Newmarket 6-14   Crusheen 1-12 With the sides due to meet in the next round of the senior hurling championship in early August, there was always going to be a lot of interest in the Clare Champion Cup clash of Newmarket and Crusheen in Division 1 on Sunday.While Newmarket followers were confident that their side could emerge as winners, few would have predicted the size of their winning margin. Making it all the more praiseworthy for the Blues is the fact that they lined out without the three Barrett brothers, David, Enda and Alan. Their line-up, however, did include James McInerney, who had been sent off on a straight red card, when playing with Clare on the previous evening in Salthill.Newmarket held a five-point lead at half-time when the score was 2-7 to 0-8, the winners’ first half goals coming from a Colin Ryan 20m and full-forward Anthony Kilmartin.Just before the break, Crusheen, who certainly missed the services of Cian Dillon, …

WOODSTOCK are in line for their second North Munster title of the season after the club’s junior cup team won their area competition at their own club at the weekend.They will now play Castletroy in the north area final and the match will be played on Thursday, July 14 at Ennis at 4pm, when the official in charge will be Pete McMahon.Woodstock have already won the North Munster Pierce Purcell title and this team will be in action at Limerick Golf Club on July 17, when they will take on Kanturk.The junior cup team started their campaign at the weekend with a 3-2 win over Dromoland Castle, before scoring a 4-1 semi-final win over East Clare. Meanwhile, Shannon had a 3-2 first-round win over Lahinch, which they followed with a 4-1 victory over Kilkee. In the final, the John O’Connor and Mike Kelly-managed Woodstock team emerged 3-2 winners over Shannon. Woodstock’s team in the final comprised Joe Collins, Brian Ahern, …

After almost 12 months of planning, the Clare and District Soccer League will host the annual general meeting of the FAI next week.The meeting on Saturday week will come at the end of a week-long programme of activities throughout the county during which FAI officials, led by the chief executive John Delaney and including ambassadors Ray Houghton and John Aldridge, will visit clubs across the county.It is believed the staging of the AGM and the week long festival which goes with it will be worth upwards on half a million euro to the county. Included in this is €100,000 in grant aid that will be distributed amongst the clubs of the county and the lucky clubs will be identified next Monday.The FAI visits begin on Monday morning at Kilmaley community field where Connolly Celtic will welcome the visiting party who will perform a plaque unveiling. From there it will be on to Corofin Harps at 12.55pm, Moher Celtic at 3.10pm, …

Ogonnelloe 3-15   Parteen 4-12Ogonnelloe and Parteen played out an entertaining draw in this high-scoring Division 2B game at Ogonnelloe on Sunday. Parteen were first off the mark with early points inside the opening few minutes but Ogonnelloe fought back with points from Peter English, Kieran Forde, John McKenna and a great effort from John O’Brien. However, two quick goals for Parteen had them back in control at the end of the first quarter. Once more, Ogonnelloe battled back and four points from John McKenna, along with a cracking goal from Peter English, gave Ogonnelloe a 1-10 to 2-4 half-time lead.Parteen took command at the start of the second half and two early goals, along with some impressive points, had them seven ahead midway through the second half. To their credit, Ogonnelloe never gave up and two goals from Eoin Sheedy, along with a late point from Barry Kiely, tied up the scores and ensured a share of the spoils.The Parteen …

The final round of games in the Clare Champion Cup will take place over the coming weekend and with semi-final positions still up for grabs along with relegation issues to be resolved, there is a lot at stake.In Division 1, there are two to qualify for the semi-final and there are four teams in the running, Sixmilebridge, Newmarket, Crusheen and Inagh-Kilnamona. The ’Bridge (holders) and Newmarket meet in the final round in what is a repeat of last year’s final and it would appear that the winners of this will go through. Meanwhile, any slip-up by Crusheen or Inagh-Kilnamona could prove costly in their quest for a semi-final place.There is one semi-final spot available for Division 2A teams and this seems to rest between Clonlara and Cratloe, both of whom are expected to be promoted.Kilmaley lead Division 2B and remain favourites to secure the semi-final spot on offer. They play Éire Óg in their final game and the Ennis men …

O’Callaghan’s Mills 2-12   Tubber 0-11 The return of Adrian Donovan from injury helped O’Callaghan’s Mills to this win over Tubber in Division 2A of the Clare Champion Cup on Monday evening at O’Callaghan’s Mills.Playing at full-forward, O’Donovan scored a goal in each half. The winners led by a goal at half-time when the score was 1-5 to 0-5 and they went on to maintain the upper hand in the second half. O’Callaghan’s Mills: John Cooney; Michael McGrath, Conor Cooney, Gerry Cooney; Ger Frost, Pat Donnellan, Niall Donovan; Bryan Donnellan, Gary Neville; Alan Duggan, Declan Donovan, James McMahon; Adrian Flaherty, Adrian Donovan, Aidan O’Gorman.Subs: Eoin Pewter for A O’Gorman and Kevin O’Callaghan for G Neville.Tubber: Paul Waters; Eoin Ruane, Justin McMahon, Paul Fogarty; Fergal O’Grady, Conor Earley, Mark Earley; Clive Earley, Ger O’Connor; David O’Donoghue, Tommy Lee, Barry O’Connor; Dara O’Connor, Shane O’Connor, Eamonn Taaffe. St Joseph’s 1-21   Smith O’Brien’s 3-13In a high-scoring tie at Killaloe on Sunday, St Joseph’s came …

Clare 4-11   Tipperary 1-12 After a keenly contested match a Clare football selection prevailed by eight points over Tipperary. There were many good performances and a strong team effort by Clare in Banhsa.Clare started slowly and were behind by four points after eight minutes but they levelled when Brian Monahan hit 1-1 from a free and a penalty. This set Clare up and points followed with another goal coming in the 25th minute from Keith Sexton. Tipperary replied with a goal before the break, where Clare led 2-6 to 1-6.With eight changes in personnel at half-time, Clare had points from Cian O’Dea and Liam Madigan to stay in front. Two well-taken goals from corner-forward Brian Guilfoyle sealed the result. Defensively, Clare were very solid and contested well at midfield with a Tipperary outfit that worked hard all evening.  This result comes on the back of other good performances, with wins against Limerick and Kerry North over the past month. The …

Cratloe  0-8   Clondegad  1-3 In a game of missed chances at Gurteen on Sunday evening, competition favourites Cratloe came out on top to progress to the semi-final stage of the U-21A Football Championship.Both sides were guilty of missed chances and this was particularly true of the winners in the opening half.Lining out without players of the calibre of Shane Brennan (injured) and Tony Kelly (absent due to Clare minor hurling commitments) was a huge blow to Clondegad.Cratloe led by three points at half-time and increased this to four early in the second half. A pointed free by Paudge McMahon closed the gap before the Clare U-21 captain scored the game’s only goal to tie up the game.This sparked off a strong response from Cratloe and with Conor Ryan dominating at midfield, they created the chances that led to vital points from Paudge Collins, Cathal McInerney and Joe McGath.Clondegad tried hard to get back on terms but McMahon lacked support up …

Ennistymon 1-12   Wolfe Tones 2-5 Reigning champions Ennistymon overcame a shaky first-half display to eventually dispose of Wolfe Tones and advance to the U-21A football semi-final. Wolfe Tones led 1-5 to 0-3 at half-time with Daniel Gallery scoring the first of his two goals.Ennistymon made a couple of changes and those alterations helped them to establish control in the second half. Substitute Brian Houlihan struck for the winners’ goal while Cathal Malone, Ciarán Devitt, Joey Rouine and Seán O’Driscoll were amongst the Ennistymon players to get on the score sheet. Daniel Gallery struck for his second goal for Wolfe Tones, who were out-powered by Ennistymon in the second half. Clare minor hurler Aaron Cunningham didn’t line out with Wolfe Tones, while his county colleagues Tony Kelly and Gearóid O’Connell didn’t play for Clondegad in their narrow defeat to Cratloe in that quarter-final. Ennistymon will now play Miltown in the U-21 semi-final. Ennistymon: Noel Sexton; Michael O’Dwyer, Enda Ralph, Oisin Vaughan; …