Category: Sport

TUAMGRANEY Handball Club this year celebrates 100 years in existence and to mark the occasion, the club are hosting a Centenary Celebration Weekend on July 15 to 17.

The East Clare village has always been synonymous with handball and through the success of so many great players, has become one of the most famous and well-renowned handball clubs in Ireland.

From the days of the Kirby brothers, Haulie Hogan and Pakie Ryan right up to the present day acheivements of the Nash and Malone brothers and so many greats in between, Tuamgraney has always been punching above its weight in the ball alleys all over the country.

The Centenary Celebration Weekend kicks off on Friday night July 15 with music (by Rosanna Egan) in the specially constructed marquee to the rear of Teach Ui Bhriain in the village (admission free).

The Saturday afternoon will see juvenile tournament finals and exhibition games of 40×20, 60×30 and One-Wall handball (featuring some of Ireland’s top players such as Duxie Walsh, Robbie McCarthy, Ger Coonan and Fergal Collins as well as lo- cal stars) as well as the much-anticipated ‘Lucky Square Challenge’.

There will then be a mass for deceased members at 6.30pm in Tuamgraney church. Following an after-mass procession from the church to the handball club grounds led by the Tulla Pipe Band, GAA Handball Ireland President Walter O’Connor will unveil a comemorative monument marking 100 years of handball in Tuamgraney.

The monument depicts Tuamgraney legend and former World Champion Pat Kirby. Pat is currently on a visit from Arizona where he now resides and will be present at the unveiling and will also be a special guest at the Centenary Gala Dinner, place in the marquee after the momument unveilling and the re-opening of the refurbished 60×30 court.

Another all-time hadball great, Duxie Walsh of Kilkenny, will also be a special guest while the special guest speaker on the night will be none other than gaelic games broadcasting legend Micheal O’Muircheartaigh.

At time of writing, tickets for the Gala Dinner (€ 25) are almost completely sold out but some ‘afters’ tickets (€ 10) are still available. Enquiries to Conor Daly (086-8541464). Music is by Gearoid Devanney and band.

On Sunday 17, Duxie Walsh will hold an informal juvenile handball coaching session at 12.00pm. Later in the afternoon, Tuamgraney Develoment Association host a ‘Family Day on the Green’ with a Monster BBQ, face-painting, bouncy castles, slides, DJ and HB Ice Cream (all proceeds from ice-cream sales to Down Syndrome Ireland).

The party starts at 4.00pm in the Memorial Park, Tuamgraney. The weekend winds down with a Ceili Night (9.30pm) in the Teach Ui Bhriain Marquee with music by Seamus Bugler, Pat O’Connor and friends (admission € 5), plus the ‘Centenary Prize Draw’. Over the weekend, East Clare Heritage will be hosting an exhibition of old handball photos and anyone who has photos that they feel might be of interest are asked to contact Conor Daly. All photos will be returned.

July 15-17 promises to be a great weekend to mark a century of ‘the ancient game’ in Tuamgraney and the surrounding areas.

WHILE Clare’s early Munster 60×30 Championship fixtures have seen defeats in most grades, the tide was turned by Declan Frawley who had an emphatic

Intermediate Singles semi-final win over Tipp’s Adrian Supple. There was also Golden Masters A Singles victory for Mike Kelly, while Pat Donellan is also still in the Golden Masters B Singles race after receiving a walkover from his Cork opponent. This week is again choc-full of fixtures involving Clare players including Declan Frawley’s Munster Final in Cashel on Thursday night against either Cork or Waterford opposition (see full fixtures below).

Meanwhile, the TG4 Irish OneWall Handball Nationals were held recently at the Breaffy House resort in Castlebar. One-wall handball is growing in popularity in a big way and a number of Banner County competitors, young and not so young, travelled to Mayo. The Open events were dominated by the visiting American and Puerto Rican players but there were Plate Final victories for Clare payers John Cawley (Golden Masters A Plate), Ciaran Malone (18-&-Under Plate) and Niall Malone (Mens Open Plate), who defeated fellow Clareman Jamie Lynch in the decider. Diarmaid Nash reached the Mens Open quarter-final while Fergal Coughlan and Tiernan Agnew made it to the finals of the Boys 14-&-under and 12-&-under events respectively. Ella Donellan won the Girls 12-&-under competition.

Finally, Tuamgraney Handball Club’s Centenary Celebrations take place this weekend. GAA Handball President Walter O’Connor will be on hand to oficially re-open the club’s refurbished 60×30 court and also unveil a commemorative monument. There wil be a number of exhibition handball games on the Saturday while at Saturday night’s ‘Centenary Gala Dinner’, special guests Pat Kirby, Duxie Walsh and Walter O’Connor will join Guest of Honour Micheal O’Muircheartaigh in celebrating 100 years of Tuamgraney handball in style.

Munster 60×30 Championships
(Clare fixtures) Tuesday July 12, Cullen (Cork) – Junior Doubles: Niall Malone & Darragh Kirby v. Cork. Ruby Masters Singles: Jimmy Walsh v. Cork Wednesday July 13, Broadford (Limerick) – Golden Masters B Doubles: Pat Donellan & Stephen McInerney v. Cork Thursday July 14, Cashel – Intermediate Singles Munster Final: Declan Frawley v. Philip Butler (Waterford) or ColmJordan (Cork) Friday, July 15, Bohermore – Ruby Masters Doubles: John Kirby & JimmyWalsh v. Cork

Kilmihil 6-14 – Cooraclare 3-09 at Labasheeda

THREE POINTS from play inside the opening five minutes for Kilmihil from Eimear Considine (2) and Orla Keane set the tone in this high scoring senior championship Round 3 encounter on Saturday evening. In a match that produced nine goals, Kilmihil were deserving winners over the hour.

Credit to Cooraclare though as once Roisin O’Looney equalised with a fine goal in the seventh minute, they really impressed in the opening half against their more expierenced opponents. At half-time, Cooraclare, who were forced to line out without the injured Monica Lillis and Anne Marie Callinan, trailed by 3-6 to 2-4 while Kilmihil’s third goal from the impressive Ailish Considine came late in the half.

Senior Championship debutant Laura Egan was Kilmihil’s first goal scorer and by the quarter stage, her side led by four points at 1-5 to 1-1. Cooraclare then hit a purple patch with points from Patricia Callinan, Niamh Chambers and Aoife O’Gorman before corner-forward Ciara Golden put the blues ahead when she rattled the net. Their lead was short lived however as Kilmihil through Ellie O’Gorman responded with a goal.

Early second half goals from Becky Mahon who lined out at wing back but was moved to attack and Eimear Considine stretched Kilmihil’s lead to 11 points and while Niamh Chambers added a goal and three points for Cooraclare as well as a points from team captain Noreen McGuane and substitute Lourda Lillis, it wasn’t to be their day. Another Kilmihil goal from Ellie O’Gorman as well as points from Ailish Considine, O’Gorman and Orla Keane sealed a fine win.

In addition to the scorers, Rosie Currane, Una Downes and Dympna Walsh were very impressive for the winners while Bernie Kelly, Roisin O’Looney, Noreen McGuane, Patricia Callinan, Niamh Chambers and Aoife O’Gorman performed well for Cooraclare. A feature of this game was a number of long range points, two from Kilmihil’s Ailish Consid- ine and score of the match from Patricia Callinan from all of 45 metres.

Kilmihil
Sharon O’Gorman, Elaine O’Halloran, Edel McMahon, Niamh Keane, Becky Mahon (1-1), Rosie Currane (capt), Una Downes, Dympna Walsh, Maria Keane (0-1), Laura Egan (1-0), Ellie O’Gorman (2-2), Orla Keane (0-3),Ailish Considine (1-5), Eimear Considine (1-2), Denise O’Halloran

Sub
Moriah Lineen for M. Keane

Cooraclare
Mairead Griffin, Fiona McMahon, Louise Murrihy, Orla Reidy, Danielle Dillon, Bernie Kelly, Sherena Clarke, Dympna O’Dwyer, Roisin O’Looney (1-0), Noreen McGuane (capt) (0-2), Patricia Callinan (0-1), Rachel Garry, Ciara Golden (1-0), Niamh Chambers (1-4),Aoife O’Gorman (0-1)

Sub
Lourda Lillis (0-1) for D. Dillon

Referee
Michael Bohannon (Shannon Gaels)

Banner Ladies 4-10 – Liscannor 2-08 at Kilfenora

COMFORTABLE winners in the end, the outcome did not look too good for most of the opening half for the Banner who trailed at one stage by six points and played half the match with 14 players on Friday evening.

When the match finally got underway, full-forward Aine Burke was first of the mark for the north Clare side with a nice point from play. Local girl Niamh O’Dea, whose younger sister Eva also lined out, had two points for Banner Ladies. Further points from Burke (2), Aisling Torpey and the lively Marie Considine had Liscannor three ahead before midfielder Carmel Considine soloed through the Banner defence and rifled home a fine goal to put her side 1-5 to 0-2 in front.

It took the Ennis side a while to get in to their stride but when they did, they weren’t long whittling down the lead. A goal and a point from full forward Niamh O’Dea reduced the gap to two before Marie Considine and Mary Tierney traded points. As half time approached, Banner Ladies were awarded a penalty when Eva O’Dea was fouled in the small square. Inter-county star and AllStar nominee for the past two years, Louise Henchy made no mistake from the placed ball and so at the interval her team retired two points to the good at 2-4 to 1-5.

Banner Ladies resumed the second half with a full contingent. The fifteenth player Katie Cahill made an immediate impact and went on to play an excellent 30 minutes. Marie Considine cut the deficit to a single score when she pointed quickly after the restart but then came a crucial score for the winners when Susan McNamara goaled. There seemed to be a mix up between the Liscannor goalkeeper and some of her defenders, and McNamara had the simple task of kicking the ball to an empty net. When the lively Mary Tierney tacked on a point, last year’s championship runners up went three points clear. The excellent Naomi Carroll pointed and her colleague Niamh O’Dea had her second goal when she finished following a flick on from Sonya Maher.

Laurie Ryan, Clare Walsh and Emma O’Driscoll all played intelligently in the Banners defence. Mary Tierney, Susan McNamara and Niamh O’Dea were very prominent in attack. Naomi Carroll gave a player of the match display at midfield while Louise Henchy also performed well. Best for Liscannor were Aine Burke, Aisling Torpey, Aine Greene and as usual the Considine sisters Carmel and Marie.

Banner Ladies
LouiseWoods, Laurie Ryan (capt.), ClareWalsh, Helen Hehir, Rebecca Culligan, Emma O’Driscoll, Sinead O’Keeffe, Louise Henchy (1-2 1-1f) , Naomi Carroll (0-1), MaryTierney (0-2), Sonya Maher, Eva O’Dea, Niamh O’Dea (2-5 2f), Susan McNamara (1-0), Katie Cahill

Liscannor
Emma Slattery, Roisin Considine, Yvonne Flaherty (capt.), Roisin Rouine, Cliona Falvey, Sinead Considine, Fiona Considine, Carmel Considine (1-0),Aine Greene, Marie Considine (03), Olivia Lucas (0-1), Marian Considine, Clionadh Considine,Aine Burke (0-2 1f),AislingTorpey (1-2 1f, 1-0 pen)

Subs
Emer Hillery for Marion Considine (half time),Theresa Shannon for Flaherty (inj), Catherine Hayes for Falvey

Referee
Michael Talty (Kilmurry Ibrickane)

Senior A Championship Round 4
Banner v West Clare Gaels @VenueTBC, Friday 8pm(RefereeTBC) Kilmihil v Liscannor @VenueTBC, Sunday 1.45pm (RefereeTBC)

Senior B Championship Round 4
Fergus Rovers v Miltown @Venue andTimeTBC, Sunday (RefereeTBC)

Junior A Championship Round 1
Burren Gaels v Doonbeg @VenueTBC, Sunday 4.45pm(RefereeTBC) Banner B v Kilrush @Venue andTimeTBC, Sunday (RefereeTBC)

Under 14 Division 1
Championship Final Banner v Kilmurry Ibrickane @Kilmihil,Thursday 5.45pm(Lisa Harte McMahon)

Under 14 Division 1 Shield Final
Doora-Barefield v West Clare Gaels @Kilmihil, Friday 5.45pm(Linda Russell)

Under 14 Division 3
Championship Semi- Final Cooraclare/Miltown v Coolmeen @VenueTBC, Saturday 1.15pm(RefereeTBC) Doonbeg v Shannon Gaels @VenueTBC, Saturday 2.45pm(RefereeTBC)

Under 12 Division 2
Championship Final Banner v West Clare Gaels @Miltown,Tuesday 6.30pm(Linda Russell)

Crusheen 1-17 – Tulla 0-14 at Crusheen

COUNTY champions Crusheen kept up their end of the bargain against Tulla on Friday evening but with rivals Newmarket ending Sixmilebridge’s hopes and Inagh/Kilnamona throwing a spanner in the works with a victory over the same opposition 24 hours later, the race for the two semifinal places is still undecided.

Inagh/Kilnamona will travel to Whitegate on Thursday, with a win for the Combo placing all three teams on equal points and scoring difference coming into effect.

With that in mind, Crusheen will probably rue not putting this game to bed earlier as they led by ten points at one stage. However, credit Tulla for biting at their heels in the second half with Brian Lynch and Ray Stewart heading the revival.

A blistering start saw the home side blaze a trail early on, starting with Paddy O’Grady’s goal after 24 sec- onds on their way to a 1-6 to 0-1 lead by the 13th minute.

In fact, such was their dominance at that stage that all the Crusheen forwards had got on the scoresheet by the 24th minute and by the break, they held a 1-12 to 0-6 advantage.

With the result seemingly beyond doubt, Crusheen eased their foot off the pedal and a rejuvenated Tulla took advantage when controlling the midfield sector and chipping away at the deficit mainly through the aforementioned Stewart and Lynch.

The gap was reduced to just four by the 56th minute and the damage could have been greater, had it not been for the dogged defending of the back line of the Brigdale brothers John and Alan and the Dillons, Cronan, Cathal and Cian.

However, their fate will not be known until Thursday evening when Inagh/Kilnamona look to throw their hat into the ring by beating home side Whitegate.

Crusheen
Gearoid O’Donnell, John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon, Alan Brigdale, Ciaran O’Doherty (0-4 2f 2’65), Cian Dillon, Cathal Dillon, Gerry O’Grady (0-3f), Fergus Kennedy (0-1), Jamie Fitzgibbon (0-2), Shaun Dillon (0-1), Darragh O’Doherty (0-1), Paddy Meaney (0-2), Paddy O’Grady (1-0), Conor O’Donnell (0-3)

Subs
Donal Tuohy for G. O’Donnell (13 mins), Gearoid O’Donnell for D. O’Doherty (43 mins), AlanTuohy for P. O’Grady (53 mins)

Tulla
Philip Brennan, Eugene Cooney, Mark Quinn, John Fahy, Brian Lynch (0-2), Paul Lynch, Rory Hogan, Cathal Dinan,Tomás McMahon, David McInerney (0-1f), Michael Murphy (0-1), Daragh Corry (0-1), Ray Stewart (0-8 5f), Kieran Brennan (0-1), Shane McNamara

Subs
SeanTorpey for McNamara (HT), Declan Murphy for Hogan (43 mins), Cathal Bolton for McMahon (45 mins)

Referee
Seanie McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus)

ENNIS man Keith Whyte will represent Ireland in the ultra running world trail championships in Connemara on Saturday.

The 31-year-old Ennis Track Club athlete is the only Clare representative on the six-member team, which will compete in the 70K event that covers road, forest and mountains.

Keith, who only took up running four years ago, made his debut on the Irish team in March, when he ran 100K. He secured the qualifying time in that race for the World 100K Championships which will take place in Holland in September. “That will be the road championships. They asked me to take part in this one as well. This will be the first time the team trail championships are taking place in Connemara,” Keith told The Clare People .

He is looking forward to taking on the arduous challenge, which will take him between six and eight hours to complete.

“There will be a lot of mountains and a lot of climbing. Elevation will reach 2, 500 feet. Road racing is my thing, but this is a chance to run with the best trail runners in the world. Every continent will be represented with runners from more than 20 countries,” he said.

“I can’t wait. It’s a chance to represent your country. This will be my first world championships,” he added.

Keith has had a busy few months. He won the Kildare marathon in a time of 2 hours 40 minutes earlier this year, and also won the 50k trail run in Kildare in February. “I won that and it took off from there. I’m loving it. It’s great when you get to represent your country,” he said.

Wexford 3-11 – Clare 0-10 at Cusack Park, Ennis

MUCH LIKE their hurling counterparts later that evening, the biggest barrier for Clare to get to the next level at senior camogie championship level is the concession of needless goals. While a ten point defeat to the All-Ireland champions is not at all shameful, it could have and indeed, should have been a lot closer but they leaked soft goals at one end while posing no threat to goal at the other and you don’t need a mathematician to work out that this formula isn’t going to work.

What the final scoreline also doesn’t tell you is the fact that Clare led comfortably by 0-5 to 0-2 by the end of the opening quarter and that Chloe Morey, Claire McMahon and Fiona Lafferty would not look out of place in any side in the country.

Instead of building on that lead however, Clare shot a massive hole in their foot by gifting Wexford a goal in the 18th minute and loaded the gun for a shot at the other foot only seconds later with another preventable goal.

The first came after a high delivery was not dealt with by the Clare defence and Ursula Jacob had the simple task of tapping to the net. While in the next passage of play, Katrina Parrock had a effort for a point kept from going over the bar by goalkeeper Susan Vaughan, only to put it into the path of the waiting Elevyn Quigley who kicked over the line despite suspicions of a square ball.

With that, Clare’s three point lead actually swung to a four poit deficit at 2-3 to 0-5 and the game was all but over as Wexford finally found their feet. Goalkeeper Susan Vaughan made a super double save to deny Parrock and Quigley two minutes later as Clare drifted into panic and by the break, they were fortunate to only be 2-5 to 0-6 in arrears.

The half-time rallying call fell on deaf ears as within three minutes of the restart, Quigley nipped in for her second goal of the game followed by points from Kate Kelly and Parrock to open up a 3-7 to 0-6 advantage.

A lack of scoring forwards didn’t aid Clare’s cause but they did rally through placed balls with Claire McMahon accurately cutting the deficit to seven by the hour mark. In fact, Clare would only score two points from play all afternoon while Wexford showed why they are the AllIreland champions with the last three points to finish the job.

All is not lost for Clare however as they have little time to dwell on the defeat with a trip to Kilkenny this weekend. Learning the lessons of Saturday’s goals are crucial if Clare are to finish the campaign strongly.

Wexford
Mas Darcy (St Martin’s), Claire O’Connor (Rathnure), Catherine O’Loughlin (Monageer-Boolavogue), Karen Atkinson (Oulart the Ballagh), Noeleen Lambert (St Martin’s), Mary Leacy (Oulart the Ballagh),Aoife O’Connor (Rathnure), Michelle O’Leary (Rathnure), Josie Dwyer (Ferns St Aidan’s), Kate Kelly (St Ibar’s) (0-2 1f), Una Leacy (Oulart the Ballagh) (0-2), Brid Gordon (Blackwater) (0-1), Katriona Parrock (St Ibar’s) (0-3), Ursula Jacob (Oulart the Ballagh) (1-3 3f), Evelyn Quigley (Rathnure) (2-0)

Subs
Deirdre Codd (Dufry Rovers) for Dwyer (41 mins), Ciara Storey (Oulart the Ballagh) for C. O’Connor (41 mins), Lenny Holohan (Rathnure) for Gordon (41 mins), Fiona Kavanagh (Bunclody) for U. Leacy (56 mins)

Clare
SusanVaughan (Ogonnelloe), Helen McMahon (Kilmaley), Siobhan Lafferty (Inagh), Aimee McInerney (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Ruth Kaiser Newmarket-on-Fergus), Chloe Morey (Sixmilebridge), Roisin McMahon (Newmarketon-Fergus), Kate Lynch (Kilkishen),Aisling Hannon (Clooney/Quin), Sinead O’Loughlin (Inagh), Deirdre Murphy (Clooney/Quin) (0-1), Claire McMahon (Kilmaley) (0-9 7f, 1’65), Shonagh Enright (Kilmaley), Fiona Lafferty (Inagh), Sharon McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus)

Subs
Patricia O’Loughlin (Inagh) for S. O’Loughlin (41 mins), Maire McGrath (Sixmilebridge) for McInerney (41 mins), Naomi Carroll (Sixmilebridge) for Hannon (41 mins), Mary Roseingrave (Crusheen) for Enright (55 mins), Aiveen O’Shea (Sixmilebridge) for S. McMahon (58 mins)

Player of the Game
Katriona Parrock (Wexford) Referee Karl O’Brien (Dublin)

Newmarket-on-Fergus 6-14 – Crusheen 1-12 at Fr Murphy Memorial Park, Newmarket-on-Fergus

NEWMARKET TOOK a leaf out of Galway’s book on Sunday by ruthlessly going for the jugular against table toppers Crusheen. The Blues six goal haul in one hour equalled what the county champions had conceded in their previous seven Clare Cup games combined but more importantly sent out a clear message that they are still very much in the hunt for this year’s prize.

Admittedly, both teams were understrength with Crusheen’s losses of county seniors Pat Vaughan, Cian Dillon and Donal Tuohy significant in the wake of the final scoreline. Still Newmarket, without the influential Barrett brothers themselves, could only beat what was put in front of them and spent little time in carving open Crusheen’s vunerable rearguard.

Two Shane O’Brien points inside the opening 90 seconds were soon cancelled out by Gearoid and Conor O’Donnell. However by the sixth minute, Newmarket made the goalscoring breakthrough when O’Brien was fouled by Tony Meaney on his way to goal and Colin Ryan duly dispatched the 20 metre free to the net.

A second followed in the 14th minute when Ryan’s lineball from the right proved too hot to handle and full-forward Anthony Kilmartin was in the right place to punish from close range. In fact, their purple patch could have yielded further damage only for goalkeeper Briain Dillon who made a double save to deny Colin Ryan another 20 metre free at the end of the opening quarter.

However, the home side took their foot off the gas for the remainder of the half and it allowed Crusheen to sneak back into the game with the aid of Ciaran O’Doherty’s frees, the hardworking Gearoid O’Donnell and substitute Paddy Meaney.

By the 26th minute, three unan- swered points had cut the deficit to five at 2-6 to 0-7 but the turning point of the game came on the 30 minute mark when Ciaran O’Doherty’s penalty was stopped by Newmarket goalkeeper Kieran Devitt.

Had they got that goal, the game might have developed in a different direction but instead, a reinvigorated Newmarket came out firing on the restart and within a minute had a third goal on the board. The move of the match saw what should have been a Crusheen score countered by a Darren O’Connor long delivery that was expertly flicked into the path of the overlapping Darren Duggan by Anthony Kilmartin and the young forward made no mistake.

That suckerpunch was followed up by four Colin Ryan points before Duggan scored his second goal in the 39th minute to stretch their lead to 13. Credit Crusheen for replying immediately as Paddy Meaney found the net but their mini-recovery was ransacked by a brace of Shane O’Brien goals as Newmarket eased alongside their opponents at the summit of Division 1. Their final round game against Sixmilebridge at the weekend, in what is a repeat of last year’s final, will simply be compelling viewing.

Newmarket- on- Fergus
Kieran Devitt, Shane O’Brien Jnr, Stephen Kelly, Padraig Kilmartin, Darren O’Connor, James McInerney, Sean O’Connor (0-1), Colin Ryan (1-8 1-6f), Martin O’Hanlon, Enda Kelly (0-1), Shane O’Brien (2-3), Noel Frawley (0-1), Darren Duggan (2-0),Anthony Kilmartin (1-0),Tommy Griffin

Subs
Neil Ryan for O’Hanlon (34 mins), Niall Enright for Griffin (53 mins), James Liddy for Duggan (57 mins), Martin Frawley for O’Brien Jnr (57 mins)

Crusheen
Briain Dillon, John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon,Alan Brigdale, Shaun Dillon, Ciaran O’Doherty (0-3 2f, 1’65), Cathal Dillon, Gerry O’Grady (0-2 1f),Tony Meaney, Gearoid O’Donnell (0-1), Fergus Kennedy, Jamie Fitzgibbon (0-1f), Conor O’Donnell (0-2), Paddy O’Grady, Darragh O’Doherty

Subs
Paddy Meaney (1-2) for D. O’Doherty (25 mins),AlanTuohy (0-1) for S. Dillon (42 mins), Niall Fitzgibbon for P. O’Grady (45 mins), Conor Hayes for A. Brigdale (49 mins)

Man of the Match
Shane O’Brien Snr (Newmarket- on- Fergus) Referee Ambrose Heagney (Corofin)

Inagh/Kilnamona 0-16 – Clooney/Quin 0-12 at Clooney

THE COMPETITION for two semifinal places from Division 1 became a four horse race on Sunday as Inagh/Kilnamona kept their hopes alive with a four point victory. With two games to play against Tulla and Whitegate, the Combo gave themselves a fighting chance of grabbing one of those spots but will need to win both and hope that others lose in order to guarantee a last four spot.

Still, they will be delighted with victory here considering the list of absentees that included Eamonn Glynn, Conor Tierney, Cathal Lafferty, Tomás Kelly, Eoin and Haulie Vaughan while Clooney/Quin were also without Fergal Lynch, Cathal Egan and Brian Shally to name but a few.

Inagh/Kilnamona took the game to their opponents early on and with Niall and Ger Arthur sharing the scoring duties, they held a 0-9 to 06 half-time lead. That advantage was stretched to eight as the second half developed but there was a late kick in the home side and after reducing the deficit to four, they might have made the climax very nervy for the visitors only for Cillian Duggan’s late 20 metre free to be stopped by goalkeeper Patrick Kelly.

It meant that Inagh/Kilnamona have something tangible to play for this weekend while Clooney/Quin will have to settle for a mid-table finish.

Inagh/ Kilnamona
Patrick Kelly, Milo Keane, Brian Glynn, Dermot Lynch, Ronan O’Looney, David Hegarty, ColmPilkington, Paul O’Looney, Brian Foudy, StephenToomey, Niall Arthur, Damien Lafferty, Cathal Griffin, Dermot Gannon, Ger Arthur

Subs

Johnny Cullinan for Toomey,Alan Mullins for Gannon,TomMcConigley for C. Griffin

Clooney/ Quin
Damien O’Halloran,Tony McMahon, Conor Harrison, Joe O’Loughlin, Donnacha Murphy, Sean Conheady, Shane McNamara, Padraig Ward, Mike McNamara, Seamus Conroy, Enda Harrison, Martin Duggan, Mike Daffy,Adrian Fleming, John Earls

Subs
Cillian Duggan for McMahon, Daire Hannon for Conroy, Ger Leamy for Ward

Man of the Match
Paul O’Looney (Inagh/ Kilnamona) Referee Michael Troy (Broadford)

WHEN CLARE and Waterford match up for the fifth time in just over two years on Sunday, it is in the knowledge that Clare got a major helping hand from their opponents in getting to where they are today.

Following their crushing 3-09 to 0-12 defeat to the Deise in the semifinal two years ago, Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor dabbled with introspection before looking to their conquerors for assistance in forging a new look Clare minor set-up.

“We’ve huge admiration for Waterford”, admitted joint-manager Donal Moloney, “and two years ago when we decided that we needed to change our approach and change our tack in terms of how we actually did things, the first county we called was Waterford because the lesson they gave us two years ago in June in Cusack Park was the catalyst to say ‘things have got to change.’

“Waterford were the first county we engaged with because the level of preparation that they were doing all the way through their underage squads was way beyond anything any other county was doing and it’s still going on and they’re still moving it on.

“We still look back on the team of two years ago with a tinge of disappointment that we didn’t make more of that team and get to the final as a minimum. But since then we’ve brought in people who have had a huge influence in terms of how we prepare and that has been hugely, hugely important to sustain what we are trying to do. People like Jimmy Browne, Paul [Kinnerk], Diarmuid Horgan and another new addition this year, Joe McGinley. They have been hugely important because they have brought a lot of technical expertise.

“The game has moved on so much. We found out two years ago that we were way behind so with these guys, we have now got a level of knowledge with regards to how to train and how to prepare. Having those guys around this year was a huge help because all we had to do was lay out the same template, adjust a few things and away we go again. And the key lesson here for us is that having a player come in at 16 or 17, you can actually transform him in 17 or 18 months into an inter-county hurler if they have the basic skills and are willing to put in the work.”

Clare haven’t looked back since their quarter-final defeat to the same opposition in Walsh Park last year, usurping Waterford’s provincial throne by means of the backdoor route and there was an air of inevitability as the sides came through their respective semi-final clashes almost a fortnight ago to contest their second successive provincial decider. And for one, Moloney is bracing himself for another titantic struggle against undoubtedly their biggest rivals.

“We were down in Walsh Park last week watching them and the one feature that struck us about Waterford was that they brought on about six substitutes in the course of the game and everyone of them seemed to have an equivalent level of skill, an equivalent level of athleticism and the team never got weakened. It was actually strengthened if anything and I don’t know of many counties who can actually do that and that was the one thing that we really came home with.

“We are going to have a ferocious battle against them. They are going to be coming looking for revenge for last year; there is a bit of rivalry building up as well having met five times in two years and they are an extremely skilful outfit.

“They are also a lot better than Tipperary and people need to adjust and acknowledge that because that is the way hurling has gone in Munster. It’s Waterford and Clare who have been top of the pile for the last two or three years while Tipp and Cork have been following after that. So we know we are really facing a massive challenge against these guys but If we play to our potential, I think we’ll get there.”