Tag Archives: minor football

Clare 1-9 Tipperary 2-4 ON a magnificent evening for Clare under-age football the county minor team qualified for their second successive Munster final, following a two point win over Tipperary in Thurles. The game started 22 minutes late due to the late arrival of the Clare bus at their pick up point in Ennis but they did the business on the field, particularly in the second half. Shane Meehan kicked the decisive points from play in the closing minutes, while Kevin Keane raised the crucial green flag for Clare following a Chibby Okoye pass. Tipperary led 1-2 to 0-4 at half-time, with Meehan pointing two crucial late frees, won by Mark McInerney and Thomas Kelly. Tipperary wing forward, Max Hackett, put away their goal in the tenth minute. He was left completely free in front of goal and expertly netted Kevin Hayes’ pass. Thomas Kelly was the first Clare man to raise a white flag, while Emmet McMahon landed a …

BEATEN by 24 points on July 2 by Kerry, how do the Clare minor footballers recover from that Munster final hammering? Perhaps the only way is to somehow try to forget about it and apply all of their energy into producing a performance against Dublin on Monday in their All-Ireland quarter-final tie. The game will be played in Portlaoise at 2pm. Clare have no choice really. That’s all they can do and, hopefully, they will at least compete with the Leinster champions, who beat Louth to win the provincial title. Clare selector Eamon Keane says their primary task since the Munster final was to somehow raise the confidence of all involved. The only option available is to play with conviction in an effort to restore pride. “We were well beaten in the Munster final and confidence was down. For a few weeks afterwards we had to build that up and I think we’ve succeeded in doing that. We’ve worked hard …

Clare 3-13   Limerick 0-12 FOR up to half an hour after the final whistle at the Gaelic Grounds on Wednesday evening, Clare supporters, the team and management celebrated in an ecstatic huddle. For the first time in 23 years, a Clare minor football team will play in a Munster minor football final this summer. Managed by Seamus Clancy, they produced a superb second-half display, outscoring Limerick 2-8 to 0-2. It took Clare almost four minutes longer than Limerick to emerge for the second half and referee David Murnane almost deafened the 1,007 attendance with his increasingly shrill blowing of his whistle. However, Clare were justified in taking their time at that point. They emerged a different team and immediately took the game to Limerick. Ironically, they did the same thing at the start of the first half and led 1-2 to 0-2 after five minutes. Paudie Kelly deflected home the goal, after it was put on a plate for him by …

Kerry 1-13  Clare 1-6 ALTHOUGH not lacking effort or desire, the Clare minor footballers were comfortably beaten by two-in-a-row All-Ireland champions Kerry in Wednesday’s Munster semi-final, which was played in perfect conditions in Miltown Malbay. An attendance of 808 people saw Clare give it a decent shot against their opponents from across the estuary but, ultimately, Kerry were too slick and found it easier to create and take scores across the hour. Kerry led 1-7 to 1-3 at half-time and, at one stage, the reigning Munster and All-Ireland champions were six points up. They led 1-5 to 0-1 after 16 minutes, largely thanks to a soft fourth-minute goal from corner-forward Brian Friel. The Rathmore clubman picked up a break from a David Clifford shot, which was spilled by Clare goalkeeper Mark Lillis. Ferdia O’Brien had already pointed from play for the Peter Keane-managed Kingdom and shortly after their goal, Clifford added a point from a free. It wasn’t looking great …