It was a good day for Clare soccer as the Oscar Traynor side defeated Mayo but there was disappointment for Clare GAA teams competing in provincial competitions as Corofin and Ennistymon bowed out.
Clare 2 Mayo 0
Clare moved a step closer to the play offs in this season’s Oscar Traynor, inter league junior soccer competition, when they scored a 2-0 win over Mayo at the county grounds in Doora on Saturday evening.
In atrocious conditions, Clare scored twice in the opening half to move to the top of the table in their group. With one game to play when they travel to take on Roscommon, Clare know that a win at the Connacht venue will see them through to the next stage.
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The Clare soccer headquarters was in remarkably good condition but the teams had to contend with driving rain and strong winds which militated against a big attendance.
The home side got off to a dream start with Daryl Eade firing them into the lead after just five minutes when he latched onto an Eoin Whelan cross. While the wind was mainly crossfield, it did favour the home side in the first half and they doubled their lead ten minutes before the break.
Dave McCarthy’s cross from a corner was repelled but the Newmarket Celtic player ran on to the rebound and blasted a piledriver past Mark Duffy in the Mayo goal.
The home side were full value for their 2-0 half time lead, which could have been greater such was their dominance.
It was clear at half time that there would be pressure on Clare in the second period because of the elements but the home side’s defence was superb throughout and goalkeeper John Mulready was never really tested as Clare recorded their first win of this season’s campaign to go with their opening round draw against Galway.
A minute silence was held before the game as a mark of respect for the Paris atrocity and the late Mathew Corry, Tulla, a former Tulla soccer club player.
Camogie cancellation
The Munster senior club camogie final between Newmarket and Cork’s Milford was cancelled three hours before throw in time at Kilmallock because of the weather conditions. It was rescheduled for noon on Sunday at Ballyagran.
Three- in-a-row
Éire Óg are Clare under 21 football champions for the third year in succession. At Hennessy park in Miltown on Saturday afternoon, they had two points to spare over the Kilrush-Killimer combination, winning out on a scoreline of 0-7 to 0-5.
No joy in Munster
It was a disappointing afternoon for Clare teams in Provincial GAA action. At far away Caherciveen, Clare’s intermediate football champions Corofin took a hammering from their Kerry counterparts, St Marys, losing out on a scoreline of 4-21 to 0-1, the Clare side’s lone score coming in the closing stages from Damien Ryan.
Their North Clare neighbours Ennistymon bowed out of the Munster junior hurling championship, going down to Fenor from Waterford at the latter’s Walsh Park on a scoreline of 2-11 to 0-8.
Seamus Hayes