Tag Archives: @inisdiomainpeil

Ennistymon’s Junior A manager Brendan Rouine believes this weekend’s county final against Ballyvaughan will see the form book go out the window. Despite his side showing admirable grit in beating Kilmurry/Ibrickane after extra time in the last four, the Ennistymon manager insists previous games are irrelevant when the ball is thrown in on Saturday. “That game (semi final) is behind us. It’s going to be a good contest against Ballyvaughan and we are looking forward to it. They are experienced and strong throughout the field so we are under no illusions of the challenge we face. Every game takes on a life of its own. Ballyvaughan will present us with a difficult challenge. This team is helping us to develop players but we still want to put our best foot forward.” Ennistymon’s defence has impressed throughout the Championship as they only conceded an average of just over four points per game in the group stages. In the semi finals they …

Ballyvaughan manager Pat Costello is looking forward to seeing his side test themselves against Ennistymon this Saturday. For the second time this year, Ballyvaughan will compete in the Junior A football final. Costello believes the fact they are competing against a North Clare club will add extra intrigue to this final. “There is a way bigger build up to a derby. Everyone meets everyone. Even if you go to the shop you will likely meet someone who is interested in the game or who will be rooting one way or the other. “There’s mighty banter and it leads to more hype which will hopefully mean more of a crowd. It’s brilliant. It’s what you want. It’s great that people are talking. It would be a downer if there was no talk about the game.” Ballyvaughan lost the 2020 Junior A final, which was held in July of this year to Banner. Costello is delighted that his side get another crack …

Group 1, Round 3 Kilmurry Ibrickane v Cratloe at Cusack Park Ennis, Saturday There wasn’t even a debate surrounding the headline act for this week’s resumption of the Jack Daly race as this is not only a top-of-the-table clash and a repeat of last year’s final but more significantly a 13th championship meeting between these overly-familiar rivals in the last 12 seasons. Crucially however, holders Kilmurry Ibrickane have won the last four clashes, bookended by county final victories in 2016 and ’20. So while this Saturday’s result probably won’t hold any earth-shattering overall significance in terms of the group, there has never been any such thing as a half-blooded encounter between the pair. In typically seesaw fashion between the three group favourites, both Kilmurry Ibrickane and Cratloe have drawn with St Joseph’s Miltown so far, with the defending champions fortunate to grab a draw in the end whereas it was Cratloe that let slip their advantage last time out. It …

SAINT Joseph’s Miltown’s Cusack Cup retention remains firmly in their own hands this Saturday as a victory over Clondegad would guarantee back-to-back flagship league crowns for the first time in 71 years, writes Eoin Brennan. Anything less and St Breckan’s and Ennistymon have the opportunity to snatch breakthrough Division 1 honours. St Joseph’s Miltown v Clondegad Following last year’s meek championship defence exit at essentially the quarter-final stage to Cratloe, St Joseph’s Miltown have the perfect opportunity to gain an early boost ahead of this year’s Jack Daly race on Saturday. Put simply, with the head-to-head not a factor, Miltown’s 40 point score advantage is 21 more than nearest rivals St Breckan’s which means that a win of any kind would be sufficient for Miltown to retain the Cusack Cup. Don’t expect Clondegad to roll over though as they are not without their own motivations. It’s a repeat of the last final in 2019 when slogging it out in a …

Kilmurry Ibrickane v Ennistymon at Quilty, Sunday, 12pm The county champions may be out of contention to commence 2021 with early silverware but it won’t stop the ‘Bricks from finally kickstarting their season and possibly even halting others from getting their hands on the Cusack Cup. With the championship surfacing inexorably on the horizon including a showdown against this weekend opponents, the return of their county contingent to offset recent injury set-backs is pivotal to turning around their fortunes in time for August. However, Ennistymon still remain unbeaten and will be determined to sustain that winning mentality especially after being embroiled in such an unenviable championship group and with ‘Bricks legend Odran O’Dwyer amongst their backroom team, the North Clare side might just shade a tight contest. Clondegad v Doonbeg at Ballynacally, Sunday, 2pm It’s been a full mixed bag of results for Clondegad so far with an opening draw with St Breckan’s and a derby win over Kildysart offset …

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 …

The weekend starts here for the footballing fraternity who embark on a frantic Friday of Cusack and Garry Cup action. The opening round didn’t exactly go according to script so it’s probably best to expect the unexpected once more. Consequently tasked with the futile exercise of predicting those second round winners is Eoin Brennan. Cusack Cup Round 2 Éire Óg v Kilmurry Ibrickane at Éire Óg, Friday, 7.30pm (J Donnellan) Normally a box office annual meeting, neither a full complement of supporters or players will be present in Ennis on Friday evening. Without county players in both codes, inevitably Éire Óg and Kilmurry Ibrickane lost their opening ties albeit that the Townies will be much the happier in defeat due to a battling display against Ennistymon which was in doubt right up until the final whistle. In Pairc Naomh Mhuire however, the final whistle couldn’t come soon enough in a derby demolition at the hands of their nearest neighbours St …