Clare  3-14 Tipperary  2-5 AN impressive second-half display, during which Clare outscored Tipperary 2-12 to 0-1, secured a Munster final berth for the home county against Cork on July 3.While they were playing into a fairly strong breeze, conditions didn’t fully explain Clare’s lethargic first-half display in front of goal. They missed several first-half chances as Tipperary raced into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead. Louise Henchy, who kicked five points in total, slotted over Clare’s only first-half point from play. Trailing 2-4 to 0-1 with half-time approaching, Clare needed a score and it was Áine Kelly who provided a crucial goal just before the interval, while Niamh O’Dea pointed a free.Relieved to be back in touch, Clare played some impressive attacking football early in the second half and reeled off five successive points with Kelly, Henchy, Marie Considine, Niamh Keane and O’Dea pointing. The sides were now level at 2-4 to Clare’s 1-7, when Eimear Considine netted Clare’s second …

Minor hurling ALL roads lead to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick on Friday evening for the meeting of Clare and Limerick in the Munster Minor Hurling Championship semi-final. Following an impressive victory over Tipperary last time out, there are high hopes that the Banner side can qualify for the provincial final for the first time in over a decade.“We saw Limerick play Kilkenny two weeks ago and they are a very physical imposing side. They are backboned by members of the Ard Scoil Rís team, which reached the All-Ireland Colleges final and if they get on top, it will be difficult to beat them,” commented team mentor Gerry O’Connor this week.The Éire Óg man is joint manager of the side with Scariff’s Donal Moloney and the backroom team also includes Paul Kinnerk, who is the team trainer, Eamonn Fennessy and Jimmy Browne.There is a big concern about the fitness of forward Alan Mulready from Sixmilebridge.“He picked up an ankle injury …

COME 3.30pm on Saturday, the Clare senior footballers’ 2010 campaign will either have picked up immeasurable momentum or will have stalled completely.The current Clare panel is definitely capable of travelling to Tullamore this weekend and returning home still in the championship. Whether they will exit now or torpedo Offaly will be linked to the ambition, belief and readiness of the players and management.If they climb on the bus in Ennis on Saturday with a “let’s get this over with” attitude, it definitely will soon be over. However, if they bring a collective desire to work as hard as they are capable of in O’Connor Park, Clare will have a concrete chance of defeating Offaly.Although David Russell and Michael O’Shea haven’t trained with Clare since they lost to Waterford in Dungarvan on May 23, manager Micheál McDermott is hopeful that they will have shaken off their respective injuries by this weekend. Laurence Healy, Graham Kelly and Dessie Molohan are also available …

CLARE teams contested six finals in the hurling and camogie competitions at the weekend, winning two titles. St Breckan’s  1-7 Crusheen-Tubber  1-5 ST Breckan’s completed a memorable year for the club when they won a second hurling title in the space of a week.Following on from their Clare Division 3 U-14 success, they blazed a trail of glory in the Division 4 Féile competition at the weekend.Starting out on Friday with a 2-8 to 1-4 win over visitors Eoghan Ruadh from Tyrone, they followed on Saturday with a draw, 1-5 to 2-2, against Wolfe Tones from Longford before beating Crusheen-Tubber on a 3-7 to 0-4 scoreline.In the semi-final, they met fellow Clare side Scariff and emerged winners on a scoreline of 2-6 to 2-5.Meanwhile, Crusheen-Tubber beat Wolfe Tones from Longford in their opening tie on Friday (3-7 to 0-4) before scoring a 1-5 to 0-4 win over Eoghan Ruadh from Tyrone on Saturday morning. Despite losing to St Breckan’s, they …

A MAGNIFICENT milestone for Féile na nGael and the GAA was how association president Christy Cooney described the Féile na nGael festival, which took place in County Clare last weekend.“It was a magnificent weekend, a fitting tribute to the 40th anniversary celebrations and one that will live long in the memory of everyone that attended,” the president added, before paying tribute to the organisers, the participants and all in Clare, who contributed to the weekend.Three Clare clubs featured amongst the winners, with Tulla winning the Division 1 handball crown, Éire Óg claiming the Division 2 camogie title and St Breckan’s capturing Division 4 hurling honours and the Dr Birch Trophy.Ruan and Ogonnelloe contested hurling finals, while Wolfe Tones and Killanena reached camogie finals, with Clooney reaching a girls’ handball final but all had to be content with the runner-up spots.Turloughmore from Galway won the Division 1 hurling title and the Christy Ring Trophy when they defeated the hot favourites Na …

Don’t be fooled by the final scoreline, which failed to reflect a lacklustre first-half display from St Joseph’s before their impressive second-half scoring spree eventually crushed Corofin’s spirited yet limited challenge.Ten minutes into the second half of this tie in Shannon, St Joseph’s were only two points ahead and were still not firing on all cylinders. The turning point came a minute later when Michael McNamara punished Corofin’s failure to make a lengthy clearance from a goalmouth scramble with a well-taken goal.This kick-started a purple patch, where the Doora-Barefield outfit outscored their opponents by 4-6 to 0-2 in the closing 20 minutes.The contest, which was played in scorching heat before a small crowd, was decided in the 14th minute of the second half when Declan Malone got past Corofin custodian Kevin Raftery and his hand pass across the goal was doubled into the empty net by Shane O’Connor.A minute later Shane O’Connor beat two Corofin defenders with a slick overhead …

  Senior hurling championsip Lucky, lucky Newmarket.  Outplayed for the majority of this senior hurling championship tie at O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge on Sunday afternoon, they came out of top thanks to an Eoin Hayes goal in the 59th minute. It was cruel luck on a Mills outfit that had dictated matters for the majority of the game but they failed to hammer home this advantage and Newmarket were always within striking distance.The pace and skill of Eoin Hayes played a huge part in the vital goal.  With the teams on level terms, Newmarket forwards had moved outfield, bringing their markers with them, when Mills goalkeeper John Cooney had to come to the 20m line to collect possession. An alert Eoin Hayes managed to flick the ball from Cooney’s hurley and he then won the race for possession to first time into the net.The Mills attacked from the resumption of play and when they were awarded a 50m free, Adrian …

Father and son Michael and James Corry achieved a rare distinction at Shannon Golf Club last week when scoring a hole in one in competition within 24 hours of each other.For the amateur golfer, the odds of having a hole in one are 12,750 to 1 so the odds of a father and son achieving a hole in one within 24 hours must be like winning the National Lottery. James, captain of the junior section of Shannon Golf Club, was first off the mark while playing in the men’s open singles last Wednesday. Hitting a five iron to the fourth hole, a par three measuring 160 yards, James’ ball hit the green perfectly, hit the pin and dropped into the hole to record the 16-year-old’s first hole in one. James, already a talented hurler with Clooney-Quin, has been making great strides on the golfing circuit and is now playing off a handicap of 11. Ironically, one of his playing partners …

AFTER an impressive victory over Dublin in their opening round, Clare can expect a much stiffer test when they take on Tipperary in Round 2 of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship this Saturday.The game will take place in Corofin at 3pm.Tipperary go into this tie desperately in need of points as they have lost their opening two games to Galway and Cork.They will be without the injured Michelle Short but Joanne Ryan, who didn’t play in the early part of the season, has returned and is expected to be in their team.Team captain Siobhán Lafferty is still out of action and her absence is certainly a blow to Clare’s hopes.Clare impressed when scoring a 2-10 to 0-9 win away to Dublin in Round 1 and manager Patsy Fahy will be hoping that they build on that success for this week’s test.They will again be looking to the experience of Deirdre Murphy, scorer of five points against the Dubs, Claire McMahon, …

AS exclusively revealed in The Clare Champion two weeks ago, the league has a new chairman for the coming season.Paul Tuohy was the only candidate for the post vacated by Jim Madden while Gerry Scanlan is the new PRO and he, too, was the only candidate for the position. The Hermitage clubman was unable to attend Monday’s meeting but chairman Tuohy confirmed that he had spoken to him and he (Scanlan) was available to take up the position. Jason Ryan from Kilrush is the new youth liaison officer and he was unopposed for this new post on the executive.There were three contests on the night. In the first of these, Leo Murphy from Bridge United defeated long-serving Frank Healy for the position of registrar.Jim Madden retained the position of delegate to the FAI when he defeated Donal Magee while Tomas Leahy is the new Munster association delegate, succeeding his father Michael. Leahy Junior also defeated Donal Magee for the post. …

THE Munster juvenile U-12, U-13 plus U-16 to U-19 track and field championships were held in beautiful weather conditions at Cork IT track over two days at the weekend. Clare athletes came away with a total of 13 gold, six silver and five bronze medals.Harriett Flynn (Shannon) won gold in the girls’ U-18 800m and 1,500m, with Katie McInerney (Tulla) taking gold in the girls’ U-17 shot putt. Niamh Markham (Ennis Track) also took double gold in the girls’ U-16 800m and 1,500m and Aishling Darcy (Ennis Track) won the girls’ U-17 800m and 1,500m.In the U-17 boys’ 400m and 800m, Eamon Chesser (Ennis Track) was the winner while his clubmate Adrian Kearney, running in the boys’ U-18 3,000m Steeplechase captured the gold medal. He also took gold in 3,000m and a silver medal in the 1,500m.Darragh Lynch caused a major surprise to win the boys’ U-18 800m and Jamie Roche (Ennis Track) took gold in the boys’ U-12 600m.In …

THE Golden Vale Clare Community Games Athletic Finals take place this Sunday in the Lees Road complex. Over 5,000 children will gather for this spectacular event with assembly for the parade at 11.30am the parade and official opening at 12 noon. Athletics will commence at 1pm with the U-10 mixed relay. GymnasticsGYMASTICS finals were held at the Ennis Gymnastic Club on Sunday last. The event attracted a good turnout of competitors and spectators from a number of areas around the county.Hugo Kinahan (Cratloe), Jane Taylor (Quin/Clooney) and Elizabeth Russell (St John’s Ennis), last year’s medal winners at the National Community Games Finals at Athlone, again showed their skill and expertise in winning their respective events and qualifying again for the national finals.The presentation of medals were made by the county president and vice-president, John and Cecilia O’Sullivan. The president complimented all the competitors for participating, the judges, Maria and Emma Sheehy who travelled from Kerry and Mary Callinan and Megan …

The field for next Saturday’s final of the Sporting Press Oaks is a quality one (the trap draw will make it more interesting) but Fr Jack Meade’s Dalcash Dvinsky must stand a great chance of bringing the Oaks title back to Clare for the first time since 1984.All six owners can make good cases for their chances but the unbeaten Dalcash Dvinsky and Shelbourne Dawn must be respected after their impressive semi-finals successes  last Saturday night. Both won in style and will carry a lot of support into the final.Dalcash Dvinsky is unbeaten in her last six outings including the final of the Olympic Bee Puppy Oaks and the Press Oaks. Last Saturday night she was the 7/4 favourite to win the first semi-final heat from trap two. There was an even break and the West Clare-owned daughter of Ace Hi Rumble-Dalcashy Diva appeared as she might be squeezed to the turn. However, she forced her way through to lead …

WHILE scoring differences apply this season in the various Clare GAA competitions, there will be, as per rule, some play-offs.In Division 4 football, three teams, Cooraclare, Coolmeen and Miltown, finished on seven points each.Coolmeen received a walkover in their final game, which affects their scoring difference. Where walkovers are involved, the rule allows for play-offs, so the three teams will play off for the remaining semi-final position.The draw has paired Coolmeen against Cooraclare this Sunday, with the winners going on to play Miltown for a semi-final date against group leaders Corofin. In the other semi-final, Lissycasey will play Kilmurry-Ibrickane. Ennistymon and O’Callaghan’s Mills have been relegated.There is also a play-off in Division 5, as Kilrush and Wolfe Tones each finished on seven points. Kilrush received two walkovers during the campaign and this has resulted in the play-off. The winners will qualify in fourth position and will play Kilmihil in the semi-final, with Meelick taking on Shannon Gaels in the other …

CLARE’S Special Olympic athletes will be accorded a civic reception by Clare County Council in Arás an Chláir next Monday, to mark their achievements in the national games in Limerick last week.The 36 athletes representing the county did outstanding in their fields over the four-day event.A number of athletes excelled in gymnastics for St Claire’s School in Ennis with Conrad McCullough coming out on top in the men’s artistic competition with no less than seven gold medals. Joseph Linnane claimed five gold and two silver in the same competition, while Sam Woods took home two gold and one silver. For the ladies, Emma Hoban, Shona Hargaden and Fiona Gavin were to the fore in the rhythmic gymnastics competition. Emma secured a gold, silver and two bronze medals; Shona claimed a gold, three silver and a bronze medal while Fiona took home a silver medal and three bronze.In athletics, Gerard Hough took gold in the 100m run and silver in the …