Tag Archives: cusack park

THE first of two days of Cumann na mBunscoil finals were held in Cusack Park today (Tuesday). Here is some of the action held at Clare GAA headquarters in Ennis.  

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 …

Ballyea 1-20 Cratloe 1-14 BALLYEA turned in a sensational second half performance to win the 2018 Clare senior hurling title in Cusack Park on Sunday. Seven points down in the opening minute of the second half the 2016 Clare and Munster champions outscored Cratloe 1-8 to 0-0 from the 37th minute with Martin O’Leary burying the crucial goal four minutes from time, when Ballyea intercepted a short puck out. Played in front of a crowd of 7,040 people, Ballyea showed immense heart and courage to recover from a 1-10 to 0-9 deficit, having played with the wind. Cratloe looked very sharp in the first half with Billy Connors and Cathal McInerney particularly potent in the full forward line. They looked to be in a great position at half-time but were completely outplayed for most of the second half as Ballyea significantly upped their game, while Cratloe wilted. Niall Deasy was selected as man of the match while he also won …

CLARE GAA season ticket holders were excluded from the seated area at Cusack Park last Sunday for the Munster championship clash with Waterford. Also, supporters who bought tickets for the standing areas paid higher prices than what applies for the terraces at the three other Munster Championship venues; Cork, Limerick and Thurles. While the Munster Council originally justified this by saying that general admission would be on offer to all areas in Cusack Park, in actual fact the stand and terraces were segregated on the day. A Clare season ticket holder this week said that when she purchased her ticket last November, she had no idea that when championship came around, she would be denied a seat for Clare’s home games. “When you bought the tickets it said you may not get access to the stand. I assumed that meant that it could happen because all the seats were already taken up, and they couldn’t be reserved. I didn’t think …

While Clare’s starting team for what is now a crucial championship tie against Waterford on Sunday (3.30pm throw-in) will not be named before Friday evening, it’s likely to feature one or two changes. Although not introduced until the end of normal time last Sunday in Cork, Jamie Shanahan is believed to be strongly in contention for a place in the first 15 this week. Sections of the defence struggled in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Seadna Morey, David Fitzgerald, who recovered from an injury in the warm-up to take his place at the start and team captain, Pat O’Connor, may be under pressure to retain their first team places for this week. Positional changes are also quite likely. These could see David Reidy switching to midfield, with Tony Kelly going to the half-forward line and Conor McGrath or Shane O’Donnell going to full-forward. Niall Deasy is likely to be in contention for a place in the line-up, while Podge Collins is …

Since the U-21 Hurling Championship was introduced back in 1964, there has been some great times for Clare teams but with plenty of heartache as well. In the 54 championships played, Clare have played in 19 finals, including one replay. Thirteen may be regarded as unlucky for some but for the Banner the opposite was the case when the county finally got over the line on the 13th time of asking, claiming the title in Dungarvan in 2009. They went on to contest four finals in succession, winning provincial and All-Ireland titles in 2012, ’13 and ’14 before losing to Limerick in 2015. Many of the players on those teams helped the county to the All-Ireland senior title in 2013. Facing into the 2018 campaign in what remains the only inter-county championship in which participants do not get a second chance, Clare could hardly have asked for a more difficult task. Next Monday’s first round game pits the Banner against …

CONTROVERSY flared last February when a request from the National Camogie Association that Clare’s league match against Meath be played as part of a double header in Cusack Park, was turned down. Instead, Clare played Meath in Ogonnelloe at the same time as the hurlers played Cork in Cusack Park. The expectation had been that Clare GAA would facilitate the double header as counties like Galway, Kilkenny and Dublin had done. However, the wheel has turned and Saturday’s Clare v Cork Munster semi-final tie has been confirmed for the county grounds. Currently teaching geography and history at St Caimin’s in Shannon, Chloe Morey is delighted that Clare GAA has granted the camogie team access to Cusack Park. She feels it’s the only place to play championship for the county. “We looked for it about five weeks ago and, to be honest, we were saying to ourselves that we weren’t going to get it. I’m the first to give out and …

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 …