Tag Archives: clare

Clare 1-19 Limerick 0-18 Clare are back in the top grouping in the National hurling league following a comfortable win over arch rivals Limerick at Cusac Park this Sunday afternoon. The Banner side’s victory was much more comfortable that the final scoreline suggests on a day when Limerick were reduced to fourteen men five minutes before half time whenforward Barry Nash picked up a second yellow card. Clare led from the outset on a day when they shot no fewer than nineteen wides, a dozen of which came in the second half. Played before an attendance of 8,847, the home side made their intentions known from the off and struck for the game’s only goal as early as the opening minute when John Conlon brillantly grabbed a high delivery before shooting to the net. The score clearly rocked the visitors who, underatandably, complained tht the Clonlara player took more thatn the required number of steps while in possession before finding …

FROM the moment the schedule of games for this season’s hurling league was published, today’s (Sunday) final group game between Shannonside neighbours Clare and Limerick was ear-marked as the tie that would decide who will be promoted to Division 1A for 2017. Clare, it must be said, were unlucky to be relegated from the top flight at the end of last season’s league, when they lost by the minimum margin to Kilkenny on successive Sundays. Limerick have been stuck in Division 1B for the past few years, falling narrowly at the final hurdle on a few occasions. They made some changes to their management team back in the autumn, bringing in Joe O’Connor as team trainer and appointing Tipperary man Dinny Cahill as team coach. O’Connor is widely recognised as a trainer and he filled that role for Clare when the Banner men won the All-Ireland title in 2013. Such is the attractiveness of Sunday’s tie that a crowd of 10,000 is …

Offaly 0-15 Clare 1-11 FOLLOWING an exceptionally poor first half display, Clare improved significantly in the second period but eventually lost out to a Michael Brazil point from play, which was kicked six minutes into injury time. The fact that the Offaly centre forward cut through the Clare defence without any Clare defender impeding his progress, underlined some of the deficiencies in this display. Lifted by their wins over Limerick and Westmeath, Clare showed few signs of their form in those games. While their performance was not good enough, if promotion is to be a realistic aim, they did show admirable resolve in the second half and Eoin Cleary’s 70th minute goal leveled the game. Five minutes into injury time the Miltown forward was certain he had kicked the winning point but it was waved wide and neither was a 45 awarded. He confirmed afterwards that if the ball was in fact wide, it was definitely a 45. A minute …

AS they head for Tullamore on Sunday, Clare’s priority will be to produce a second 70-minute performance once the clock hits 2pm. If they can reproduce and sustain the level on view against Westmeath, the result will look after itself. However, it must be expected that Offaly will test Clare’s resolve far more than Westmeath did. The Lake County were very poor and aside from a few minutes late in the first half, they didn’t take the game and simply folded late in the second half. Offaly are just two points behind Clare in the league table and a win on Sunday would almost guarantee their Division 3 status for 2016 and put them in with an outside chance of promotion. Offaly lost to Tipperary last weekend, having beaten Sligo 1-13 to 0-14 in their previous fixture. They will look to players such as Michael Brazil, Niall Smith, Niall Bracken and Niall McNamee on Sunday to steer them to what …

Clare 1-18 Westmeath 0-10 WITH just three fixtures left to play in division 3 of the NFL, Clare took a huge stride towards promotion with a comprehensive win over Westmeath in Ennis on Sunday. They now sit joint second in the table, along with Tipperary. The Munster teams are two points behind Kildare, who have won all four of their games to date. Clare travel to O’Connor Park in Tullamore next Sunday, where they play Offaly who are currently on four points. Clare blitzed Westmeath who were completely off the pace, particularly in the first half. Such was Clare’s dominance they led 0-7 to 0-0 after 23 minutes with David Tubridy, Eoin Cleary, Pearse Lillis and Cathal O’Connor putting over those early points. Westmeath, who reached the 2015 Leinster final and were expected to at least contend for promotion, didn’t kick their first point until eight minutes before half time when substitute Shane Dempsey scored. They did come within four …

WHAT a difference a win makes or, perhaps more significantly, what a difference a performance makes. Everything that Clare lacked in their Round 2 National Football League Division 3 game against Tipperary on February 7 was evident in last Sunday’s six-point win over Limerick. Nobody would question a team that gives all it can and loses a particular game but Clare did not seem fully focused in that first half against Tipperary, while their decision-making on the ball was poor. The challenge for them against Limerick was to first reacquaint themselves with an attitude that would lead to a 70-minute performance. They knew that if that happened, they would have every chance of winning and moving away from the bottom half of the table. Therefore, they will enter Sunday’s game at Cusack Park, Ennis [2pm start] against Westmeath confident and ready for another vital fixture. The Midland county, who defeated Meath for the first time in their history in 2015, …

AFTER a one-week break, Clare will return to hurling league action this Saturday evening when they travel to play Laois in Round 3 at O’Moore Park in Portlaoise at 7pm. As has been the case with their opening two games, Clare will carry the favourites’ tag but team mentors have stressed that they will be taking nothing for granted. Laois haven’t had a good start to this season’s campaign, losing their opening-round game to Kerry and then going down to Offaly last time out. At this stage of the campaign, relegation to Division 2 is a serious concern, so they will be expected to up their game. While Clare have won all recent outings against the Laois men, they haven’t had things their own way and, in fact, have had to pull out all the stops to get victory. In the league quarter-final in 2014, only four points separated the sides at the final whistle, with Clare ahead on a …

A Tidy Towns Information evening will take place next Tuesday at 5.30pm in the council chamber at Áras Contae an Chláir in Ennis . Hosted by Clare County Council, the event will acknowledge the positive work that Tidy Towns groups are doing across the County, in a voluntary capacity, to enhance the County’s towns and villages. Speakers will include cathaoirleach James Breen; Chief Executive Tom Coughlan, Tidy Towns adjudicator Lorraine Power, Doonbeg Tidy Towns chairperson Tommy Comerford, Clarecastle Tidy Towns chairperson Christy Leyden, and Billy Flynn, ecologist and biodiversity Expert. Councillor James Breen stated, “This event provides me, in my role as Cathaoirleach of Clare, with a real opportunity to acknowledge the positive work that is taking place by these groups in all our towns and villages across the county.” He added, “By improving their local environment they are setting a great example for our young people and are fostering in them a pride of place in their local community …