Tag Archives: GaaClare

It is a familiar match up that never gets easier. Clare travel to Fitzgerald Stadium this Saturday as they come up against a fancied Kerry side this Saturday (throw in 7pm). Clare are monitoring the fitness of Jamie Malone while Kevin Harnett looks set to miss out with an achilles injury. Colm Collins’ men face an extremely difficult task when they go head to head with arguably the most in form side in Ireland. Clare have no second chances with this year’s championship run on a straight knockout basis and any hopes of Kerry taking their opponents lightly appear slim due to their own exit at the hands of Cork in last year’s Championship. However, Clare will enter this game with some confidence after a courageous display against Mayo, where they lost by four points after trailing by 2-13 to 0-8 at the break. Colm Collins was encouraged by Clare’s second half display but he is aware that if his …

Former Clare footballer Kieran Considine believes Clare are “going into the lion’s den” when they travel to Fitzgerald Stadium to take on Kerry this Saturday. “It is going into the lion’s den, particularly when you saw what Kerry did to Tyrone. Colm (Collins) will put all that to one side, and he’ll treat it as a one-off game. The bar he will set to the players is to max out on their own ability on the day. That’s all you can ask from any team: play to your max and try to limit the other team. “Kerry are much talked-about as main rivals to Dublin, so it’s always going to be a daunting task. Colm will want to see a performance and players will want that chance to test themselves, and that’s the opportunity they will get.”  However, he believes Clare can take a lot of positives from their four point league defeat to Mayo as they outscored their opponents …

Under 13 Hurling Academy A Round 1 Newmarket-on-Fergus 4-4 Clarecastle 2-7 Newmarket and Clarecastle derbies have never been dull affairs no matter what the age grade and this opening Under 13 battle of the neighbours’ second strings proved no different in Clarecastle on Saturday morning. With a strong wind blowing towards the national school, both sides took full advantage but in the end Ryan O’Leary’s electric 11 minute first half hat-trick proved sufficient for the Blues to prevail. Opting to have the conditions at their backs, Newmarket had to recover from an early set-back when chief threat Cathal Murphy raided for a Magpie goal after only five minutes. Points from Donal O’Callaghan (2), John Burke and the lively Dylan Routley eventually nudged the Blues back in front before stopping their authority on the tie with a goal either side of the water break for powerful poacher O’Leary at 2-4 to 1-0. Clarecastle responded with inspirational points from influential pair Eoghan …

THE sprint for this year’s Cusack Cup is still wide open following the weekend’s action as half of the contenders are locked together at the summit of the table, reports Eoin Brennan. Without their county contingents, there have been some erratic results thus far but fundamentally no perfect record remains in the top flight after two rounds. An eagerly-anticipated derby clash of opening round victors St Josephs Miltown and Ennistymon perhaps failed to live up to its heightened billing but still possessed a compelling finale. Following a toothless first half in which the sides struggled to trouble the umpires too often, Ennistymon appeared to snatch the whip hand on the restart and turned a 0-3 to 0-2 half-time deficit into a two point lead entering the final quarter. However, as the clock ticked inexorably down, a Darragh McDonagh solo goal dramatically nudged the home side in front only to see it wiped out in the next passage of play when …

FEAKLE and Clonlara have set the early pace in the Clare Cup following the completion of back-to-back victories over the weekend, reports Eoin Brennan. 2016 champions Clonlara, a week on from overcoming last finalists Inagh-Kilnamona, managed to add the scalp of their nearest neighbours and reigning champions Kilmaley on home soil on Sunday afternoon. Leading from start to finish, a fortunate Dylan McMahon goal from distance provided the clear daylight that Clonlara needed to build up a nine point half-time advantage. And with Cian Moriarty excelling around the centre, that six point cushion would be maintained into the final quarter. Kilmaley inevitably rallied predominantly through Daire Keane and Mikey O’Malley. However, three points was as close as the visitors would come to Clonlara who deservedly held on for a 1-16 to 0-15 win. The previous evening, a strong finish to both halves saw Feakle lower home side Crusheen by 1-18 to 1-14 in another first round winners clash. Having been …

National Football League Division 2 Semi-Final Mayo 2-22 Clare 2-18 SO near and yet so far for Clare after a second-half recovery wasn’t sufficient to prevent Mayo from returning to Division 1 at the first attempt in Cusack Park this afternoon, reports Eoin Brennan. Ultimately, it will go down as a missed opportunity for Colm Collins’ side to bridge a two decade gap to Clare’s last appearance in the top flight after a rousing revival just fell short. After an encouraging start in which Eoin Cleary (2), Gavin Cooney, Cathal O’Connor and David Tubridy edged the Banner 0-5 to 0-3 in front by the ninth minute, Clare rather lost their way for the remainder of the half. Indeed, for the final 25 minutes of the opening period, Mayo were allowed to swiftly move through the gears to outgun their hosts by 2-10 to 0-03 for the remainder and soar 11 points clear by the break. Goals from Cillian O’Connor (Penalty) …

National Football League Division 2 Semi-Final (Extra-Time if Necessary) Clare v Mayo at Cusack Park Ennis, Sunday 1.45pm (Niall Cullen, Fermanagh) It’s 19 years since Clare were dining at the top table of the National League. That’s a statistic worth soaking in ahead of this veritable winner-takes-all showdown for a coveted place in Division 1 for 2022. Of course, with James Horan’s side off the back of an All-Ireland Final appearance as recently as December, a Clare victory won’t be expected or predicted but in truth, they won’t get a better opportunity to bridge that two decade gap and reclaim their place in the top tier. There have been close calls in recent years, no more so than last year when the Banner’s league status flitted between Divisions 1, 2 and 3 in a dramatic finale against Armagh. However, this time around, there’s no dependency on other teams or results, it’s a clearcut clash for the carrot of a place …

National Hurling League Division 1 Group B Round 5 Clare v Kilkenny at Cusack Park Ennis, Saturday 3pm (Johnny Murphy, Limerick) Put simply, Clare will relish having a real cut at Leinster champions Kilkenny in Cusack Park this Saturday. It’s not solely because it’s the perfect gauge of their development so far either as the Banner also hold an enviable record against Brian Cody’s side that no other county can currently match. Clare are unbeaten in five matches against Kilkenny in as many seasons, starting with that rousing nine point Division 1 Semi-Final victory in 2016 on their way to bridging a 38 year gap to the county’s last National League crown. A sixth positive result would provide the perfect lead-in to the start of the Munster Championship against Waterford a fortnight later in terms of belief and confidence, something that Kilkenny currently possess in abundance having powered to four straight victories thus far. The thing is that Clare have …