Tag Archives: Waterford Crystal

LAST year was a huge disappointment for the Clare senior hurlers, according to 2013 All-Ireland medal winner, now turned selector, Fergal Lynch. “We didn’t perform last year and we will be trying to rectify that this year. We will be trying to win every league game,” he told The Clare Champion. “The league is all about learning about players and how lads will react under pressure. There are eight or nine teams vieing for top position and every game is a championship game. The teams coming up from Division 1B are nearly as strong, if not as strong, as those that are in Division 1. The league will provide us with plenty of food for thought as we look at players and see how lads react,” the Clooney-Quin clubman said. Lynch, who plays club football with Cratloe, is in his second season as a member of Davy Fitzgerald’s backroom team. Acknowledging that there is a conveyor belt of players in …

Clare Champion photographer, John Kelly’s long string of successes in the Press Photographers’ Association of Ireland (PPAI) annual award scheme continued  in Dublin on Friday night. John’s remarkable gift as one of the country’s leading press photographers was underlined by the fact that not only did he win first prize in the 2015 Portrait category, but he also claimed third place in the same section.  Furthermore, John also won third prize in the Sports Features. The winning photograph is Body Builder, a striking image of Jason Morris of Toonagh, County Clare. Jason came second in the Irish Natural Bodybuidling Federation 2014 Under-68kg category. John’s other award-winning portrait is titled, The Old Man and the Sea. It shows Paddy Hanrahan from Cappa, Kilrush collecting seaweed as fertilizer for his nearby garden. The third prize in the Sports Feature is a dramatic image of Davy Fitzgerald in the rain after Clare hurlers loss to Tipperary in last year’s Waterford Crystal Cup. In congratulating John on …

SIXMILEBRIDGE will host the Waterford Crystal senior hurling quarter-final between Clare and Tipperary on Sunday at 2pm. A repeat of last year’s final, which Tipperary won at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, the Premier outfit go into Sunday’s tie with the benefit of a first-round win, as a result of which they will carry the favourites’ tag on Sunday. On Friday, January 9 at Dr Morris Park, a hat-trick of goals from Seamus Callinan helped the holders to a 4-16 to 1-16 win over Mary Immaculate College from Limerick. Callinan, one of the stars of last season, finished that game with a tally of 3-7. Tipperary fielded a relatively strong side in last week’s game, while experimenting in some positions. Paul Curran, Shane McGrath, Conor O’Mahoney, Pádraic Maher, Kieran Bergin, Gearóid Ryan, Patrick Maher, Seamus Callinan and James Woodlock all saw action against the Limerick college and are expected to be in the squad again this week for the clash …

As Clare hurlers’ preparations for the new season continue this weekend with a challenge game against Antrim, at a midlands venue to be confirmed, it’s been confirmed that Colm Galvin will not need surgery. There are just two weeks to go to the team’s first competitive game of 2015, a Waterford Crystal clash with either Tipperary or Mary Immaculate College. Clare and Tipperary have contested the past three finals of the tournament and the Premier side is fancied to get over the challenge of Mary Immaculate College in the opening round on Friday, January 9 at Dr Morris Park (7.30pm) to face Clare a week later in a quarter-final tie. Manager Davy Fitzgerald told The Clare Champion that Clare and Clonlara star, Colm Galvin  will not require surgery on a knee injury that has kept him out of action in recent weeks. “While it’s unlikely that he will be fit for the start of the league campaign, it’s great that he won’t …

MANAGER Davy Fitzgerald has handed a first competitive start this year to star forward Tony Kelly for tonight’s Waterford Crystal hurling final against Tipperary at The Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Kelly, selected ‘Hurler of the Year’ following his epic displays for Clare in winning last year’s U-21 and All-Ireland senior titles, will lead the attack.  He is flanked by John Conlon and Colin Ryan. The triumvirate make up the half forw3ard line as was the case in the All-Ireland final against Cork. His Ballyea clubmate, Paul Flanagan, last year’s U-21 winning captain, comes in for his first start in the tournament. Flanagan was introduced as a second half subsitiute in the semi-final win over UCC. Eight of the starting team for tonight’s game started in last year’s All-Ireland final win over the Rebels. Podge Collins, Conor Ryan and Jack Browne were ineligible having already played in the Waterford Crystal tournament with University of Limerick while hat-trick hero, Shane 0’Donnell had …

THE Waterford Crystal hurling final between Clare, the holders, and Tipperary, scheduled for O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge this Friday night, has been switched to The Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. The game will throw-in at 7.30pm. In the light of recent rainfall and projected weather forecasts, concern had been expressed of the game proceeding at O’Garney Park. Clare had already played two games in the tournament, against Limerick and UCC at the Sixmilebridge venue, and Munster Council were monitoring the situation throughout the week. However, on Thursday a decision was taken by Munster Council to transfer the game to The Gaelic Grounds. This will be the third year in succession that Clare and Tipperary will have contested the final, and the record stands at one victory apiece.