U-16 football championship gets underway

THE Clare U-16 Football Championship season got off to an earlier than usual starton Saturday last and due to the recently improved weather conditions, most games were able to go ahead. 
The first round in Division 1 saw high-scoring games with the Naomh Eoin/O’Currys group team beating Wolfe Tones, 3-10 to 1-9. A long delivery from Conor Magner was deflected to the net by a Wolfe Tones defender, before Cathal Downes converted from the penalty spot as the West Clare side took a 2-5 to 0-4 interval lead.
Jim Marinan hit 1-1, while points followed from Liam Keating, Magner and Douglas Lynch to seal an impressive victory.
St Breckan’s overcame Ennistymon 2-14 to 4-4, while Cooraclare had a very comfortable win over Doora-Barefield scoring 0-20 to Doora-Barefield’s 0-5. Miltown St Joseph’s scored 5-8 to Clondegad’s 2-6 giving them a good start to their campaign. There are six more rounds in this division and the top four teams will contest the division one semi-finals.
Division Two has been divided into two groups for the 2013 season. Two of the games in Group 1 had to be postponed and will be played at a later date, while Eire Óg had a bye for the first round.  The Kilmurry-Ibrickane v Shannon Gaels/Kilmihil game went ahead and saw the combination coming out on top, 3-10 to 1-4. 
In Group 2, all three games went ahead. Doonbeg/Kilkee beat Clarecastle by a point, 2-2 to 0-7. Kilrush dominated their game against Lissycasey winning on a final score of 4-11 to 0-5. Niall Ellis and Davy Foran did well for the Kilrush side. Cratloe had a good win over the Banner with a score of 4-4 to 1-3. Group 1 will have six rounds in total, while Group 2 will have five rounds. The top four teams from each group will go forward to the quarter-finals.
The U-16 competition for Division 1 and 2 will run on Saturdays until March 30 and will then change to Monday evening games on April 8.  The extra division, which has been set up to accommodate teams lacking in player numbers is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, April 3.

Doonbeg/Kilkee 2-2

Clarecastle 0-7

DOONBEG-Kilkee conceded home advantage and travelled to Clarecastle. This was the first competitive game for the new West Clare group team. There wasn’t much between the sides at any stage of the game and the winners led by a point at half-time, 1-1 to 0-3.
Ross Garvey and Patrick Lucey were the goalscorers for Doonbeg/Kilkee, while Mikey Tubridy and Kevin O’Brien got a point each. The goalie Colin Ryan did well for the West Clare side as did Patrick Lucey and Eoin Clancy.
Scorers for Clarecastle were Stephen Barry, Evan Wiley, Ruairí Crimmins and Darren Crowe. Stephen Barry and Cian Donnelly played well for the Magpies.

Doonbeg/Kilkee: Colin Ryan, Eoin Clancy, Rory McInerney, James Haugh, Brian Behan, Patrick Lucey, Paudie O’Brien, George Bradley, James Greene, Dylan Russell, Ross Garvey, Cillian Lardner, Michael Tubridy, Eoin Tubridy and Kevin O’Brien.
Subs: Eoghan O’Shea for Brian Behan (injured); Jason Linnane for Cillian Larder.
Clarecastle: Sean Egan, Darragh Crimmins, David Barry, Matthew Fahy, Paul Dillon, Cian Donnelly, Stephen Barry, Ruairí Crimmins, Darren Crowe, Josh Kelly, Evan Wiley, Jordan Barnes, Dean O’Hara, Mark O’Loughlin and Marc McAuliffe.
Subs: Kevin Hartigan for Dean O’Hara; Louis Morrisroe for Mark O’Loughlin.

***The new rule which requires all players to wear a mouthguard came into force last weekend and is now mandatory for all underage players.