Tag Archives: Clare football

CLARE football management have made two change to their starting 15 for Sunday’s NFL Divison 4 game against Tippeary in Thurles at 3pm. Óige Murphy returns after injury and comes in for Kevin Hartnett, who picked up a hamstring injury against Wicklow last Sunday. Under-21, Jamie Malone from Corofin, replaces Podge Collins, who will be part of the Clare hurling panel, also against Tipperary on Sunday. The footballers starting 15 is: Pierce Deloughrey; Dean Ryan, Gordon Kelly, Martin McMahon; Óige Murphy, Enda Coughlan, Shane Hickey; Gary Brennan (captain), Cathal O’Connor; Shane McGrath, Seán Collins, Shane Brennan; Martin O’Leary, David Tubridy, Jamie Malone. Clare are currently top of Division 4 on seven points. However, they have played a game more than Tipperary, who sit on five points.

Clare 2-13 Wicklow 1-8 THE Clare footballers maintained their drive for promotion from division 4, with an eight point win over Wicklow in Cusack Park on Sunday. Clare are now top of the division with three games left to play. Both teams were unbeaten before the game, with Wicklow having won both of their games prior to this tie, while Clare had beaten Waterford and London, while they drew with Leitrim. The biggest talking point to emerge from this game came in just the sixth minute when Wicklow captain Leighton Glynn was red carded following an incident with Martin McMahon. Wicklow were incensed at referee Seán Joy’s red card and while Clare didn’t immediately capitalise, they assumed control the longer the game wore on. With David Tubridy excelling in attack and Gary Brennan netting a first half goal for Clare, they led 1-4 to 0-6 at half time, having played into the breeze. Clare restricted Wicklow to 1-2 in the …

Cratloe’s Óige Murphy and Kilkee’s Michael O’Shea are absent from Sunday’s senior football team to play Wicklow in Cusack Park at 2pm. Both players, who have featured in all three games to date, picked up injuries in last Sunday’s win over London in Ruislip. Dean Ryan moves from corner to wing-back, while Kevin Hartnett comes in at corner-back. Coolmeen’s Cathal O’Connor has been recalled to partner Gary Brennan at midfield, while Podge Collins moves to corner-forward with Shane McGrath starting at centre-forward. The Clare team is Pierce Deloughrey; Martin McMahon, Gordon Kelly, Kevin Hartnett; Shane Hickey, Enda Coughlan, Dean Ryan; Gary Brennan (captain), Cathal O’Connor; Seán Collins, Shane McGrath, Shane Brennan; Martin O’Leary, David Tubridy, Podge Collins.

FIFTEEN minutes into Sunday’s game in Ruislip, London corner-back Philip Butler was met with the curly finger. He had been beaten to virtually every ball by his 19-year-old opponent, who was playing just his third national league game for Clare. To date, Kilmihil’s Martin O’Leary, who scored 0-4, has been one of Clare’s most potent forwards in the 2014 campaign. He attributes this to the quality and guidance of the more experienced players around him. “They’ve been around the block. The likes of Tubs [David Tubridy] inside in the full-forward line, his movement is unbelievable and then we have the likes of Gary [Brennan] kicking in the ball. If you make it stick, take on your man,” is how he put it after Clare’s second league win of the new season. Clare introduced five subs, including a couple of U-21s and a few old stagers. “There’s a good mix. We had two young lads in Jamie [Malone] and Jack [O’Dea] …

WINNING was the primary aim but each Clare footballer had personal targets in mind when they left the Crown Hotel in Cricklewood on Sunday morning. Putting two points on the board was the priority but knowing that, individually, they had covered the requisite ground and put in an acceptable amount of tackles was at the back of every player’s mind. “We said coming over that it was more of a test of how honest we were going to be, rather than just going over playing London. Every day what we try to do is set our own goals. If we can match them, then more than likely we’ll come out on top. It’s not a case of who you’re playing anymore, it’s more trying to beat what you aim for yourself,” Clare corner-back Martin McMahon told The Clare Champion in Ruislip. “We’ve two good lads there on stats and at the end of the day, stats don’t lie. If you …

CLARE full-forward Shane Brennan wasn’t initially buoyed at hearing other results in Division 4. Waterford’s draw with Tipperary did Clare no harm, while Antrim’s defeat to Wicklow leaves the Ulster county at the bottom of the basement division. A Clare win would have been a huge boost but a point wasn’t a bad return, although the Royal College of Surgeons student wasn’t in full agreement. “We’re never looking at the other teams’ results. We have to look at ourselves first. We set ourselves a target of winning that game. It’s heartbreaking at the moment that we didn’t but looking at it in the last minute of injury time, we could have it lost. You have to take the positives from it and the whole thing is still in our own hands,” he said. The Clondegad man felt Clare could have utilised the first-half breeze to more telling effect. “We probably should have a few more scores got in the first …

WHEN the Clare panel dispersed from Miltown, most either stayed in the county or headed for Limerick and Dublin. Cathal O’Connor was the one exception. The Edinburgh-based Coolmeen man set off for Shannon Airport, before landing in eastern Scotland on Sunday night. O’Connor had a steady game beside Gary Brennan in the Clare midfield. However, his final intervention proved quite decisive as he fouled Leitrim’s Paddy Maguire and was issued with a black card. To compound matters, Leitrim captain Emlyn Mulligan tapped over the free that levelled the game. “In fairness I probably did,” the civil engineer replied when asked if he felt he deserved the black card. “Something had to be done. It was going to be a score either way. They say that the black card is going to get rid of cynical fouling but at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, you’re going to do it if you have to do it,” he …

Clare 0-11 Leitrim 1-8 A POINTED Leitrim free, eight minutes into injury time, snatched a point for the Connacht county in Miltown Malbay on Sunday afternoon. Both teams are now tied on three points in NFL division 4. Wicklow, who beat Antrim, top the division on full points from two games. Emlyn Mulligan, who also scored Leitrim’s first half goal, pointed the decisive free which was conceded by Cathal O’Connor. The Coolmeen man was shown a black card by Offaly referee Damien Brazil. When Martin O’Leary pointed a superb score, five minutes earlier, Clare led 0-11 to 1-6 and it lookeds as if they would hold on for a crucial win. However substitute Ray Cox pointed Leitrim to within a score of Clare before Mulligan equalised. Clare played with the wind in the opening half but the teams were level, 1-3 to 0-6 after half tiime. O’Leary scored Clare’s opening point while Gary Brennan, who had a superb game, also scored …