Tag Archives: hurling

FEAKLE are on the cusp of creating history as they face into their first ever Munster final this Sunday, taking on Charleville of Cork in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Feakle last won a senior county title in 1988 but lost their Munster semi-final to Waterford side Mount Sion. Thirty years later, Feakle made no mistake with an authoritative display against a Waterford side when they beat Clonea by nine points. Feakle is far from a massive parish but supporters flocked in their droves from East Clare to Fraher Field in Dungarvan and Gary Guilfoyle paid tribute to those who did. “I think they outnumbered the Clonea crowd by two to one. The whole place has been buzzing for the last few weeks, since before the semi-final. We are even getting crowds at training now,” Gary said. The name Guilfoyle is synonymous with hurling in Clare and in Feakle. But bad luck with injuries and the name Guilfoyle also go …

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 …

This week The Clare Champion hurling columnist asks why two leading referees were sitting in the stand at last weekends senior quarter-finals. I WAS in Cusack Park on Saturday evening. Sitting across from me were Rory McGann and Rory Hickey. They are the two best referees in the county but they were sitting above in the stand. Somebody needs to explain why they weren’t refereeing any of the four senior hurling quarter-finals at the weekend. It’s a no brainer for me that these lads had to be refereeing a couple of those games. Somebody has to stand up and explain why neither of them were. We saw a situation last year where the referees stuck together when Ambrose Heagney got the county final. None of them wanted to make themselves available to do the line or the fourth official’s role because they felt hard done by with the appointment. Now, we have a situation where two referees are being left …

UP to now it has been a really damp squib of a championship. The gulf in class in a lot of the games has been very clear. A lot of people are saying that the winners of Cratloe and the ‘Bridge will see themselves through to the final. The big thing about Cratloe this year has been the three or four younger lads that have come in and really established themselves. Diarmuid Ryan at centre-back, Daithí Collins, Billy Connors and Rian Considine have really added to Cratloe, which they needed to do. They had become really one dimensional but now these three or four lads have spiced up the team and made them a little bit less predictable. I think the Cratloe match-ups are going to be important against the ‘Bridge. I thought they got it awfully wrong against Ballyea. Podge Collins on Tony Kelly, for the first 25 minutes was probably the losing of the game for them. Podge …

Galway 1-17 Clare 2-13 AFTER an epic second half, played in front of a crowd of 44,246, Clare agonisingly lost by a solitary point to Galway, who will now play Limerick in the 2018 All-Ireland final on August 19. Superb second half goals from Shane O’Donnell and Peter Duggan, brought Clare right back into the game and the attendance was treated to an epic second half shootout in Semple Stadium on Sunday afternoon. However, Galway managed to hang on and are still in with a chance of winning a second successive Liam McCarthy Cup for the first time since 1988. At half-time Galway led 1-9 to 0-6, although Galway didn’t score for the last 17 minutes of that half. They led 0-5 to 0-1 after 10 minutes, with Joe Canning (0-2), David Burke and Conor Whelan contributing scores in those early minutes. Peter Duggan put over Clare’s opening two points from frees, while Tony Kelly pointed his sides first from …

Clare 1-30 Galway 1-30 (AET) CLARE will meet Galway again, next Sunday in Thurles at 2pm, for a place in the All-Ireland final on August 19, following an extraordinary and epic semi-final in Croke Park this evening. Substitute Jason McCarthy rescued Clare with an injury time equaliser, at the end of extra-time, in what was a classic encounter. The teams were tied 1-23 to Clare’s 0-26 at the end of normal time. Peter Duggan, who scored 0-14 in total, equalised for Clare as the game entered injury, after 70 minutes. Substitute, Aron Shanagher goaled for Clare at the start of extra-time and from there to the end it continued to evolve into an increasingly epic contest. It was his first game game following a lengthy lay off, after an operation on his cruciate. Galway made a superb started and raced into a 1-7 to 0-1 lead after just 16 minutes. Clare could not win a break and struggled badly on …

ALL conquering last year and having turned in some dominant displays this summer, Ger Loughnane still feels Galway may not be the irresistible force some feel they are. He believes if Clare take them on from the first whistle, they may find some flakiness in the Galway ranks. “What I do hope is that Clare go in and ask the questions from the very beginning and just play with total abandon. Not wildness now, with structure; but absolutely have a right cut at them from the start. I think that fellas that collapsed before can collapse again, that’s always my belief. Fourteen of that Galway team, that played the last day, played in the 2016 Leinster final, which was the most abject surrender I’ve seen in the last 10 years in a championship game.” The Feakle man adds, “They’ve won an All-Ireland since, maybe they’ve turned into a brilliant team since, they look to have, but Clare have to test …

As expected the Clare team to face Galway in Saturday’s eagerly awaited All-Ireland senior hurling semi-final is unchanged from that which lined out against Wexford in the quarter final two weeks ago Aron Shanagher (Wolfe Tones) is included in the match day twenty six for the first time this season having overcome an operation on knee ligament damage in late 2017. He replaces Tulla’s Darragh Corry while another change to the substitutes list sees Jason McCarthy recalled and he replaces Ryan Taylor (Clooney-Quin) The team is. Donal Tuohy (Crusheen); Patrick O’Connor (Tubber) – CAPTAIN,. David McInerney (Tulla, Jack Browne (Ballyea); Seadna Morey (Sixmilebridge), Conor Cleary (St Josephs Miltown), Jamie Shanahan (Sixmilebridge); Colm Galvin (Clonlara), Cathal Malone (Sixmilebridge); Peter Duggan (Clooney-Quin), Tony Kelly (Ballyea), David Reidy (Éire Óg); Podge Collins (Cratloe), John Conlon (Clonlara), Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg) Subs; Andrew Fahy (Whitegate), Rory Hayes (Wolfe Tones) Cian Dillon (Crusheen), David Fitzgerald (Inagh-Kilnamona), Michael O’Malley (Kilmaley), Jason McCarthy (Inagh-Kilnamona), Niall Deasy (Ballyea), …