Tag Archives: soccer

HOLDERS Newmarket Celtic have been drawn at home in the third round of this year’s Clare Cup. Liam Murphy’s side will take on a Lifford outfit, who are currently sitting third in the Premier Division standings. Among the other ties, Avenue United will make the trip to Manus Celtic, while Ennis Town host Sporting Ennistymon. Clare Cup Round 3 Draw Bunratty Cratloe v Newmarket Celtic B; Manus Celtic A v Avenue United A; Ennis Town v Sporting Ennistymon A; Kilkishen Celtic v Shannon Town C; Lifford B v Shannon Olympic; Corofin Harps v Shannon Town A; Kildysart Celtic v Turnpike Rovers; Newmarket Celtic A v Lifford A. The games are to be played on the weekend of February 23.

THREE Travellers who had stopped playing soccer for Sporting Ennistymon following incidences of racist abuse, have now returned to the club. Michael Sherlock, Patrick Sherlock and Martin Mongan all returned last week, as the club’s B side were defeated by Rineanna Rovers. Speaking to The Clare Champion on Wednesday , Michael Sherlock said, “We just said we’d go back. There’s a long winter ahead.” While the matter was featured firstly in The Clare Champion and then in the national newspapers, as well as on national TV and radio, Michael said no-one from the FAI or the Clare District Soccer League had ever made contact with him. “I never heard anything from anybody,” he said. The club’s PRO Matthew Crowe said they are glad to have the players back. “It’s brilliant. It’s a great boost to the club. They’re great players and they’ve been involved since they were 13 or 14.” Michael and Patrick Sherlock are brothers and another brother of …

FOUR travellers, who had been playing soccer for Sporting Ennistymon, have left the sport following numerous incidences of racist abuse. Figures in the club have voiced their upset at the abuse meted out to the young men, which had become increasingly frequent since the beginning of the current season. Secretary of the Clare District Soccer League, Michael Lydon, refused to comment on the issue on Wednesday. Twenty-four-year-old Michael Sherlock had played for the club, along with his brothers, Edward and Patrick, and their cousin, Martin Mongan. He said that, in recent months, opponents had increasingly sought to insult their background.“We go out and play and you have fellas saying into your ear, ‘Go away, you knacker’. When we react, the referee doesn’t do anything to the other party.” Earlier this year he was sent off in a match played at Lees Road after reacting to a person who referred to him as a “knacker”, while the player who dispensed the offensive …

Ennis woman Irene Hehir shares her struggle with depression in the hope of helping others to seek help.  IRENE Hehir describes herself as an “everyday girl living in the town of Ennis”. She has a good life, she has a good job, she has a great family and a great network of friends, but behind it all she was struggling with her mental health. To everyone who knew her, including those closest to her, the now 42 year old, was “Happy go Larry”, “the life and soul of the party”. Her outward life was about being seen to be “having the craic”, “being pure bould, carrying on and having a laugh”. But inside she was in turmoil. Her parents, extended family and friends, who have always been so supportive, didn’t know any of this was going on. In her early teens Irene was systematically bullied, and a physical assault which rendered her unconscious left her in constant fear. Although she …

Clare will enjoy home advantage for the Oscar Traynor inter-league semi-final on this Sunday (kick off 2pm), when Kilkenny will provide the opposition. Champions for the past two seasons, Clare go into the game without team captain Stephen Kelly. He is out with a leg injury he picked up when playing with Newmarket Celtic in the FAI Junior Cup semi-final against Janesboro a few weeks ago. Team boss Donie Garrihy expects to otherwise have a full strength panel to choose his team from, although there appears to be some doubt about the availability of Colin Smyth, who did not line-out with Newmarket Celtic in their Clare Cup semi-final win over Shannon Town at the weekend. “At this time of year in particular, there will always be a few doubts as we come to the end of a long season. We have a few guys who are carrying knocks and we will know more later in the week,” Garrihy told The …

COUNTY Clare is the homeland of the Maloney name and derivations of that name. Molowny is, I presume, one of these? If it is, and I suspect it undoubtedly is, it is rarely seen these days in County Clare, nor in Ireland. It is, however, a famous name in the Canary Islands, but more of that anon. Census records between 1847 and 1863 record only five households in Ireland who registered under the name Molowny. The name seems to have died out in Ireland, with perhaps people changing it to the more common Moloney form. Yet, by some strange set of circumstances, the largest number of people bearing the name Molowny in the world reside in Spain. There are 150 registered Molownys, most of them residing in the Canary Islands, with a few families in Madrid. By sheer accident, I discovered a connection between one particular Molowny and Real Madrid Football Club. I was having a coffee one morning in …

FACING Inishowen in Sunday’s Oscar Traynor decider is the final Clare manager Donie Garrihy wanted last year. “We were up there, we watched them beat Galway in Deacy Park and they won well. They are very passionate players. We watched them against the Leinster Senior League. They had an man sent off and Leinster Senior League caught them in the last five minutes. I was on the pitch afterwards with Denis Hynes and I shook hands with Inishowen manager Denis O’Brien, whom I admire very much. I said ‘we are so disappointed’. We were looking forward to playing the final there; it’s such a brilliant pitch.” The Doolin man added, “We went on and won the final and there were great celebrations followed by a civic reception, which was brilliant. It fills you with pride but you must keep your feet on the ground as well. The target again this year was to get out of the group. It was …

QUILTY girl Chloe Moloney will be a vital member of the Republic of Ireland’s U-19 soccer squad, as they seek to qualify for the European Championships next week. Managed by Dave Connell, all three games will be played at the Markets Field in Limerick in the elite qualifying round. Next Tuesday, Ireland will play Scotland at 7pm, followed by their second group game, against Ukraine, on Thursday, April 6, at the same time. On Sunday, April 9, at 2pm, Ireland will meet Finland in their final group game. This is Chloe’s final year playing at U-19 level and the Peamount United centre-half is hoping that Ireland can top the group. “One team comes out of the group to go to the European finals in Belfast in August. We had two recent friendlies against the Czech Republic in Barcelona. We won the first 3-0 and we lost the second 3-2. We were missing a few because three of our girls were …