Crusheen 1-10 Clarecastle 0-10   While Clarecastle followers will point to a defensive blunder as the reason for the all-important goal at Cusack Park on Saturday evening, they will surely agree that Crusheen deserved to win.They were an all round better-balanced team and their defence, as predicted, dominated and limited the Magpies’ scoring opportunities. At the other end of the field, the Crusheen forwards, while showing improved form on recent outings, still struggled in a number of places and this is an area in which there will have to be improvement if they are to be in contention come final day.Crusheen’s victory, however, was dampened by the sending off of defender Cathal Dillon, arguably their most consistent performer over the past four years, just before full time. Dillon and Conor Plunkett were shown straight red cards following a melee involving a number of players from both teams.Just as was the case with Clooney-Quin earlier in the afternoon in Shannon, Clarecastle …

Misty and cloudy conditions were the backdrop to a very successful 10km in Kilkishen on Saturday last. The runners were well up on last year with over 100 participants. However, there was a reduction in the number of walkers and joggers that could be related to the overcast conditions. The first event of the day was an 80k cycle organised by Pat Gleeson from Cratloe that attracted almost 50 cyclists. This was followed by the walk, jig and fun cycle that had 70 participantsThe main event of the day was the 10km that had a new route via the picturesque Clonlea chain of lakes. The first man home was local athlete, Sean Hehir in a time of 31.30 minutes. Sean does his running with Rathfarnham WSAF as he is based in Dublin. Michael Shannon, Kilnaboy AC was second in a time of 32.32 minutes. In third place was Ciaran Kennedy from Ballinahinch in a time of 33.13 minutes, while fourth …

Cooraclare 1-3 Éire Óg 0-5 You could have left this game, driven to Ennis, cycled the return journey and missed nothing by the time you hit rain soaked, wind-battered Lissycasey again. Or if you did miss something, it wouldn’t take all day to elicit what it was, such was the paucity of scoring or major incident. The first eight minutes cleared up any hope that this game would feature many scores as the teams kicked six wides between them in that spell. Constant rain and a strong breeze, blowing towards the scoreboard end contributed hugely to the absence of much memorable football. Stephen Hickey pointed the opening score nine minutes into the first half after Eoin Glynn had been fouled. Five minutes later Ger Tubridy, who came back from Australia late last week, scored a bizarre yet defining goal. Éire Óg goalkeeper Shane O’Connell kicked a free straight to Tubridy, who lined out at full-forward. Tubridy didn’t exactly burst the …

Tubber ensured their senior hurling status for 2011 with this victory over Smith O’Briens in the first of the relegation play-offs last Saturday in Tulla.Smith O’Brien’s have one more chance to stay senior and they will play either Corofin or Broadford who meet on this Saturday at Shannon with the losers going on to play the Killaloe side.Tubber’s greater experience proved decision in Saturday’s meeting. At the end of a well contested first half the sides retired on level terms with the score at 1-7 to 0-10.When Tubber edged in front in the second half they were able to deploy county U-21 player Patrick O’Connor as an extra defender and he played this role superbly.On the day the goals were decisive and these were scored by Patrick, Shane and Ger O’Connor. Tubber: Ronan Taaffe; Fergal O’Grady, Justin McMahon, Eoin Ruane; Mark Earley, Conor Earley, Tommy Lee; Clive Earley, Ger O’Connor; Barry O’Connor, Shane O’Connor, Dara O’Connor; David O’Donoghue, Pat O’Connor, …

CLARE Cascaders Basketball Club captured the Frank Kilkenny Cup this weekend when they defeated a very good Athlone side in the final 61-53. The Ennistymon girls worked very hard on defence and controlled the boards for most of the game. Cliodna Considine, Emer Hillery and Jane Miolova were very sharp on the day and showed some excellent outside shooting skills. They defeated UL Eagles in the semi-final by 68-39. Cliodhna Considine accepted the Kilkenny Cup. Cascaders will now focus on the U-18 boys’ National Cup in Belfast next weekend when they will play Team Eanna (Dublin) and Donegal Town on Saturday. This is a big challenge for the Ennistymon club but they have worked hard all summer and are really looking forward to the game.

Wolfe Tones 3-9 Ennistymon 1-9 Wolfe Tones captured the Clare Senior B Football Championship title at Clarecastle on Saturday when they overcame the challenge of Ennistymon. A strong first half performance during which they scored two goals laid the foundation for this victory.The Shannon men were nine points clear, 2-6 to 0-3, at half time and by the end of the third quarter, they had stretched their advant-age to 13 points when the score stood at 3-9 to 0-5.To their credit, Ennistymon finished strongly and they hit 1-3 from substitute Brian Conway, the goal coming from the penalty spot, but it was too little too late and Wolfe Tones held on for a merited victory. The new champions led from the outset taking an early 0-3 to 0-1 lead before Johnnie Bridges struck for their opening goal.They had their second goal just before the half time whistle sounded and this time it was team captain Brendan Hughes who found the …

WELSH man Mel Evans driving a Subaru WRC clinched the Dunlop National Rally Championship with a third place finish in the Clare Stages Rally in Ennis at the weekend.The Irish Court Hotels Clare Rally, the penultimate round of the series, was won by Tim McNulty and Paul Kiely, who finished seven seconds ahead of Derek McGarrity and James McKee.The Group N category was won by the local crew of Anthony O’Halloran and Charlie McEnery (Mitsubishi), while Wesley Patterson and Martin McGarrity (Ford Escort) won the modified category.Evans set the pace on the first test, Lickeen Road, near Kilfenora where the Welshman was two seconds quicker than McGarrity, with McNulty a further five seconds behind, the latter on his first event in quite some time. Pre-event Dunlop Championship leader, Niall Maguire was fourth, followed by Daragh O’Riordan to complete an all Subaru quintet.Late entry Wesley Patterson (Escort) led the modified category and also held sixth overall, while Shane Maguire (Subaru) led …

The Clare senior camogie final on the weekend of October 8-9 will be a repeat of the 2008 decider with Kilmaley and Newmarket in opposition.Newmarket qualified on Saturday when they proved too strong for Clooney Quin while, 24 hours later, Kilmaley secured their place in the final when they accounted for Sixmilebridge. Kilmaley’s win means that they are now one game away from winning their third title in a row.   Kilmaley 2-11 Sixmilebridge 2-5 Clarecastle was the venue for what proved to be a thrilling encounter on Sunday evening. Sixmilebridge, fielding a large number of their minor team, got off to a blistering start and had 2-1 on the scoreboard after five minutes. The goals came from Orla Fitzgerald and Chloe Morey.Kilmaley came more into the game after this, helped by the fact that they had the more experienced side. Aida Griffey opened their account and Clare McMahon followed with two points before Shonagh Enright struck for 1-2 to …

Rineanna Rovers A 0 Bridge Celtic A 2 WELL-known hurler Nicky O’Connell scored both goals as Bridge Celtic proved too strong for Rineanna Rovers in the tie on Sunday. After a scoreless first half, O’Connell struck when he punished a defensive error. The second came at the end of an impressive move. Rineanna Rovers: Jason Casey; Pat Fahy, Conor Sweeney; John Earls, Dean Richter; Kieran Keane, Seán O’Connor, Niall Murphy, Neil Mills; John Okoru, Thiago.Subs: Gary O’Connell, Brian Kelly, Martin Reidy. Bridge Celtic A: Adrian Dhouig; Barry O’Connell, Trevor Howard, Rob Seymour, Paul Nolan; Nicky O’Connell, Ricky Mowatt, Shane Byrnes, Cathal O’Connell; Paul McEvoy, Conor Hynes.   Newmarket Celtic A 0 Avenue United A 5 AVENUE United scored a comfortable win over Newmarket Celtic at McDonagh Park on Sunday. The winners raced into a four-goal lead in the first half with goals from Mikey Mahoney, Gary Flynn (free), Eamonn O’Reilly and Con Collins while their second-half goal came from Adrian …

LISCANNOR and Cooraclare can hear opportunity knocking very clearly. On Sunday in Miltown at 5pm one of them will avail of that opportunity, while the other will ponder on what might have been.Unless of course the second county semi-final ends in a replay, which isn’t an impossibility given Cooraclare’s recent replay record. It took three games (two replays) before they eventually edged beyond Éire Óg by a single point. In fact, the largest quarter-final winning margin in the 2010 championship was two points when Liscannor beat Doora-Barefield 0-10 to 0-8. In what has been the tightest senior championship for years, very slim margins divide five or six clubs.Still, there is no questioning the resolve of either Cooraclare or Liscannor. If they were brittle, both would have been beaten by Éire Óg and St Joseph’s respectively at the quarter-final stage.Cooraclare overcame the absence of Cathal Lillis (suspended), Rory Donnelly (leg) and Declan McMahon (arm) last weekend in Lissycasey, although the arrival …

PORTUMNA won the All-Ireland Junior Cup for the first time in the history of the club. They won the Connacht title in August at Castlebar, which was also the venue for the All-Ireland finals. The finals were played last Wednesday and Thursday. Portumna played Bambridge, the Ulster champions first and the Connacht champions came from being behind in a number of their matches to score a great win and secure a place in the final where their opponents were Naas. Father and son, John and Seán Cleary, were the heroes the first day, both coming from a deficit position to win their respective matches. Pat Quinlan was the toast of the club on Thursday. After John and Seán Cleary both won, Pat Quinlan made sure when he hit a tremendous four iron to 10 feet at the difficult par three 16th to see off David Prendergast in the fifth and final match. The team captain was Matt Donoghue and the …

FANS at last week’s Listowel Harvest Festival enjoyed a feast of racing with Limerick trainer Charles Byrnes taking the major prize on offer as his Alfa Beat continued his remarkable rate of improvement with a popular success in the Guinness Kerry National.Rated just 93 over the larger obstacles when moving to Byrnes’ Ballingarry yard back in the spring, Alfa Beat had risen to a rating of 137 by the time he went to post for last Wednesday’s showpiece and the flying grey showed that stunning rise in the handicap was well merited as the 6/1 shot strode to victory under an inspired Barry Geraghty ride. A talented field of 18 chasers faced the starter for the €96,000 winner’s purse in this competitive three-mile test and this season’s Galway Plate winner, Finger on the Pulse, kept the entire line-up honest when setting a decent pace up front. It was noticeable from about the halfway stage that Geraghty was bringing Alfa Beat, …

LISCANNOR will again have the honour of opening the new coursing season this coming weekend. And they will stage the fixture on their usual days, Saturday and Sunday.The situation up to lunchtime on Monday last was that coursing could not go ahead prior to Sunday, September 26. Liscannor had resigned themselves to coursing on Sunday and Monday but on Monday last, the ICC was informed that the Minister for the Environment had given permission to course a day earlier.Liscannor had no problem in the switching to Saturday and Sunday but Kilflynn have opted to stay with their original dates of Sunday and Monday.When asked to comment on the minister’s decision, DJ Histon, ICC secretary, told The Clare Champion that even though they had received notification of the change only a few days prior to the start-up of the new season, it was welcome nonetheless. Liscannor were availing of the new situation and he had no doubt that they would able …

WEST Clare owner Jer Lernihan was the sole Clare winner in Galway last Thursday night when his Hilltop Tomboy obliged in the ninth race.This was an A3 graded 525-yard affair in which the Seamus Fahy-trained Astronomic Luke in trap went off the 6/4 favourite. From the opening bend, it was obvious it was going to be a battle between the favourite and the Clare-owned black dog. And as they swung down the far side, the favourite cut inside to head off Hilltop Tomboy. At the half-way stage, Astronomic Luck had gone into a two-length lead and while Hilltop Tomboy was forced to go wide as they turned for home, the son of Droopys Vieri-Clonreddan Tina got up close to the line to win by half a length. His time was 29.49.In the first race of the night, Scatteri Vieri, owned in West Clare by PJ O’Halloran and the Gort-owned Fast Fit Sky set the pace in this S9 350 affair …

THE 14th annual running of West Clare National Schools cross country races will be held on the lands of the Ryan Family, Kilmihil, on Monday starting at 11.30am sharp. This event has been a huge success over the past 12 years. Over 450 national schoolchildren, boys and girls, took part last year despite the absence of some of the schools. Kilrush are the holders of AIB Perputual Cup and this year, they are going for four in-a-row. As in previous years, all the national schools in any parish will combine to form teams representing that parish. There are 13 parishes involved, Killballyowen, Carrigaholt, Kilkee, Doonbeg, Kilmurray Ibrickane, Cooraclare. Kilmihil, Kilrush, Killimer/Knockerra Kilmurray McMahon, Cranny/Coolmeen, Kildysart and Lissycasey/Ballynacally.There will be six races in all: boys U-8 400m; girls U-8 400m; boys U-10 600m; girls U-10 600m; boys O-10 800m; girls O-10 800m. North Clare Schools THE eighth annual North Clare National Schools Cross Country Championships will be held on the lands …