Tag Archives: Clare Senior Hurlers

A scintillating final quarter put a gloss on Clare’s defeat of Offaly in the National Hurling League Division 1A Round 3, writes Eoin Brennan Clare 4-20 Offaly 0-16 CLARE maintained their Indian sign over Offaly but only after a scintillating finish to cement their first National League points in Bord na Mona O’Connor Park, Tullamore this afternoon. One would have to go back to 2000 to find Offaly’s last league or championship victory over the Banner but the weight of expectation was only lifted in the final quarter as the visitors outgunned the Division 1 newcomers by 3-7 to 0-1. Central to that late storm was a commanding performance from the returning Tony Kelly who led out his side as captain and led the scoreboard too with a remarkable personal tally of 2-12. His final quarter brace of goals in the space of five minutes ultimately clinched victory as up to that point, only a puck of the ball separated …

JUST when it seems that the worst was over for Clare’s injury-ravaged squad, news that Mark Rodgers will be sidelined for the foreseeable future with a knee injury is another massive blow to the solar plexus, writes Eoin Brennan. After all, from the nadir of not even being able to bring a full 26 man squad to Páirc Uí Chaoimh to the welcome sight of getting John Conlon, David Fitzgerald and even Tony Kelly back on the field in the intervening period, things seemed to be finally coming together at an opportune time for Brian Lohan and Co. As Clare’s top-scorer so far, Rodgers was the form player of 2022 and was also instrumental in UL’s run to the Fitzgibbon Cup title until suffering a knee injury against Carlow IT in the semi-final last Thursday evening. As the Scariff star anxiously awaits results on a knee scan though, the show must go on, with a first victory now a prerequisite. …

CLARE are still searching for their first points of the new National Hurling League campaign, writes Eoin Brennan, after going down 2-20 to 1-20 against Wexford in Cusack Park on Sunday afternoon. For the second consecutive season, Wexford left Ennis with a valuable victory under their belts to leave the hosts pointless after two matches. Leading by 1-16 to 1-14 following a strong third quarter turnaround, Clare lost their way down the final straight as a resurgent Wexford fired 1-5 without reply including a 64th minute goal for Diarmuid O’Keefe. Emanating from a defensive error, it would be the clinching score in front of an attendance of 2,855. Mark Rodgers again led the way on the scoreboard, mainly through placed balls and was aided by strong displays from midfielder Paddy Donnellan, Shane Meehan and impressive newcomer Patrick Crotty from the bench. Three Rodgers frees lifted the hosts to a 0-4 to 0-2 advantage by the tenth minute but despite a …

AS last weekend’s opening results reiterated, expectation is the root of all heartache, writes Eoin Brennan. No matter what realistic picture you paint of injuries, absentees or retirements, supporters are invariably diseased with hope and wild optimism at the start of every season thus providing a painful landing when crashing back down to earth. Clare and Wexford can attest to that in recent weeks as both reached their provincial warm-up finals, only to be handed sizeable defeats by Limerick and Dublin. And yet expectations were again thrown out the window following the first round of the National League. Having been humbled by 16 points in the Walsh Cup Final, Wexford supporters still feared the worst when Limerick rolled into town last Sunday. However, Darragh Egan’s reign began in earnest that day as the Wexicans were always going to be a different animal at home as they went toe-to-toe with the back-to-back All-Ireland champions to provide the perfect jolt. It should …

CORK……………….2-30 CLARE……………..2-21 By Michael O Connor A LESSON in hurling movement and control with 13 different scorers was handed out to Clare by a Cork side that look stronger and more dangerous All Ireland contenders than in 2021. Perhaps defeat to Limerick in last years decider has galvanised them also aided by a stunning crop of Under 20 talent. Clare were second in every respect as now attention moves onto the second round tie against Wexford in Ennis. Another year and the opening salvo of double header fare in Pairc Ui Chaoimh with Brian Lohan locking horns with Kieran Kingston and two league points for the winner. In a game that many expected to have a sizable number of frees it was the banner men who suffered most. Clare started the game with three changes to the announced lineout with Robin Mounsey, Aaron Fitzgerald and Shane Meehan starting with Mounsey making a league debut. The visitors started the game brightly …

Ryan Taylor tells Ivan Smyth he is happy to test himself to stake his claim in a strong panel RYAN Taylor would be forgiven for looking warily over his shoulder as the next batch of talented young hurlers received call-ups for pre-season training. The Clooney-Quin stickman has not enjoyed the typical route of progressing straight from the U21 set up in to the senior panel. Instead after being a key part of the Clare side that reached the U21 Munster final in 2015, it was only in November 2017 that he earned the call up to the senior set up. Helping his club reach the county final in 2017 earned him a place in Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor’s squad for the following year but he struggled for game time initially. When Brian Lohan took over towards the end of 2019, he handed Taylor a chance with the Clooney-Quin hurler snatching it with both hands. He started all of Clare’s …

JOHN Conlon’s return from injury and subsequent move to centre back was one of the big positives in a 2021 campaign of near misses, writes Ivan Smyth. However, when the Clonlara man suffered what he describes as a “weird sensation” in his knee after taking part in a tackling drill the Tuesday after his side’s come from behind win against Whitegate, another spell on the sideline loomed. This led him to undergo keyhole surgery on his knee as he sat out the rest of his side’s campaign with Clonlara bowing out of the group stages before winning the Senior B Championship. “It was hard looking on. It was frustrating to get injured because we were going well. We lost out on getting to the quarter finals which was annoying because we were close again. It was a weird sensation when I got the injury first. I knew it wasn’t the previous injury (ACL). All went well with the surgery. Brian …

ONE of Clare hurling’s leading lights of the past decade has announced his retirement from the intercounty game at the age of 28. Clonlara clubman and former All-Star Colm Galvin has called time on his Clare career following a “frustrating series of ongoing injuries and set-backs in his recovery”, according to a statement from Club Clare this Friday. “It’s a scenario that I never thought or hoped would ever happen but unfortunately following a succession of injuries and repeated setbacks, I’ve had to make the difficult decision to retire from inter-county hurling,” Galvin stated. “A decade on from making my senior championship debut against Dublin in Cusack Park, I’d love to have continued playing for Clare but after ongoing conversations with Brian [Lohan], realistically my body just isn’t able for the workload required at the highest level any longer. “Central to this is a persistent groin injury that has never healed properly which has proven extremely frustrating as well as …