Tag Archives: Clare Cup

No alteration to form lines as St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield maintained their perfect start to this year’s Clare Cup in a relatively comfortable victory over Wolfe Tones in Gurteen on Friday night. Always an intriguing tie particularly as there’s no shortage of recent history and trauma between this pair in relegation battles, the big difference here was in terms of clinicalness in front of the posts as the Parish were far more efficient than the visitors who will ultimately rue a wasteful first half. The Tones did start with a bang as talisman Billy Connors stunned their hosts with an early goal but by the turn of the second quarter, St Joseph’s not only cancelled it out but powered clear thanks to goals through Eoghan Thynne, following a powerful Alan O’Neill shot, and Cian Barron at 2-6 to 1-4. The home side’s wide spectrum of attacking threats is unrivalled in the county as they can triple aerial threat of Alan O’Neill, …

Mark McKenna’s charges recorded their second victory of this year’s Clare Cup campaign on Friday evening after a lively and highly entertaining battle with hosts Kilmaley. In truth though, had they not won the East Clare club would have left scratching their heads as ten first half wides very nearly proved detrimental. In the end it was a tour de force display from County Senior panellist Patrick Crotty that was enough to deservedly see them claim the spoils and record a three point victory. It was the away side who dominated possession throughout the opening period. First to the ball they also won the midfield battle resulting in a series of opportunities but Scariff just couldn’t convert possession into scores. In contrast to this, Brian Culbert’s Kilmaley side were extremely economical and efficient. So clinical were they that they remarkably scored eight points from nine attempts compared to Scariff’s seven from seventeen attempts. At the interval the blues led by …

Full coverage of the opening round games in the Clare Cup as well as a look ahead to this weekend’s Cusack Cup and Garry Cup fixtures in this week’s Clare Champion. Broadford 3-12 – Tubber 1-15 Broadford following a successful 2023 with Junior A and retention of the U-21B hurling title travelled to Tubber on Friday evening with high hopes for a progressive 2024 and came away with a battling late three points to seal their opening win of the Clare Cup. The two shooting stars of the game were Broadford’s Craig Chaplin and Tubber’s Osgar Dunford and it was the Tubber 18 year old who had the opening score after seven minutes with Diarmuid Whelan back in the Broadford colours responding for his side. Joe Clancy saw a gilt-edged goal chance cannon off Broadford goalkeeper Cian O’Brien that saw the resultant 65’ converted by Lorcan O’Grady. Domhnall McMahon and Darren Chaplin traded points by the 15th minute before O’Grady …

The race for the Ennis Carpets Clare Cup is down to four teams as Avenue United, Fair Green Celtic, Lifford AFC and Tulla United battle to progress to this year’s decider. Reigning champions Avenue Utd take on Fairgreen Celtic on Saturday (May 6th) with Pa Gleeson the man in the middle. Lifford AFC clash with Tulla United on Sunday (May 7th) with Paudie Hayes taking charge of that contest. Frank Healy Park will host both semi-finals. Saturday’s tie kicks off at 5:30pm while the Sunday showdown will start at 11am. Avenue are favourites to retain the Cup but they come up against a Fair Green Celtic side who have defeated Premier Division opposition in the quarter-finals and at the Last 16 stage. Fair Green Celtic operate in the Brownies Barbershop Third Division as they claimed league glory in what is their first season competing. They performed a memorable comeback from 3-1 down against Shannon Town to bring the game to …

Similar to the demise of the National Hurling League in terms of significance in the inter-county calendar as all eyes are firmly fixed on championship fare, the new split season for all its hugely positive attributes have essentially further diminished the Clare Cup as well. Without county seniors and initially at least Under 20’s too, the appetite for league silverware is predominantly replaced by the hope of finding new players and honing squads ahead of the summer assault on the Canon Hamilton or Paddy Browne cups. It wouldn’t be so bad if every club had a similar level of preparation ahead of this weekend’s throw-in as even allowing for the discrepancy of some teams having bigger inter-county contingents than others, at least managers would know that their opponents are taking it seriously. However, the chief problem is that much like Clare’s bloodless recent visit to Wexford, one can expect one-sided results that will have no bearing on the championship if …

Clare Cup Final Kilmaley 0-25 Clonlara 0-15 AN ideal pre-championship boost for Kilmaley who deservedly garnered their second Clare Cup crown in three attempts in Cusack Park on Sunday evening. Leading from the eighth minute to the finish and never behind at any stage of the contest, Kilmaley seamlessly moved through the gears to record a comfortable victory and more significantly a 25 point turnaround from their group stage clash only three weeks earlier. Contrasting fortunes were stark as despite losing talisman Mikey O’Malley to injury in the opening period, Kilmaley will be not only be thrilled with securing timely silverware ahead of their championship opener against Éire Óg in three weeks time but did so thanks to nine different scorers. On the flip side, Clonlara saved their most lacklustre Clare Cup display of 2022 for last but more worryingly saw early retirements through injury for captain Cathal O’Connell, former All-Star Colm Galvin, Gareth Kennedy and chief marksman Micheál O’Loughlin …

Avenue United captain Dylan Casey is expecting fireworks when his side come up against Newmarket Celtic in the Banner Carpets and Flooring Clare Cup final this evening in Frank Healy Park (kick off 5pm). The two traditional heavyweights of Clare soccer go head to head in what a game which has the potential to see sparks fly. With Newmarket Celtic going for a scarcely believable 10th Clare Cup title in a row, Casey is aware that his side face a huge task to dethrone the roll of honour leaders. The centre back knows the challenge ahead is a tough one but he wants his side to focus on their own performance. “We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing. Just because it’s Newmarket doesn’t mean we should be changing our approach to the game. There’s always a bit of bite in these games. It’s going to be a cracker.” There’s nothing unusual about a member of the Casey …

Clare Cup Division 1A Round 7 Sixmilebridge v Broadford at O’Garney Park Sixmilebridge, Friday 7.30pm A keen derby that would be a juicy prospect come championship time but realistically there’s merely only pride to play for in Sixmilebridge this evening. Of course the sides did clash in the 2020 Senior Championship that the then county champions Sixmilebridge prevailed in with a degree of ease on their way to retaining their Canon Hamilton title. However, that was Broadford’s first year back in the top flight and they’ve been growing in stature in the intervening period. While Sixmilebridge are stuck in a mid-table limbo, Broadford do require the points to steer clear of safety. Inagh-Kilnamona v Feakle at Inagh, Friday 7.30pm It’s safe to say that Inagh-Kilnamona have had the Indian sign over Feakle in recent seasons. Indeed, the East Clare side’s last senior win against their hosts was in 2015 and in the seven years since, Inagh-Kilnamona have recorded five consecutive …