Tag Archives: Clare football

Allianz Football League Division 2 South Round 2 Clare 1-13 Kildare 0-13 at Newbridge ONCE again Newbridge brings drama as Clare with a superb effort over 70 minutes using their substitutes brilliantly and with Eoin Cleary coming up with pressure cooker points Clare maintained a winning record in this year’s Allianz league, reports Michael O’Connor. Had Clare managed just a share of the spoils they would have made the journey home very disappointed as they were without the better side and face into Cork in Cusack Park with everything to play for. At the end of the first quarter Clare were (0-6) to (0-3) in arrears after a early positive start by Clare was matched by Kildare capitalising on frees conceded by the Clare rearguard. The Banner men at times in the first 15 minutes met a strong disciplined Kildare rearguard who forced Clare into errors. There was a flurry of scores in the first ten minutes with successful efforts …

HAVING languished in the lower divisions for so long, Clare now enter their fifth consecutive National Football League campaign in Division 2. And as it has constantly proved, there’s no better stomping ground to test every sinew of the players’ resilience and character. Clare have been repeatedly battling right up to the final minutes, not to mind the last match in what has been the ultimate bearpit. Due to Covid and time restrictions, the number of bears have been reduced for 2021 but if anything their claws are sharper, an intensity factor that 2019 All Star nominee Jamie Malone only relishes ahead of Sunday’s season commencement. “Things are going well so far and I think when you’re coming in with a good attitude and enthusiasm, it gets you a long way when you’re tuned into it. So I’m sure we’ll continue to improve and maintain that upward curve over the next few weeks. “The games will help but you still …

St Joseph’s Miltown 0-14 Ennistymon 0-8 ST Joseph’s Miltown are county football champions for the 14th time, following a superb second half display in the 2018 county final in Cusack Park. Miltown won their last senior championship in 2015 and tied down Jack Daly for 2018 when they outscored Ennistymon 0-8 to 0-4 in the second half, having led by two points at the interval. The big difference between the sides was Miltown’s ability to score from play. Six of their players combined to kick their 0-10 tally from play. In contrast only Joe Dowling, who fought manfully and Joey Rouine raised white flags from play for Ennistymon, who showed great heart throughout. Following a frenetic first half, Miltown led 0-6 to 0-4 at half-time. Ennistymon’s kick out strategy caused problems for Miltown in the opening quarter and that helped them into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead by the 11th minute. Joe Dowling kicked three of Ennistymon’s first half points …

THE Clare Senior Hurling Championship first round draws for 2018 have thrown up some mouthwatering contests. Champions Sixmilebridge will meet Clonlara in what will be a repeat of the final a few years ago. Cratloe will face Inagh-Kilnamona, while newly-promoted Kilmaley will face Newmarket. In football, the eight quarter-finalists from 2017 were seeded. Title-holders Kilmurry-Ibrickane will take on Kilfenora in the opening round. Clare senior football manager, Colm Collins, will manage his Cratloe side against his native parish Kilmihil, while former county midfielder, Ger Quinlan, will find himself on the sideline with Ennistymon against his native O’Curry’s. At the end of this season’s senior football campaign, five teams will be relegated to intermediate, with the intermediate winners being promoted. This will mean the 2019 championship will comprise 12 teams. The draws are as follows: Senior hurling: O’Callaghan’s Mills v St Joseph’s: Whitegate v Ballyea; Tulla v Éire Óg; Clarecastle v Crusheen; Wolfe Tones v Clooney-Quin; Cratloe v Inagh-Kilnamona; Newmarket v …

ON February 25, 230 miles away from their home county, the Clare footballers had a choice. Either they folded, as they did against Meath in Navan three weeks beforehand, or they delved a bit deeper and forcibly quizzed Down on what they were made of. Minus the suspended Jamie Malone and Gordon Kelly, Clare wrought superb displays from a team that featured five starting players still in the first season of their senior inter-county careers. On Sunday at 2pm in Cusack Park, Clare will aim to replicate the attitude and decision-making evident in Newry. That day, they shot at goal 15 times, kicking 13 scores and managed not to miss Ciaran Russell, who was sent off on a yellow and black card. Since he was deployed as sweeper in the Tipperary game, Russell has solidified Clare and made them somewhat harder to break down. In their defeat to Meath in Navan, Clare were cut open regularly, as the home county …

Kilmurry Ibrickane 1-14 Clondegad 0-14 KILMURRY Ibrickane are Clare senior football champions for the 15th time, following their victory over first time finalists, Clondegad in Cusack Park, on Sunday afternoon. Played in front of an attendance of 4,916 the game was tactical and restricted in the first half, following which the Aidan Moloney managed two in a row champions led 0-6 to 0-4. The game opened up considerably in the second half with the sides kicking 19 scores between them. However the crucial one was the green flag raised by Kilmurry substitute Peter O’Dwyer, who was put through by fellow substitute Noel Downes. O’Dwyer, who was later red carded, along with Clonegad’s Joe Neylon, slotted home the goal, which put Kilmurry into a 1-13 to 0-13 lead. O’Dwyer also scored the winning point in Kilmurry’s semi-final win over Cratloe. Clondegad did not give up and in fact they pressed Kilmurry hard over the remaining 14 minutes, which included nine minutes …

THE managers of the last two county senior football champions have confirmed to The Clare Champion that withdrawing county players from Saturday’s All-Ireland qualifier against Laois was a live option. County champions and Cusack Cup holders, Kilmurry-Ibrickane, along with their neighbours, St Joseph’s Miltown, are furious that Clare County Board imposed a €200 fine on them and handed the points to O’Curry’s and Doonbeg respectively, after Cusack Cup fixtures were not played on the weekend of June 3. Clondegad and Éire Óg have also suffered a similar fate, with the points awarded to Lissycasey and St Breckan’s. All four fined clubs had refused to line-out without their inter-county footballers in the sixth round of the Cusack and Garry cups. “We are very upset over it. We got a lot of support from the county players but we felt that the nuclear option wasn’t feasible after all the hard work these guys have put in and their long years of service,” …

DAVY Fitzgerald is expected to continue as manager of the Clare senior hurling team for another year. After a four-month break, Clare GAA will hold a county board meeting next Tuesday at their meeting room in Caherlohan where, it is expected, a number of inter-county team managements for the coming season will be appointed. Whether or not Fitzgerald would seek another term in charge of the senior hurlers has been a topic of discussion since the team bowed out of the championship in July. Fitzgerald, who spent some time in hospital in the lead-up to Clare’s game with Galway, has said on a number of occasions since then that he will take time to decide on his future. He did attend a number of the club championship games last weekend, as did selectors Louis Mulqueen and Michael Browne. The expectation is that he will seek to continue as team manager. After leading Clare to the All-Ireland title in 2013 in …