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AFTER a very impressive perform- ance in this semi-final, Sixmilebri- dge progress to yet another Minor A hurling final. From the throw-in the men in yellow and blue always seemed to be the likely winners of this entertaining encounter.

It was Conor O’Gorman of Clare- castle who opened the scoring with

a well taken point. However, it did not take long for the “Bridge to re- spond. In the following five minutes two wonderful points from the excel- lent Alan Mulready, an effort from Timmy Crowe and a cracking goal by corner-forward Jamie Shanahan stole the lead from the Magpies and left the score at 1-3 to 0-1.

They never really looked back from this lightning start, even though with

eight minutes on the clock Clarecas- tle were given some hope when cen- tre forward Niall Quinn picked out Aaron Considine with a well judged pass. He then bypassed a number of Sixmulebridge defenders and blasted the ball into the net. Clarecastle cer- tainly were not preparing to give up without a fight.

For the next 20 minutes or so the ‘Bridge restored their dominance on

the scoreboard with four of their for- wards contributing to a seven point haul. Clarecastle managed to grab another three points and this left Sixmilebridge leading 1-10 to 1-4 at ne Vee abe tlon

Only for a number of missed frees and some poor long-range shooting this margin could have been far big- ger. The second-half continued as the first with Clarecastle unable to con-

tain the fast and tricky forwards of their opponents.

Between the 37th and 47th minute they secured another five scores and confirmed their hold on the game. Even though they did not score again until injury-time from a °65 taken by Jamie O’Gorman the end result was never really in question.

The final chance for Clarecastle came when they were awarded a 20m free. The crowd’s excitement increased as the Magpies’ netmind- er Jamie Coughlan ran up the field almost Davy Fitz-like, hoping that he could turn this placed ball into a much needed goal.

Unfortunately for him the ‘Bridge were never going to let the sliotar cross their line again and with this failed attempt Clarecastle’s partici- pation in the Minor A hurling Cham- pionship ended for 2009. Sixmileb- ridge march on after this eight-point victory and now only Kilmaley stand in their way of adding another title to their trophy cabinet.

IF Electric Picnic was the entertain- ment highlight of the weekend, then this was it’s antithesis. Contrary to traditional derbies between this pair and the perilous consequences for the loser, this was far from electric and can only be considered a picnic in the manner that Scariff served up this victory on a plate for local rivals Tulla.

Perhaps that is a little unfair on the 2007 champions who were certainly up for this encounter and could only beat what is put in front of them, but even though they eventually eased to victory, they still had too many poor misses to call this an emphatic per- formance.

On the flip side, Scariff looked woe- fully disinterested and in what was arguably their worst showing in re- cent years, have hit a worrying sticky patch at the worst possible time. The same old failings that have hampered their championship hopes against In- agh/Kilnamona and Clonlara resur- faced, with a lack of firepower and an inability to break even in the midfield sector frustrating them once more.

They started brightly enough, grabbing the opening two points of the afternoon through Damien O’Grady and a Ross Horan free but that was as good as it would get for Mark McKenna’s side over the hour. Instead, three unanswered points from Andrew Quinn (2) and Danny O’Halloran edged Tulla in front for the first time and despite being pegged back through another Horan free soon afterwards, Tulla slipped through the gears to hit another five points without reply in eight minutes to establish a 0-8 to 0-3 advantage.

Scariff were only to score one more point for the remainder of the half, inevitably through Horan but by that stage, they were really up against it,

now trailing by 0-10 to 0-04 at the break.

On the restart, Scariff’s new mid- field pairing of Conor McNamara

and Michael Scanlan fared a little better and it allowed Ross Horan to pull a point back in the 36th minute. However, Tulla soon regained su-

premacy and along with a plethora of wides, they slowly killed off any hopes of a Scariff fightback with further points from Kieran Brennan, Andrew Quinn (2) and the lively Raymond Stewart by the turn of the nUOE Nae [UE Du nom

By now, the fight was all but quenched in Scariff and it allowed Tulla to ease up to their first victory of the campaign, with the 11 point final margin probably flattering to Scariff overall.

Tulla now march towards the Sen- ior B championship whereas Scariff face the slippery slope of a relegation dogfight. Totally contrasting outlooks that’s a bit like comparing Electric Picnic to the the annual Roscommon Lamb festival.

THE energetic Shannon Flyers Spe- cial Olympics Club is making acome back after its summer break in a new location.

The athletics club, which previous- ly used the Shannon Leisure Club as its base, will now meet every week at the hall in Newmarket-on-Fergus.

Chairman of the club, Frank Fit- zgerald said the new location will be open to all and encouraged potential members to come along and see the fun and training for themselves.

The athletes train every Saturday from 10am to llam.

They will continue using the hall in Newmarket-on-Fergus for this train- ing until next year, and will then move to outdoor training.

For the last number of years the club has undertaken it’s summer training in Lees Road, Ennis.

In its fifth year, the Shannon Fly- ers club is going from strength to strength and is looking for more ath-

letes for its prize-winning club.

The 15 athletes currently members of Shannon Flyers did the town and county proud last year, returning with numerous medals from the re- gional games in Cork.

Roisin Fitzgerald and Colleen Mulcahy even went on to secure a place on the Munster team and will take part in the All Ireland Games next June, in Limerick.

The athletes at the Shannon Flyers Special Olympics club train for vari- ous athletic events including various distant running, the short put and the long jump.

As well as the 15 athletes the club also has more than 20 volunteers, in- cluding coaches and helpers.

The mission of Special Olympics Ireland is “to provide year-round sports training and athletic compe- tition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with an intellectual disability, giving them continuing opportunities to de- velop physical fitness, demonstrate

courage, experience joy and partici- pate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”

With more than 11,000 athletes participating in 12 sports through 402 clubs, supported by 100 commu- nity networks and 18,000 volunteers, Special Olympics Ireland is now one of Ireland’s largest community and

voluntary organisations, reaching 27 per cent of persons with intellectual disabilities all over the country.

TRIBUTES have been paid in the last week to well-known west Clare musician Peadar Crotty.

The Moyasta man died suddenly on Wednesday morning, August 19, just hours after he chaired a meeting of the Nell Galvin Festival Committee.

The 69-year-olds unexpected pass- ing was a shock to family and friends, among them some of the county’s most revered musicians.

Peadar’s popularity in music circles was clear following his burial when 20 musicians gathered in the local public house and played in his hon- o)ine

It was, however, as a husband, fa-

ther and kind neighbour that the committee chairman and farmer will be missed most.

Secretary of the Nell Galvin week- end, and long-time neighbour of Mr Crotty’s, Mary Haugh paid tribute to his kind and placid nature, and a su- perb since of humour.

‘He was one of the best neighbours anyone could be blessed to have,” she PALO

‘He was ideal as chairman for the Nell Galvin. He never lost the cool, and if things were tense he always had a funny word.”

Fellow musician Murt Collins de- scribed the death of Peadar as “an awful loss and a loss to the festival as well.”

Peadar, a talented player of the concert flute and tin whistle, played regularly with Mr Collins, Bernie Keane nee O’Halloran and Bernie Eustace in pubs and at events around the county.

A keen singer, Peadar was also one of the musicians to grace “Blondes” in Miltown Malbay on a regular basis with other local musicians, including the last Michael Mahoney and Gerh Collins who also passed away in the past year.

A regular member of the choir at Lisdeen Church, one of Peadar’s proudest achievements was to play for the former American ambassador Jean Kennedy-Smith in the Phoenix Park.

Peadar Crotty came from a family steeped in Irish traditional music and dance.

His father Tommy played the fiddle, as did his grandfather also Tommy, who was well-known for dancing the “orange and green’. Peadar’s brother, the late PJ Crotty, was also a well re- nowned musician.

He is survived by his wife Jose- phine (O’Brien), sons Brian and Ger- ard and two sisters Bridget Leonard and Maura Clohessy.

THE Lismorahaun Singers will this week begin their new season and have invited anyone interested in becoming involved to come along to open and friendly rehearsals at the Town Hall Pavillion Theatre in Lis- doonvara.

Rehearsals will take place each Sunday in September from 6.30pm and anyone with any interest in tak- ing part is warmly invited to attend.

The Lismorahaun is Ireland’s most successful amateur choir but is also unique as it is Ireland’s foremost “teaching choir”.

This means that it welcomes new members of all ages who have little

or no singing experience.

“We are starting our new season on the first Sunday of September and that would be a good time for anyone who had been thinking of joining the choir to come down and have a look,” said choir founder, Archie Simpson.

‘Over the next six months or so we will be doing a programme of mu- sic which the choir has done before, revisiting the songs which the choir has done over the first 10 years of its existence. In the run up to Christ- mas, we will be doing a number of concerts for various charities; which should be great.”

The choir will also be going over to London next year to sing with the London Symphony Chorus at the

Barbican Centre.

‘The idea of a choir from the mid- dle of nowhere being invited to sing in the Barbican in unbelievable,” continued Archie.

“It’s another aspect of the choir. The last trip we had was over to Venice, which was great great fun. Things like that bring a great social aspect to it. We would really like to get some young people involved, es- pecially some more young boy.”

Indeed, one of Lismorahaun’s first members, Peter O’Donoghue, will next year sing in Carnegie Hall in New York at the invitation of Frank Patterson’s widow, Eily Patterson.

According to Peter, he would never even have started singing if it hadn’t

been for the Lismorahaun Singers.

“Everything that has happened to me is down to the choir. When I joined I had never sang before in my life – I had no idea whether I could sing or not,” said Peter, who was just ten when he joined the choir.

‘IT remember there is a funny vid- eo of me trying to sing when I was younger, and I hadn’t a note in my head. But thanks to the Lismorahaun I now have a music degree and am going places as a singer; it’s funny how things work out.”

DETAIL of the sixth annual Long- board Classic event in Lahinch, which takes place later this month, have been announced. The surf com- petition, which is organised each year by the West Coast Surf Club (WCSC), has become one of the seminal events in the Irish surfing calendar in recent years.

The WCSC Longboard Classic is

the only event of its kind in Ireland and attracts hundreds of surfers to Ireland’s surf capital each year. Last year’s event – which was blessed with good weather and perfect surfing conditions – saw a record number of local entrants, with the overall prize going to Lahinch surfer Stephen Kel- store

The 2009 competition, which will tale place on September 19 and 20 – and organised by Cliodhna Fawl,

Noel Cronin, Alan Black and David Collins – is already in full swing, as they are expecting a large entry this year.

“As in previous years, we are de- lighted to have a custom-shaped Cequential triple-stringer longboard from our local shaper Ian Johnson for our first prize,’ said organiser Chodhna Fawl.

“Please watch the WCSC website for announcements of second, third and fourth prizes.

“Subject to weather and swell con- ditions, we anticipated that Septem- ber 19 will see the initial heats and quarter finals run off, with the sem1- final and finals possibly stretching into September 20. An experienced panel of judges following ISA stand- ards are assisting in the event headed up by international judge Pascal De- at lone

In the previous years the compett- tion has featured winners from the Kerry region, and all eyes will be on the local surfers this year to see if they can hold off the challenge from

the Kingdom once again.

“We’ve always been greatly im- pressed with the level of interest and support we’ve attracted since the in- augural event in 2003,” said WCSC Chairman, Dave Flynn.

“Without all of our sponsors this event would not have become the success it 1s. Equally, the commit- ment and dedication of the organis- ers as well as the surfers participat- ing all combine to produce an event that is fun, relaxed, well organised, properly resourced and above all, a display of some of the best long- boarding skills this country has to 0) 5 (oe

The deadline for applications 1s this Sunday, September 6, and any- one interested in taking part should download an entry form from west- coastsurfclub.com or send their ap- plications by post to Lahinch Surf Shop, Old Promenade, Lahinch.

A non-refundable entry fee of €15 is required on application, as is cur- rent Irish Surfing Association mem- bership.

THERE are just two weeks left to apply for the Deloitte Fast 50 Tech- nology Awards. Deloitte is calling all indigenous technology companies to apply to ensure they are in with a chance of achieving a place on the industry recognised ranking. The closing date for entries is Monday, September 7. Details of how to en- ter the awards can be found at www.

fast50.1e.

The awards, now in their tenth year, recognise and rank Ireland’s indig- enous technology companies with exceptional growth in turnover over the last five years.

David O’Flanagan, Partner at Deloitte said, ““The Fast 50 awards are an opportunity for technology businesses to gain recognition for their successes and achievements. In what has been a turbulent business

environment, there has never been a more important time for businesses to highlight their achievements. Our aim is to really showcase how the technology industry in Ireland is coping and successfully overcoming the challenges that exist. Therefore, with just two weeks left to apply for the awards, we want to ensure that all eligible companies throw their hat in the ring.”

To enter the Fast 50 Awards com- panies must meet the criteria set out by the organisers. These include; the company has been operating for a minimum of five years; it has to be considered a technology com- pany, which is defined as producing technology, manufacturing technol- ogy-related products, be technology intensive, or use unique technology to solve problems, devoting a high percentage of effort to technology research and development.

The parent company must be Irish- owned and have its headquarters in Ireland (subsidiaries of multina- tional organisations do not qualify).

Operating revenues must be at least €50,000 for 2004.

Companies who wish to enter the programme, which have not been in business for the minimum five years may qualify for the Rising Star cat- egory on Satisfaction of the follow- ing criteria; That they have been in business for a minimum of three years and less than five years; they are considered a technology com- pany, which is defined as producing technology, manufacturing technol- ogy-related products, be technology intensive, or use unique technology to solve problems, devoting a high percentage of effort to technology research and development.

The parent company must be I[rish- owned and have its headquarters in Ireland (subsidiaries of multinational organisations do not qualify) and Operating revenues must be at least €30,000 for the year 2006.

Entries must be sent in electroni- cally, with the necessary supporting documents (audited financial state- ments).

AFTER their shock defeat to O’Callaghan’s Mills last time out, for Clonlara, this game was all about just getting over the line and finally se- curing a quarter-final spot. The Mills had exposed a flaw in the defending champions’ armoury that had not been evident in 17 previous encoun- ters over the last 12 months and they were fully aware that a determined Scariff side were planning a similar coup in order to get themselves back into the running for qualfication to the next round.

Scariff, to their credit, were much more spirited and focused than they were against Inagh/Kilnamona in Round 3 but while they made life dif- ficult for Clonlara, they still hadn’t the firepower to push Clonlara to their limit. The holders are not back to their free-flowing selves just yet but had enough in the tank to prevail on this occasion, with a haul of 1-1 just after half-time decisive in push- ing them towards the last eight.

Siero eOM Ker teh baron affair, with Scariff having the aid of the breeze in the first period, set- tling early with a Brendan McNa- mara 20-metre free to the roof of Ger O’Connell’s net in the seventh minute to give them a 1-1 to O-2 ad- vantage. Clonlara soon got back on

level terms with points from Tommy Lynch and a second Nicky O’Connell free but inevitably it was Darach Ho- nan who set the defending champions ODN ASToIDMAWE-NAMY GLH OMe-DeLOlN atom be-Le(oveer-Du. goal. The Under 21 star had received close attention and hard hits from the

Scariff defence up to that point but in the 18th minute, a crossfield ball from Tomas O’Donovan was per- fectly placed into the path of Honan who turned and soloed towards goal before unleashing an unstoppable drive past McNamara to give his side

a 1-4 to 1-2 advantage. Two Ross Ho- ran points had Scariff on parity by the 23rd minute and by half-time, the sides were split at 1-6 to 1-6.

Within three minutes of the restart though, Clonlara were four points clear, an advantage they would pre- dominantly hold for the remainder. The game sprung to life with a goal in the 33rd minute when this time Honan turned provider, sending in a teasing ball for William Slattery and goalkeeper Brendan McNamara to challenge for and when the Clonlara man’s pull proved strongest, Donal Madden was on hand to finish to the net. From the puck-out, Honan point- ed and with Scariff now dependent on Ross Horan and Michael Scanlan for scores, it was going to take an al- mighty fightback from the east Clare side.

Three successive Horan frees in five minutes by the 54th minute cut the deficit to three but repeatedly misfiring, they never really looked like grabbing that crucial goal.

Instead, a battlehardened Clonlara finished the stronger, with Nicky O’Connell thriving in a sweeping role in defence along with his im- mense contribution from long range frees and Cormac O’Donovan doing the hard miles to earn two significant frees towards the finish. The only downside was a hamstring injury

sustained by Darach Honan that saw him substituted with less than ten minutes remaining. Neither Clonlara nor indeed the county can afford his absense in their quest for silverware over the coming weeks.

DARKNESS was again an issue on Sunday evening, but even in the bright sunshine of an August morn- ing, it is unlikely that it would have made any difference to this result. Already qualified, Newmarket, de- spite being understrength, could af- ford to be somewhat lacklustre and still end up comfortable winners as a disappointing Clarecastle side could not muster up even a championship SP NADOTSAR@AT-H OLesbTSXon

The fierceness of the rivalry be- tween this neighbouring pair down through the years made this an entic- ing game for neutrals, with the larg- est attendence of the weekend saved for last. Only pride was at stake for Newmarket, having eased into the quarter-finals with a game to spare whearas this should have meant eve- rything to the Magpies who were hanging onto to their championship lives by their fingernails.

Nothing but a win would suffice but far from making it difficult for their neighbours, they found them- selves four points down within three minutes and from that point on, the Magpies were always chasing the game more in hope than with any real conviction.

After such a blistering start, New- market looked to be heading for a comfortable victory but despite be- ing urged to push on, began to mis- fire and failed to score for the next

ten minutes. Clarecastle couldn’t capitalise though; Tyrone Kearse didn’t catch a 20-metre free correctly but managed to convert the resultant 65 and Aaron Considine weaved through for a point. Newmarket soon brushed off that recovery when on the puck-out Kieran Devitt picked out the unmarked Eoin Hayes at

halfway and his high delivery broke through for Colin Ryan to hammer home from close range.

By half-time, the Blues held a I- 5 to 0-3 advantage but had also hit eight wides and even though substi- tute Michael McInerney made an 1m- mediate impact on the restart with a point, the Magpies finally found their

range, led by Kearse, to hit four unan- swered points by the 39th minute and topple the lead to just two points. Any thoughts of a rebellion were soon quenched by another Newmar- ket goal, this time from a Colin Ryan penalty after Seanie Arthur was tripped by Alan O’Loughlin going through on goal in the 41st minute.

That sucker-punch drained the life out of Clarecastle’s challenge and while they did empty the bench in search of inspiration, the Blues man- aged to match them point for point for the remainder. Without a sniff of goal, Clarecastle’s championship lives, much like the daylight, faded into the nightsky while neighbours Newmarket march on with their per- fect championship record still intact.

AT the beginning of the year, the Kilrush management sat down and put their faith in the up and com- ing talent at the club. A few months later and the first hurdle has been navigated. In reaching the quarter- final stage of the championship, they haven’t even clipped the hurdle and go into the next round without hav- ing the bitter taste of defeat in their mouths. a

It means that Eire Og are out of the championship. The county capital will thus have no representative in the quarter-final of the senior hurling or the senior football championship.

That’s something that needs to be ad- dressed for a number of reasons, but this isn’t the place.

A couple of swings in this game more or less broke down Eire Og’s resolve and resigned them to defeat. The first came with the introduction of Paddy Clancy to midfield for Kil- rush. He put in a storming second half around the centre of the field, covering ground, winning possession and breaking down Eire Og attacks.

If Clancy’s performance helped Kilrush to the points, then so too did the hour logged by Con O’Brien. The wing-back was a constant thorn in the side of the Ennis club. He defended well, raided up the field at every op-

portunity and ended the game with three points to his name.

But that wasn’t all. With a quarter of an hour to go, Kilrush had a one point lead, Peadar McMahon having just scored to keep Kilrush ahead, their first point in 18 minutes.

Right after McMahon’s score, it looked for all the world as though Eire Og were about to put their stamp on the game and take the lead for the first time all afternoon.

David Russell was through on goal, the Kilrush defence having breached for one of the only times in the game. Russell struck and the crowd waited for the net to bulge. That it didn’t was down to a fantastic save from Tony

Burke. It kept Kilrush in the lead and heaped added frustration on Eire Og. From there, it took Eire Og a further 11 minutes to score, by which time Con O’Brien had rattled over his third score of the game.

They were now ahead by three and as clock began to wind down, ste Og pushed on and heaped an amount of pressure on the Kilrush defence. After mounting a number of attacks in search of a goal that could draw the game, they eventually had to set- tle for a point.

It came from the boot of Shane Daniels — their most effective play- er on the day — but it was far from enough.

A poor season ended for Eire Og ended in the grey of Kilmihil but for GUT MU e Med eomcl ube ebeeto) mm orca LUrcimoleraUbOe