Category: Sport

Ballyea 2-23 – Newmarket-on-Fergus 4-04 at Ballyea

A REAL statement of intent from Ballyea in humbling the defending champions and maintaining their perfect start to the championship. The home side simply had the better balance throughout and had far too much strength for an understrength Newmarket who were on the backfoot for the majority.

Still, as impressive as the 2-23 scoreline is and the fact that they had 46 shots at the posts over the hour, there is still plenty of room for improvement ahead of tougher challenges ahead. The home side hit 21 wides in total and conceded four preventable goals that might have cost them in a tighter game.

In saying that, they had more than enough fires for Newmarket to extinguish, with county minor captain Tony Kelly in unstoppable form, particularly in the second half when Newmarket tried their best to rally. There was also impressive displays from Jack Browne, Gearoid O’Connell, Joe Neylon, Martin O’Leary, Niall Deasy, Darragh Crowe and Tadgh Lynch that more than kept the Blues on their toes throughout.

However, it was the visitors who struck the first blow after only 90 seconds when a James Warren delivery was anticipated by Ryan Corry to volley to the net. It didn’t take long for Ballyea to recover from that setback however as points from Kelly and Tadgh Lynch were followed in the seventh minute by a clincial Kelly goal after receiving a handpass on the run from Niall Deasy.

It was the start of a Ballyea flurry of points that saw Kelly, Deasy and O’Leary outscore their opponents by 0-10 to 0-01 over the next 15 minutes to open up an 11 point advantage. However, just as they started the half. Newmarket finished with a Corry goal, with another Warren delivery this time evading goalkeeper Shane Harkin, leaving Corry with the simple job of flicking to an empty net at 1-13 to 2-03.

Two further goals within ten minutes of the restart through substutute Eoin Frawley and Oisin Pender cut the deficit to just four but far from panicking, Ballyea took those sucker-punches on the chin and hit back in devastating fashion with an unanswered 1-6 in the final quarter including Michael Nagle 45th minute goal.

Ballyea
Shane Harkin, Diarmuid Lorigan, Eoin Donnellan, Darragh Crowe, Jack Browne, Gearoid O’Connell, Joe Neylon, Stan Lineen,Tony Kelly (113 5f, 2’65’s),Tadgh Lynch (0-1), Niall Deasy (0-5), Martin O’Leary (0-4), Lee Brady, David Brassil, Michael Nagle (1-0)

Subs
Lee Sherlock for Lorrigan, Martin Quigley for Nagle

Newmarket- on- Fergus
Ronan McCauley, Ronan McCarthy, Evan Keogh, Jamie Cronin, Sean Quinlivan, Niall O’Connor, Paudie Conway, Shane Kelleher, Paul Gleeson, James Warren, Oisin Pender (1-0), LiamHarkin, David Burke, Frank Melody (0-4 3f), Ryan Corry (2-0)

Subs
Eoin Frawley (1-0) for Harkin, Colin Dugan for Burke, Gearoid McMahon for Melody (inj)

Man of the Match
Tony Kelly (Ballyea) Referee

LAST THURSDAY night saw the finals night of the ITRA Tag Rugby season is Ennis RFC.

Division 2 kicked off with fifth place Munstergroup and sixth place DBOCS taking to the pitch. What ensued was a closely matched game however DBOCS just clinched the game by 18 points to Munstergroup’s 15, giving DBOCS the Bowl Trophy later that night.

TTM Tryers, who finished the league in third place took on fourth place Ennis Randomers. Both teams had found their form in recent weeks and again it was another fiercely contested match. In the last minutes TTM managed to stretch their lead to two points meaning the Randomers had to secure a female try to take the game. Unfortunately the Randomers couldn’t deliver and TTM took the game winning the Plate Trophy.

On Wing With Prayer topped the Division 2 league and faced second place the Shades in the play-off for the Cup. There was nothing between the two teams throughout the game and after the final whistle, the teams were all square on 8 points apiece. After a short break, the game went to five minutes play of Golden Try. On Wing With Prayer didn’t need much time and got the first try winning the game and the Cup with a final score of 9 points to The Shades 8.

Division 1 saw fifth place MurtysMen taking on sixth place The Try Hards. MurtysMen started the game with a five point deficit due to the tardiness of one player, however they played some excellent rugby and never looked like they would lose to the Try Hards, The game finished with MurtysMen taking the Bowl by 15 points to The Try Hards 12.

In the play-off for the Division 1 Plate, third placed Scrum N Coke took on Lucas’ Legends. The game was evenly matched up to the last four minutes when Lucas’ Legends got both a female try worth three points and a male try extending their lead beyond the reach of Scrum N Coke. The game finished with Lucas’ Legends winning 10 points to Scrum N Coke’s 5.

The headliner game of the night saw Division 1 winners Tag Her & Try Her looking to secure the Cup, taking on their long term rivals and current Champions, Deep Heat. The reigning champions showed their class throughout the game and despite the first half being closely matched, Deep Heat ran away with the game in the second half. Deep Heat won the game 13 points to 7 and were crowned champions for the third time in a row.

The season concluded with the presentation in Ennis RFC, followed by a barbecue in Lucas’ Bar. Despite the conclusion of the league, there is more tag rugby to be played with the various beach festivals taking place over the next month.

In particular, there is a large representation from Ennis expected at the Kilkee festival on August 20. Full details are available on www.tagrugby.ie

CLARE referee Padraig Sutton will be the man in charge when a tournament involving some of the biggest teams in world football kicks off in Dublin at the weekend.

The Ennis man will referee a game between an Airtricity league XI and Manchester City in the Dublin Super Cup on Saturday.

The two-day tournament, which also involves Inter Milan and Glasgow Celtic, takes place at the Aviva Stadium.

For Sutton the glamour friendly represents a welcome break from the hectic schedule of league games.

Sutton, who started refereeing 13 years ago, has been afforded the opportunity to officiate the game due to a break in the Airtricity league season.

He said, “Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Its (the league season) fairly full tilt at the moment. It’s a friendly, a good day out for the family. So yeah, hopefully it goes well”.

It won’t be the first time Sutton has rubbed shoulders with some of the star names in European football.

Last August, he was selected in a group of four Irish referees eligible to take part in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League and Europa League games.

In September, Sutton served as fourth official as one of the match officials for the Champions League meeting between Romanian side CFR Cluj and Swiss outfit FC Basel. Two years ago, the Limerick based Guard was among the match officials for the Europa League meeting be- tween Tottenham Hotspur and Turkish club Famagusta.

An experienced league of Ireland referee, Sutton has also officiated at underage Irish international games.

His involvement in the Dublin Super Cup strengthens the connections between Clare and the high profile pre-season tournament.

Along with sports media firm, Endemol Sports, Ennis man Damien O’Brien is one of the principal organizers of the event through his company Iconic.

Five years ago O’Brien, a former Turnpike Rovers player whose father used to manage Lifford, devised the format for Football Icon – a reality TV show that offers young footballers the chance to earn a professional contract with some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Ennistymon 1-4 – St Senan’s Kilkee 0-6 at Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty

DESPITE being a relatively inexperienced side, Ennistymon once again proved that they have the character to dig out a result when it matters most. The north Clare side were represented by eight of last year’s Under 21 winning side but against seasoned campaigners such as Kilkee and Liscannor, whom they met in the opening round of the champonship, they have proved that they have the belly for battle along with that undoubted potential.

Granted, Kilkee were forced into playing a good sprinkling of young players themselves but with the county senior experience of David Russell, Darragh Kelly, Gearoid Lynch, Kevin Larkin and Michael O’Shea, the Blues’ had enough guile on the field to gain promotion.

It didn’t happen though as they depended far too much on the quartet of Larkin, Russell, Barry Harte and Michael O’Shea while Ennistymon simply had the batter balance and were greatly aided by Sean McConigley’s goal at the turn of the final quarter that essentially handed them victory.

Undoubtedly, conditions weren’t conducive to football with both teams finding it near impossible to even handpass accurately not to mind kick the ball. It made for a substandard, low scoring spectacle but regardless of the weather, both sides had a game to win and in truth, it could have gone either way in what was a tense finish.

Shooting was hardly a priority early on as the sides became accustomed to the conditions with the sides locked at two points apiece for the majority of the half with Sean Mc- Conigley and a David Murphy free helping Ennistymon pull clear twice only to be pegged back on each occasion first by David Russell and then Christopher Williamson.

Wind assisted Kilkee might have also grabbed a goal when a rare flowing passing move ended up with Darragh Kelly but his rushed shot was blocked by the returning Michael Hohey. However, with the hard work seemingly done, Ennistymon eased off the pedal somewhat in injury time and it allowed Darren Clarke and a long range effort from Kevin Larkin to hand Kilkee a 0-4 to 0-2 interval advantage.

With the tables turned for the second period, it also took a while for Ennistymon to utilise their tenuous wind advantage but eventually two points in the 41st minute through Joey Rouine and Kevin Scales gained parity for the third time.

However, it was only when Sean McConligley grabbed a 47th minute breakaway goal that Ennistymon truly began to believe. In what was the best move of the game, Ennistymon moved the ball from back to front starting with a Joe Dowling interception at the corner-back position and working the ball upfield to McConigley who only had goal on his mind.

True to form however, Kilkee never gave up the ghost and after Barry Harte and Michael O’Shea had pulled back points by the 54th minute, there was only the minimum between the sides once more. They failed to get that vital score however, with their best chance coming from a quick Williamson free that picked out Gearoid Lynch, but his attempt to pick out the onrushing Senan Larkin for a potential goal instead of taking his own score failed, much to the relief of Ennistymon who literally weathered the storm to hang on for promotion.

St Breckan’s 1-7 – Kilmurry Ibrickane 0-7 at Ennistymon

FOLLOWING on their intermediate and Under 21B successes last year, St Breckan’s are back on the trail for silverware following their last four victory over Kilmurry Ibrickane’s second string on Sunday.

Ironically, it was one of their own that ultimately sunk the west Clare side with Eric Murrihy’s sixth minute goal proving the difference in the end.

It didn’t appear as if it would work out that way in the opening half however as the Lisdoonvarna side used the wind advantage to build up a 1-6 to 0-2 advantage, beginning with Murrihy’s goal, intermingled with points from Pat Nagle (3 frees), Conor Cormican, Denis O’Driscoll and Murrihy.

The third quarter was an extremely low scoring affair with Kilmurry Ibrickane failing to eat into St Breckan’s advantage despite the backing of the gale.

Odran O’Dwyer’s trading of frees with Nagle were the only scores of the opening 20 minutes of the half but the expected Kilmurry Ibrickane did finally materialise.

Seamus Lynch started the ball rolling by converting a free in the 50th minute followed soon afterwards by late points from Thomas Lernihan, Lynch himself, and Odran O’Dwyer in the 66th minute.

However, without a goal, Kilmurry Ibrickane were resigned to defeat while St Breckan’s secured their third promotion in two years and will eagerly await the clash of Cratloe and Kilmihil in the other semi-final encounter.

St Breckan’s
Craig Flanagan, Donal Howley, Conor Howley, Michael Reddan, Rafael Considine, Greg O’Leary, Cathal Blood, Shane O’Connor, Michael Keating, Denis O’Driscoll (0-1), Pat Nagle (0-4f), Darragh Curtin, John Stack, Conor Cormican (0-1), Eric Murrihy (1-1)

Subs
John McDonagh for C. Howley

Kilmurry Ibrickane
DavidTalty, Eamon Dunne, John Sexton,AndrewDarcy,Thomas Lernihan (0-1), Pat Sexton, Mark Moloney,Thomas O’Connor, Gary Donnellan, ColmDonnellan, Seamus Lynch (0-3f), John McNamara, Senan McCarthy, Odran O’Dwyer (0-3f),Aiden Moloney

Subs
Darren Sexton for C. Donnellan (inj), Thomas Greene for McCarthy (inj)

Referee
Vivian Killeen (Doonbeg)

THERE was a queue of councillors and officials waiting to greet Giovanni Trappattoni in Ennis on Thursday but the Ireland manager reserved a particularly warm welcome for one of Clare’s best-known Italian businessmen.

As he entered the headquarters of Clare County Council to attend a civic reception in honor of the Football Association of Ireland’s (FAI) visit to Clare, Trappattoni stopped to talk and pose for photographs with Enzo D’Auria and his family.

Enzo, who opened the popular branch of fast food restaurants in Ennis in 1981, his son Alfonso and 10year-old grandson Gavin had their photograph taken with the football legend. It was a memorable moment for the football mad family who have strong connections with local club Avenue United.

“I introduced myself and he asked me where I come from. I told him a place called Ravello. He knows it, a beautiful spot. It’s a very tourist spot on the Amalfi coast. He’s a nice man. He never refuses to take photographs. A very down to earth man”, recalled Enzo.

Trappattoni was accompanied to Clare by Ireland assistant manager Marco Tardelli, whom Enzo had met during the heady days of Ireland’s Itlalia 90 world cup campaign

He explained, “I met Tardelli in Italia 90 in Palermo. We went to the Ireland and Holland game. Me and my young fella went there, Alfonso.

Enzo moved to Ireland 43 years ago after previously working in England. He said, “I’d done a film in Ireland with Walt Disney in 1968. That’s how I met my wife. She’s from Clare, Ennis, Tuohy. I meet my wife and we got married a year after”.

Éire Óg 1-7 – O’Curry’s 0-3 at Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty

ÉIRE ÓG bounced back to the top tier at the first attempt after eventually shaking off the challenge of intermediate side O’Curry’s on Sunday. Far from the comprehensive display that the final scoreline suggests, it was only in the final few minutes that the Ennis side finally pulled clear when outscoring their opponents by 0-4 to 0-1.

Much like the other semi-final 24 hours earlier, the blustery conditions totally dictated play but it was in the opening half that the Townies essentially sowed the seeds of victory when soaking up the pressure and scoring the decisive score just before the break. Both sides would only score twice in that first period but with the swirling breeze favouring O’Curry’s, they frustratingly kicked eight wides and only converted two placed balls through Derek Troy and Ger Quinlan while Éire Óg would add to Shane Daniels ninth minute point with a late goal that would ultimately alter the narrative of the game.

O’Curry’s had limited Éire Óg to only a handful of attacks for the previous 28 minutes but when an O’Curry’s attack broke down, their opponents were handed the opportunity to counter-attack and open up the O’Curry’s defence for the first time.

Captain Stephen Hickey began the move when attracting the fullback line before offloading to Brian McMahon who in turn put in David Monaghan to place a low shot under the body of goalkeeper PJ Green.

While it was a hammer blow to O’Curry’s chances, they held the Townies scoreless for the first 12 minutes of the restart led by the tireless Ollie Quinlan but crucially failed to make any meaningful inroads on the Éíre Óg rearguard themselves.

Eventually after four successive wides, Éire Óg found their range with Shane Daniels setting up Sean O’Meara for the opening score of the second half while O’Meara returned the favour when earning a free for Daniels to convert from 45 metres two minutes later.

Instead of kicking on from there however, that four point gap remained until the 56th minute when Daniels (2) , Monaghan and effective substitute Darren O’Neill put the finishing touches to the victory while only seeing a Damien Carmody point in return for O’Curry’s, their first point in almost 40 minutes and first from play in the entire game which tells its own tale.

The result guarantees Cusack Cup football for the Ennis side in 2012 but they will now want to finish the job this weekend in order to build up confidence ahead of the recommencement of the championship in less than five weeks time.

THE arrival of the well travelled FAI delegation to the offices of Clare County Council on Thursday night was eagerly anticipated but not as much as the visit of one of the most successful figures in world football.

When Ireland manager Giovanni Trappattoni finally arrived at around 8pm, a ripple of excitement spread through the building.

Flanked by Ireland’s assistant man- ager Marco Tardelli and interpreter Manuela Spinelli, Trappattoni looked a picture of health as he was welcomed by Clare’s soccer fraternity.

After attending a civic reception the 72-year-old Italian told The Clare People that he had been looking forward to visiting the Banner County.

Speaking with the aid of an interpreter, Trappattoni said, “It’s a pleasure to me. And its very, very important that we go in every city and every county in Ireland because it’s important that people know me, know us, as people, normal people. And because (of) our presence the people can know better, me. Because the newspaper, the interview, the picture (only) gives a simple (one) image”.

Trappattoni, who has won league titles in Italy, Germany and Portugal, said he was keen to sample Clare’s famous hospitality.

“We haven’t a lot of time but I am curious to know every county, city in Ireland because it is important to know your customs. I like to understand this customs”

He also had advice for young players in Clare, urging them to work hard to achieve their dreams.

“Its important for the young, they have to love the football. Because only with this passion, its possible (to) learn, its possible to dream about the football. Also when I was young, I dreamed this moment. I was also a little bit lucky. I feel also lucky that I achieved this good result with the players with us also managers”.

Meelick 2-12 – Cooraclare 1-06 at Gurteen

MEELICK’S rise through the ranks continued on Saturday evening when securing their second successive promotion at the expense of Cooraclare.

A goal either side of half-time swung the tie in the south east Clare side’s favour, having trailed by six points approaching the break.

And they never looked back from that, finishing the game in emphatic fashion by kicking ten unanswered points to confirm their place in the decider.

That freeflowing style was in total contrast to a 20 minute period midway through the opening half when allowing Cooraclare to hit them for 1-5 without reply. Meelick started the brighter though, with county senior Kevin Harnett and Brian O’Neill pushing them two clear by the fifth minute.

However, through the accuracy of Declan Keane, Cooraclare’s second string finally settled and their confidence was greatly aided by Don Garry’s 17th minute goal when finding himself unmarked after a poor Meelick free kick that was arrowed directly to Garry by wing-back Kevin Clohessy.

Further points from Colin Kelly, Kieran Tubridy and Keane had Cooraclare cruising as the interval approached but they were to be suckerpunched against the run of play when in injury-time, a fortunate rebound fell to Brian O’Neill who offloaded for Patrick Finucane to finish to the net and cut the deficit to just three.

Worse luck was to follow for Cooraclare when after only two minutes of the restart, Brian O’Neill flicked a Jamie O’Sullivan mishit free to the net and gain parity.

Cooraclare did reply immediately through Keane but those goals had given Meelick the boost they craved and once again Meelick equalised through a Harnett free before substitute Gary Moloney handed them the lead in the 40th minute.

The turning point of the game arguably came in the 41st minute when Keane played in Anthony Lillis only to see his sidefooted effort excellently kept out by goalkeeper Shane Daly.

Cooraclare alarmingly fell away after that however while Meelick only grew in confidence as the half progressed when pulling away from their opponents in the final quarter.

Impressive attacking pair Finucane and Brian O’Neill grabbed a brace of points each, Jamie O’Sullivan kicked three points (two from placed balls) while Stephen Hayes completed the rout in the 61st minute with a free to give Meelick the double scores victory.

Promotion guaranteed, next up is an intriguing clash against fellow Junior A championship favourites Coolmeen in a fortnight’s time as last year’s Division 5 champions hope to add another title to their growing roll of honour.

Meelick
Shane Daly, Peter Reidy, Mickey Kelly, Gary Kennedy, Brian Barrett, Niall Mullen,Willie O’Shaughnessy, Stephen Hayes (0-1f), Kevin Harnett (0-2 1f), Gary Callinan, Brian O’Neill (1-3), AndyWhyte, Darragh Quinn, Patrick Finucane (12), Jamie O’Sullivan (0-3 1f, 1’45)

Subs
Damien Moloney for Kennedy (27 mins), Gary Moloney (0-1) for Callinan (HT)

Cooraclare
Joe Killeen, Michael Chambers, Sean Garry, Michael Horan, Robert Ryan, Gearoid Looney, Kevin Clohessy, Michael Considine, KieranTubridy (0-1), James Burke, Colin Kelly (0-1),Thomas O’Connor, Anthony Lillis, Declan Keane (0-4 2f), Don Garry (1-0)

Subs
John Francis Killeen for Ryan (44 mins), Darragh O’Dea for Lillis (53 mins), David O’Looney for Burke (58 mins)

Man of the Match
Patrick Finucane (Meelick) Referee Damien Fox (WolfeTones)

IT was, as John Aldridge admitted, a long week. It started with a trip to Connolly Celtic and took in trips to north Clare, east Clare, west Clare and Ennis. Along the way Aldridge and former Ireland teammate Ray Houghton, met players and coaches, signed hundreds of autographs and posed for hundreds of photographs.

Along the way there was the odd stop off in some of the Banner County’s well-known pubs – McDermott’s in Doolin, The Diamond Bar in Ennis and Daly’s in Kilmihil. Aldridge may have missed the chance to talk football with the regulars in The Diamond but he was part of a strong FAI delegation that put down, as John Delaney described it, a “long night” in Kilmihil on Wednesday.

Aldridge’s four day bus tour of the grassroots game in Clare came to an end in Ennis on Thursday at a family fun day organised by Ennis Town.

Standing pitchside at Ennis Rugby Club, which hosted the festivities, Aldridge recalled a week spent meeting the people and places that make up the county’s soccer community.

He said, “It’s been a very long week. The traveling has been quite arduous. You get a lot out of it. You see a lot. You learn a lot to be fair. There are a lot of good things happening in Clare and around Ireland. It’s very positive”

The former Liverpool and Ireland striker who scored 19 international goals in the green jersey said he was hugely impressed by the standard of facilities in Clare.

He said, “Some are more advanced than others. But you just got to look forward and plan the best for the kids in your vicinity and community and get them outside playing football rather than being on the Playstation”.

Aldridge continued, “There are some great facilities. Some that need tidying up and that will happen I’m sure in the future. John Delaney and the FAI are working very hard and striving for that to happen”.

Aldridge, who played in two World Cups, also heaped praise on the small army of volounteer coaches who are driving the game in Clare.

He said, “Some people are doing it for the love of the club and that’s great to see. There is a lot of effort going in the background by people you don’t see and don’t get noticed”.

Acknowledging the difficult economic times, Aldridge urged clubs to keep up the good work. He add- ed, “It’s hard times out there, getting money and that. Keep looking at ways you can get funding, lottery funding or whatever. The FAI help in various ways. Don’t give up hope and go out to your local community to help as well”.

The Liverpool native said meeting a group of Special Olympics athletes in Ennis.

He said, “People who are so passionate and so competitive in sport, that was great to see”.