A repeat of last year’s Clare senior football final between Miltown St Josephs (winners) and Cooraclare is one of the attractions in the second round of the Clare senior football championship. The draw for both the winners and losers sections was made at a meeting of the CCC this Monday evening but dates have yet to be set and will be influenced by inter county fixtures involving the county senior hurlers and footballers who are in qualifier action over the next two weekends. West Clare neighbours Doonbeg and St.Senans, Kilkee should prove another interesting tie along with the meeting of Lissycasey and Cratloe. The full draw is; Winners section; Doonbeg v St. Senans, Kilkee; Miltown St. Josephs v Cooraclare; Lissycasey v Cratloe; St. Breckans v Kilmurry-Ibrickane. Losers section; St. Josephs, Doora-Barefield v Wolfe Tones; Ennistymon v Kilrush; O’Currys v Eire og; Corofin v Clondegad. By Seamus Hayes

The way is clear for the semi-finals of the junior A hurling league (division 4) and both games will be played next Sunday (July 3). Broadford have finished on top of the league table after the completed their  programme of games with victory over St. Josephs, Doora-Barefield. Ballyea finished in second place thanks to a comfortable win over Tubber this Saturday evening. Despite going down to O’Callaghans Mills, Meelick remain in third spot with the Mills filling the final play off position. In next week’s semi-finals Broadford will play O’Callaghans Mills while Ballyea will face Meelick. Meanwhile, in the junior B hurling league (division 5), Newmarket and Wolfe Tones 1 have qualified from division 5 A, Parteen are through from division 5 B while the qualifier from division 5 C will be confirmed after Wolfe Tones 2 play Broadford on Tuesday. Wolfe Tones must win to stay in the race and then it will come down to score difference between …

ONE of the primary reasons why Éire Óg has withdrawn from the Clare Intermediate Football Championship is because the club has adopted a policy of not fielding players who are not registered members. Éire Óg were due to play Clarecastle last Sunday evening in Round 1 of the intermediate championship but they did not fulfil that fixture. They also withdrew from the Division 3 football league earlier this season. “The decision we made was based on two factors. One was the numbers we had and the other factor was membership. We are not allowing any team to take the field unless they are all fully paid members. That’s where we stand,” Éire Óg club secretary Paddy Smyth told The Clare Champion. He cited an instance where a senior club hurler was told he would be dropped from the club’s championship team, unless he paid his membership. “We want everyone to be paid up members for insurance reasons. If there is …

Orlaith Duggan was not expecting it when she was approached and asked to be the Clare senior camogie captain. “It’s a great honour to captain any team and a very big honour to captain one’s county senior side. I was, of course, delighted to be considered but it was something that I wasn’t expecting,” the 22-year-old told The Clare Champion last week, as she took a break from training ahead of the opening game of the All-Ireland championship against Ofally. Born into a well-known Clooney-Quin family, Orlaith readily acknowledges, “It’s a really sporting house and my family are delighted for me. They are really supportive”. Ahead of Saturday’s opening tie, she said, “We put in the hard weeks; we did the tough winter training, the circuits, the running. This is the time all camogie players and hurlers look forward to – the championship. We are looking at five weeks in a row. Everyone wants to be playing matches, trying to …

Kerry 2-23 Clare 0-17 MUNSTER champions Kerry cruised into a provincial final meeting with Tipperary following a very comprehensive defeat of Clare in Killarney on Sunday. The four in a row chasing Eamon Fitzmaurice managed Kerry men finished with 13 players following an injury to Killian Young and a black card for Michael Geaney but it made no difference. They had made six substitutions when Young got injured and couldn’t replace him or the black carded Geaney. Clare, who trailed 2-10 to 0-9 at half-time, were hit by a savage blow as the game ticked into its second minute when a Colm Cooper shot for a point drifted over the head of Joe Hayes and full back Kevin Harnett. Within five minutes Kerry corner forward Stephen O’Brien, who scored 1-4 in the opening half, put away his goal after Bryan Sheehan won a contest for a Clare kick out with Gary Brennan. Paul Murphy made a support run and O’Brien …

THE Clare footballers have named an unchanged team for Sunday’s Munster semi-final meeting with Kerry in Killarney. Despite speculation that Podge Collins and Shane McGrath might have played their way into the starting 15, both have been named on the bench. The Clare and Kerry teams were named a short time ago with the Kingdom giving championship debuts to two players in this weekends provincial semi-final. The Clare team is as follows: Joe Hayes (Lissycasey); Dean Ryan (Éire Óg), Kevin Harnett (Meelick), Martin McMahon (Kilmurry Ibrickane); Seán Collins (Cratloe), Gordon Kelly (St Joseph’s, Miltown), Cian O’Dea (Kilfenora); Gary Brennan (Clondegad-captain), Cathal O’Connor (Coolmeen); Eoin Cleary ((Miltown), Jamie Malone (Corofin), Pearse Lillis (Cooraclare); Keelan Sexton (Kilmurry Ibrickane), David Tubridy (Doonbeg), Pat Burke (Kilmacud Crokes). Two players will make their débuts for Kerry against Clare on Sunday. Wing backs Brian O’Beaglaoich and Tadhg Morley will play their first championship game for their county. Kerry manager Eamon Fitzmaurice has made five changes to …

CLARE’S display against Limerick on May 29 ensured that external expectation will not be an issue in Killarney on Sunday. Supporters will travel in the hope that Clare play well and at least compete with Kerry but nobody will realistically expect a first championship win over their opponents in 24 years. Within the group of Clare players and management, they will presumably head across the estuary with more ambition and belief. Two years ago, Clare competed manfully with Kerry in Cusack Park in that year’s Munster semi-final. Clare were beaten 1-17 to 1-13 on a day when Kerry’s Paul Murphy scored a goal on his championship début at corner-back. That year, Clare played five championship games and were very close to making it to the last 12 of the All-Ireland qualifiers. However, since then, Clare have not reached that level on the championship field, although their second league promotion indicates that significant progress has been made. The thing now is …

Waterford 1-21 Clare 0-17 Having travelled to Thurles with high hopes that they would repeat their recent league final win over Waterford and qualify for a Munster final date against Tipperary or Limerick on July 10, Clare fans in the official attendance of 19,715 returned in disappointment on Sunday evening after seeing their charges comprehensively beaten by Waterford. From an early stage it was evident that Clare were struggling in many areas and while they drew level with their opponents on a few occasions in the opening hald and could have taken the lead but for some poor shooting, there is no denying the merit of Waterford’s victory Both sides made changes from the teams which started the league final replay.Clare had John Conlon and Oisin O’Brien back from injury and they replaced Jack Browne and Aaron Cunningham while Waterford included Maurice Shanahan and Pauric Mahony in place of Jake Dillon and Colin Dunford. The Waterford changes played a key …

Newmarket Celtic A 2 Avenue United B 0 In a year in which they contested the concluding stages of the Munster junior cup, the FAI junior cup and the Munster champions cup, its fitting that Newmarket Celtic should make Clare soccer history. At a sun splashed Clare soccer county grounds at Doora this Saturday evening, they won the Clare cup for a record fifth year in succession, a result that sees them extend their lead at the top of the roll of honour. Eoin Hayes scored both goals for the winners and was later named as the man of the match. The first came just after the mid point when Hayes was adjudged to have been fouled in the area after winning possession from a Stephen Kelly delivery and referee Pa Gleeson had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Brian Callinan picked up a yellow card for the foul and Hayes drilled the ball low to the corner …

Clare’s chances of beating Waterford in tomorrow’s Munster senior hurling semi-final have received a huge boost with the news that both John Conlon and Oisin O’Brien have recovered from injury and are named in the starting line up. The return of the Clonlara clubmen are the only changes from the side which started the league final replay against the same opposition. They replace Jack Browne and Aaron Cunningham. There is further good news for Clare fans as David McInerney has been included in the match day panel which, it is understood, also includes Aaron Cunningham. McInerney hasn’t hurled since helping Clare overcome Limerick in the final group game in division 1B of the league while Cunningham suffered a hamstring injury when helping his club Wolfe Tones to victory over Newmarket in the opening round of the Clare senior hurling championship. The team is Patrick Kelly (Inagh-Kilnamona): Oisín O’Brien (Clonlara), Cian Dillon (Crusheen), Conor Cleary (Miltown St Josephs); Brendan Bugler (Whitegate), …

WINNING a championship game should never be derided, yet a worrying trend is developing as far as the Clare footballers are concerned. Sunday’s three-point win over Limerick, who haven’t won a game for 14 months, was the fourth successive championship game in which Clare failed to play anywhere close to their optimum level. Last year, they beat Limerick by two points in Cusack Park, before losing to Cork (1-20 to 1-8) in Pairc Uí Rinn in the Munster semi-final. They exited the All-Ireland qualifiers in their next game, losing 2-12 to 1-12 at home to Longford on July 4. In contrast, they played some excellent championship football in 2014, albeit losing to eventual All-Ireland champions Kerry in Ennis and to Kildare in the All-Ireland qualifiers. However, Clare did play five championship games that year, including a draw against Waterford, before winning the replay in Dungarvan. Their second championship win that year was away to Carlow in Dr Cullen Park. Based …

Clooney-Quin 2-15 Sixmilebridge 2-6 History was made at Cusack Park this Friday evening when Clooney-Quin won the under 14 A Clare hurling championship for the first time, beating a fancied Sixmilebridge team in the process. On their way to winning the Clare feile na nGael title two weeks ago, Sixmilebridge had pipped Clooney-Quin and they went into this evening’s final carrying the favourites tag. Clooney-Quin took control from the start and raced into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead before Sixmilebridge opened their account. The winners, however, dictated matters and led 0-8 to 0-1 with just nine minutes played. Sixmilebridge received a great boost in the twentieth minute when David Kennedy struck for a goal but within a minute Clooney-Quin had replied with a like score from their full forward Shane Harrisson and they went on to lead by nine points at half time when the score was 1-10 to 1-1. The winners had the first score of the second half …

Getting people with a disability to be active in sport is the main reason behind the setting up of Banner Spokes, which has organised an open day on this Saturday at St Joseph’s GAA Club in Gurteen, from 10am to 1.30pm. According to committee PRO Simon Whelan, “We want to get a club formed that will be for everybody. It’s super fun and we want to get a mix of able bodied and less able bodied people taking part. It’s not about winning, it’s about taking part and recreation”. Simon’s son Evan, who is 17, is in a wheelchair and he “is mad into sport”. “Up to this, he has had to go to Limerick to play wheelchair hurling and basketball. He is keen to get a club set up in Clare and we are extending an open invitation to all to come along on Saturday to Gurteen. Our aims at this stage are two-fold, to set up the club …

Clare 0-16 Limerick 0-13 THE Clare footballers didn’t match the heights of their league form but they did just enough to edge past Limerick and into a Munster semi-final meeting with Kerry in Killarney in two weeks time. The game was played a pedestrian pace but Clare’s greater scoring spread eventually divided the teams. A minute into injury time Limerick’s Danny Neville reduced the deficit to just two points, 0-15 to 0-13 but a minute later Clare’s Jamie Malone put over his sides and the games final score. Limerick did mount a last attack but Joe Hayes was very solid under dropping ball which had been delivered by Peter Nash. Following a very poor first half, in the sides kicked 13 wides between them, Clare led 0-5 to 0-4. Substitute Podge Collins, who replaced the injured Cathal O’Connor in the 33rd minute, kicked Clare a point ahead in first half injury time. Limerick edged the first ten minutes in terms …

CLARE will be seeking their third successive championship win over Limerick when the ball is thrown in at 2pm in the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday. If the teams’ respective league displays are an accurate barometer, Clare will start as warm favourites. Four league wins were enough to secure promotion to Division 2, while Limerick were relegated to Division 4. When they met in their league tie in Newcastle West, Clare won 1-14 to 0-11, which followed their 0-15 to 0-13 championship win over Limerick in Ennis last May. Clare also defeated the Shannonsiders when they met in the 2012 Munster championship at the Gaelic Grounds, playing exceptionally well in the first half, although they faded badly in the second period. This weekend’s game will be the 39th Munster championship meeting between the counties with Clare winning 23 of those fixtures. Limerick won just a single championship game between the counties from 1909 to 1980, when they met 19 times. Five …