Tag Archives: Clare senior hurling final

I don’t know if Ballyea or Clonlara mentors attended the senior football final replay at Cusack Park last Sunday but if they did, they are sure to have noticed that Kilmurry-Ibrickane learned more from the drawn game and that the changes they made to their line-up were key to their victory. The hurling management teams know both sides have room for improvement. What changes, if any, they will make could well be the key to unlocking the opposition this time around. Ballyea will have at least one change in personnel now that full-forward Eoghan Donnellan has been ruled out due to injury. At least one change to their forward line-up was expected anyhow, after Martin O’Leary’s impressive showing in the second half of the drawn game, following his introduction at half-time. If Ballyea are to win, there will have to be a big improvement from their forward line, which managed just one point between the starting six in the drawn …

Ennis native Rory McGann will referee the 2016 Clare Senior Hurling Championship final. A member of the Newmarket club, it will be his first time in charge of the senior hurling showpiece in the county. Rory’s sister Ann Marie will act as umpire, the first lady to do so at a Clare senior hurling final. A club referee since 2004, McGann has taken charge of a number of high profile local games, including the U-21 A championship final earlier this year, the intermediate final last year, the U-16 A and U-14 Féile finals in 2015, the junior A and U-15 A championship finals in 2014 and the minor A and U-14 A championship finals in 2013. His appointment for Sunday means that he has officiated at county championship finals at every grade from U-12 upwards. Appointed to the Munster provincial panel in 2013 and the National Referee Panel in 2016, some of McGann’s appointments of note include the Munster minor …

A championship that has produced its share of talking points without setting the world alight with regard to the standard of play draws to a close on Sunday. The expectation is, however, that Clonlara and Ballyea will give patrons an afternoon to remember. In opposition in the senior hurling decider are some of the players who have shone in an eight-year period where county teams have won Munster and All-Ireland honours at minor, U-21 and senior levels. Supporters have marvelled at the performances of the likes of Tony Kelly, Colm Galvin, Darach Honan and John Conlon, while the O’Donovan brothers will forever be remembered when Cormac was the scorer of a last-minute point that won the 2009 All-Ireland U-21 title and when Domhnall earned a replay in the 2013 senior final. Ballyea’s only previous final appearance was in 2003, when they had to give best to their fellow parishioners. Clarecastle man Fergie O’Loughlin went into the history books as he …

CAN Sixmilebridge continue their unbeaten run and justify favouritism by re-claiming a title they last held just two years ago? Will Clonlara deliver on their undoubted potential and atone for the disappointments of recent years since they made the breakthrough and won the title in 2008 How will Sean Stack’s involvement as Clonlara manager impact on the game? Can Clonlara complete the senior/junior double and capture the Canon Hamilton Trophy to go alongside the Junior A Cup won last week? These are just a few of the questions being raised ahead of Sunday’s Clare Senior Hurling Championship final between Clonlara and Sixmilebridge, which has all the ingredients to be one of the best finals in years. Both clubs were on most people’s shortlist for honours when the draw was made back in March. Winning back the Canon Hamilton Trophy has been foremost in the minds of all involved with Sixmilebridge GAA since the beginning of the 2015 season. Disappointed at …