Category: Sport

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.”

THE FIRST part of that question is easy to answer – Pairc Ui Chaoimh this Sunday for the Munster minor hurling final between Clare, the defending champions, and the up and coming Waterford. This is the second year in succession that we have both contested the Munster minor decider, another sure sign of an impending shift in the powerbase of Munster hurling. We have never defended our Munster minor crown, Sunday is a big day for Clare hurling.

After Sunday thoughts can turn to the Munster Intermediate Final which will be played in Cusack Park on Wednesday July 13th. We have some young hurlers betwixt and between the senior and U-21 panels and they should be to the fore in this Munster final.

Just one week later, back in Cusack Park we have our U-21s to look forward to. A home semi-final with Limerick, if won, will mean a final perhaps against the mighty Tipp back in the Park on August 3rd. So plenty of hurling to look forward to.

The dust has settled now on last Saturday night in Salthill. It was a desperately disappointing performance from literally the word go – but the panic button should not be hit. The bigger picture, as always, is the one that matters most.

Clare supporters only want to talk about whether ‘The Sparrow’ stays or goes this week. That’s not the conversation we should be having. That’s not the bigger picture. How many of the future stars of Clare hurling are now blooded? How many can we say with confidence, are senior intercounty hurlers, up to the task? That’s the conversation we need to hear more of.

My sixpence worth is that we are in a far better place than we think we are. We fell away against Galway and it was entirely predictable for a squad as light as this, for a squad as young as this. Tipperary was our game and we put everything into that – there was very little left for the likes of a fired up Galway, a stiff breeze and a sun at their backs in Pearse Stadium. It was never going to happen for us in 2011.

Facing into 2012 we can look to Conor McGrath, Cian Dillon, Conor Cooney, Nicky O’Connell, Patrick O’Connor, John Conlon and a rejuvenated Darach Honan to be nailed on starters, not rookies anymore, but fellas who know what it’s about. That’s half our team.

That’s the quality we have coming through and there’ll be more with that from Sunday in Pairc Ui Chaoimh and from our U-21s in Cusack Park, not to mention the odd intermediate or two.

Those instant gratification merchants that expect a Munster championship or All-Ireland every year need to cop on. That’s not how counties like Clare win things. We build, we do it right and we have patience. We have no choice. We’re not Cork, Tipp or Kilkenny and we don’t arrive overnight with a team. Bigger picture.

We’ve taken beatings before and we’ve come back stronger. Those with short memories can look to the Munster finals of 1993 and 1994. Those will longer will think of the National League Final replay of 1976, or the Munster final of 1974. No matter, the beatings hurt every time, but the spirit was never quenched. Dalo, Jamesie, Seanie, Sparrow, Lohan? Look what patience and focus on the bigger picture garnered for the county when those boys and their like were persevered with after ‘93 and ‘94. It will be the same with this bunch. So, a little perspective. It wasn’t the end of the world.

We’ll be up there again, like the class of ’95-’98. Within three years we will be contesting Munster SHC finals. A chunk of the team that played last Saturday night will be winning those coveted pieces of gold. The hurling fraternity knows Clare are coming. A little education along the way won’t hurt us.

CLARE TRAVELLED to Salthill expecting a Galway backlash but came away with severe whiplash after a 17 point beating. Little for Clare manager Ger O’Loughlin to do but swallow another frustratingly, disappointing defeat and ponder his own future as the Clare number one.

“We were totally exposed, the goals were killer punches and they took them very well. We were at sixes and sevens in the first twenty minutes playing into a strong breeze and again we were very naïve in a lot of the goals we are conceding but from our point of view, all we can do is try to go back, pick up the pieces and try to learn from it. The bottom line is we are actually scoring 20 or 21 points in most games but conceding three or four goals in every match and that’s something to try and see can we remedy somewhere along the way.

“It’s not easy and I think we are playing the best that’s available but we just need to get a bit more savvy about what we are doing at the back because we are just conceding goal after goal in every game and it’s costing us big time.

“In fairness to Galway, they were a class apart tonight and it probably shows the amount of work we have to do to get there. We were a lot better against Tipp but it was a different sort of game I suppose. Galway came at us from the start and we had done the same to Tipp. We were on the backfoot from the beginning and we never really recovered from it and that’s the bottom line really that we never really recovered from their early onslaught.”

And if the Clarecastle native felt that lady luck had deserted his side in the first half, Clare’s slim hopes of bridging the ten point half-time gap were soon dashed when they were reduced to 14 men after five minutes of the restart.

“We were chasing the game anyway once James [McInerney] was sent off but it was only eight or nine minutes into the second half and we were still hoping that we could perform a miracle but it was probably never going to happen. It just threw the game apart and we were completely gone then because they were just mopping up loose ball that came into their defence.

“I don’t have any qualms about tonight. We were outclassed on the night and it’s a learning process and another costly one for Clare but all we can do is be proud of the effort they put in for the year and hope that we will learn sooner rather than later. But it was a lovely evening for hurling so we can have no excuses.”

And yet perhaps the game could have hinged on the toss, such were the breezy conditions in Salthill that allowed Galway to build up confidence and a considerable early lead.

“The game could have been different. We were hoping we would win the toss but that didn’t even go for us tonight. They were always going to come at us early on and try to finish us off early and I suppose we had the rub of the green against Tipp when we won the toss and played with the breeze. It helped us settle and sometimes with young lads like we have on board, you need to settle for fifteen or twenty minutes to realise you can win a game.

“I think what happened tonight is that we were on the backfoot and they took their goals very well early on and we probably panicked a bit as well I think. A small bit of panic set in and we looked all over the place and it was very hard to actually fix the problems because there was so many problems.

“I have to admire the lads again because they tried awful hard and never gave up but we were just beaten and outclassed on the night with killer punches and as I say, we just have to learn from that in Clare because if we don’t, that’s going to be the case. But we are building slowly but surely.”

But would the Sparrow be willing to be the foreman for such a project going forward?

“I’ll tell you, it was the last thing in my head even, coming into the match tonight because I said to myself that it would be unfair to even think about that but I’ll have a very serious think about it because it’s like everything else, you give your heart and soul for the two years. When I went in, after a couple of weeks, I knew that we were starting off from a very low base with regard to experienced players and we have had to start from stratch but I think we have made progress even though the results are poor.

“ I think we actually have a nucleus built up to go forward but we need that injection again of five or six 18, 19 and 20 years olds over the next year or two. But Clare will win something I think in the next three years. It might take three years but I think they will win something.”

That silver lining seemed very far away on Saturday evening.

Galway 4-25 – Clare 0-20 at Pearse Stadium, Salthill

IT STARTED badly, tailed off a little in the middle and the less said about the end the better.

What can you say about Clare’s forgettable championship exit to neighbours Galway? Revisiting what was Clare’s biggest championship defeat in seven years is made all the more painful by the fact that without a competitive game for the next six months, this will be the lasting impression of 2011 for players, management and supporters alike.

With expectations raised from the encouraging display against Tipperary, the reality soon hit home as a determined Galway side, with a considerable point to prove themselves after their highly criticised performance against Dublin in the Leinster semi-final, tore Clare apart in the opening twenty minutes.

Again it was the concession of goals emanating from green defending that did the damage and that more than anything else is the main reason for Clare’s heavy final defeat. For the third successive competitive game, they conceded four goals, making it 18 in only eight games while only scoring six goals themselves in the same period. Cutting out that deficiency, backed by the fact that Clare reached the 20 score mark for backto-back championship games would have made this a much more even tie. However, in the wake of Galway’s devastating firepower, the fact that Clare didn’t possess any goal threat and never troubled goalkeeper James Skehill for even a routine catch left Clare in a no-win situation. In addition all but five points of Galway’s 425 came from play while almost half of Clare’s total was from frees.

Those are indeed damning stats that tell their own tale as all Galway had to do was look at the DVD of the Tipperary game and employ the same fluid tactics up front. In truth, Clare showed that they had learned very little defensively from the Tipperary game as they allowed Galway to drag defenders out of position, leaving acres of space inside to exploit. Clare would have been better served by remaining more as a back six and defend zonally.

And yet despite the comprehensive 17 point defeat, there still is a niggling feeling that things might have been different had Clare won the toss and chose to play with the conditions. Both sides were vunerable confidence-wise following their recent provincial defeats and with a young side, Clare might have relished the aid of the conditions and taken the game to Galway like they did against Tipperary last time out.

Instead, however it was Galway who struck early and decisively by finding the net twice by the 12th minute. Clare should have heeded the warning sign when Joe Canning crashed a shot off the crossbar after only 90 seconds and as Galway dragged the Clare full-back line out the field, they left Damien Hayes free inside.

A Hayes point in the fifth minute cancelled out Nicky O’Connell’s first minute free and the Portumna man exploited the space again only two minutes later when seizing on a David Burke ball over the top to find the net.

With Clare slow to react, again it was Hayes who was the catalyst for the second goal in the 12th minute, collecting a defensive free before offloading for Iarla Tanninan to shoot against the post with Ger Farragher applying the finish.

Clare attempted to put out the fire but there were so many fires at that stage that the fire brigade should have been called but would have done well to get through the heavy traffic. Clare did manage to calm matters down however when employing Nicky O’Connell as a sweeper and while it took the visitors until the 19th minute to score from play through Fergal Lynch, the deficit was still only six points by the 20th minute following further points from the lively Conor McGrath and Caimin Morey.

That was until the mercurial talents of Joe Canning came to the fore with a full range of skills in an eight minute period. First he converted a straightforward free in the 21st minute, added an inch perfect lineball three minutes later from the 20 metre line but the highlight undoubtedly came in the 29th minute with Galway’s third goal. Picking up possession in the right corner, he shrugged aside the challenge of Nicky O’Connell, avoided the clutches of Cian Dillon by balancing the sliothar expertly on his stick before rifling a shot past Philip Brennan. The goalkeeper did ensure that there wouldn’t be further damage when somehow stopping a Joe Gantley point blank effort in first half injury-time but there was still a sizeable 10 point gap (3-13 to 0-12) for Clare to make up at the break.

With the breeze to come, Clare wounds were not life-threatening but within five minutes of the restart, they need a life-support machine after a high challenge by James McInerney on Joe Canning that saw the Newmarket man receive a straight red card.

With that, the result was merely an inevitability and the pace and intensity of the game dropped considerably. Clare never gave up and through the workrate of Cian Dillon and points from Conor McGrath, Caimin Morey and Nicky O’Connell’s unerring freetaking, they kept plugging away. However, they never looked like even getting a goal while Galway emptied the bench and grabbed a fourth goal at their ease in the 54th minute when Farragher supplied a teasing ball over the top for Alan Kerins to pull to the net.

The game had petered out long before the final whistle sounded as much like last year, Clare were left with a bitter aftertaste of a devastating defeat following encouraging displays in the Munster championship. It’s one step forward and three to the side it seems.

CBS Ennis 2-6 – Clarecastle NS 2-5 at Cusack Park, Ennis

A THRILLING Division 1 final that had supporters guessing right up to the final whistle before CBS completed a memorable double with the narrowest of victories. Essentially, with a strong gale blowing towards the Clon Road, it came down to which side could cope best when playing into the conditions and in the end, CBS’ two first half goals from Cathal Ruane and Conor Devitt went a long way to shaping the outcome of the game.

Clarecastle will equally feel hard done by, having held the lead for the first 36 of the 40 minute encounter, starting with an early flourish that yielded a goal for Cian Donnelly and points for Owen O’Hara and David Barry by the seventh minute.

Those settling scores were wiped out by man-of-the-match Cathal Ruane’s solo goal while he also set up the second for Conor Devitt to find the net in the 13th minute and gain parity.

Clarecastle did bounce back before the break however when brothers Stephen and David Barry combined for the latter to find the left corner of the net, with Owen O’Hara completing the first half scoring at 2-4 to 2-0.

It never seemed enough with the conditions to come for the CBS and it was back to a one point game by the turn of the final quarter through points from Ruane (2) and the impressive Matthew Davenport.

A Conor Ryan free did momentarily shrug off the CBS challenge but a brace of points from Colm Walsh O’Loughlin and a Ruane free gave the CBS the lead for the first and indeed final time to take the top prize off the defending champions.

CBS Ennis
Eamon Foudy, Cathal O’Brien, Darren

Meehan, LiamMcMahon, Danny O’Halloran,Tadhg Connellan, Paul Martin, Nzube Okoye, Mikey Whelan, ColmWalsh O’Loughlin (0-2),Tomás Hehir, MatthewDavenport (0-1), Conor Devitt (1-0), Cathal Ruane (1-3 2f),Adrian Forde

Subs
RobbieWoods for Forde (30 mins)

Clarecastle National School
Daragh Dolan, Max Hillery, Lee Brack, Lorcan Clancy, Jack Fleming, Conor Ryan (0-1f), Luke McDermott, Marc McAuliffe, Kevin Hartigan, Colin Bridale, Stephen Barry, Owen O’Hara (0-3 2f), Stephen Kelleher, Cian Donnelly (1-0), David Barry (1-1)

Subs
Daragh Healy for Kelleher (18 mins), Eoin Collins for Fleming (24 mins)

Referee
Fergie McDonagh (St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield)

Down 1-13 – Clare 1-12 at Cusack Park, Ennis

NO moral victories screamed Micheál McDermott afterwards; so too did team coach Liam McHale, while new captain Gary Brennan sang the same hymn in the huddle on the field minutes after the end.

But just a few feet away James McCartan had a different take on things when saying “all the plaudits go to Clare on this one”. Yes, he would say that wouldn’t he, after Down escaped with the championship lives intact, but there was substance to his words at the same time.

Clare had whipped up a storm in the closing 25 minutes – coming from six adrift of the bluebloods in red and black and being a few more revolutions of an O’Neills away to a standout moment in the county’s less than distinguished football story.

They produced something special – true grit married to never-say-die that exposed the soft underbelly of a Down side that, save last year’s exploits, has a history of fragility in the Qualifier series.

And, when David Tubridy stroked over a 66th minute free to bring the sides level at 1-12 apiece, they were barging at the door of history, within touching distance of Clare’s greatest football day since Martin Daly put the ball in the Cork net at the Stamer Park end in the last second in 1997.

The chance came when Laurence Healy’s fist connected with his clubmate Joe Dowling’s up and under in the 70th minute, beat keeper Brendan McVeigh and was on its way into the same Stamer Park end net until Brendan Lavery got back to save the day.

That close for Clare, that close for Down, who lived to fight another day in 2011 thanks to Paul McComiskey’s 68th minute winner that he fisted over the bar, when they could so easily have died.

All this after Clare had looked dead themselves inside five minutes of this helter-skelter afternoon that eventually re-affirmed a notion – long since lost – that Clare had any kind of future in football.

Clare were at sea from as early as the first minute when a sweeping move Brendan McComiskey, Benny Coulter and was flashed inches wide of Joe Hayes’ left hand post by Martin Clarke.

Four minutes later they were looking for life rafts after points by Lavery and Clarke was followed by a goal after a burst from Kevin Duffin was taken on by Coulter and Sean Poland before Lavery fisted to the net past Joe Hayes from eight yards.

Amazingly, that was effectively as good as it got for Down in the half as Clare gradually got accustomed to the pace of the game after settling points from Mark Tubridy and Alan Clohessy by the tenth minute, while their recovery was complete when Ger Quinlan’s 16th minute point was followed by a Timmy Ryan goal a minute later.

Ryan got the better of both Dan Gordon and Brendan McVeigh, toepoking the ball to the net when a long ball from Cathal O’Connor from the right wing broke on the edge of the square.

Down recovered some of their poise before the break thanks to frees by Paul McComiskey and Martin Clarke and two fisted efforts from Paul Laverty, but Clare’s determination was rewarded with fine points from play by Gary Brennan and Ger Quinlan to leave them only 1-6 to 1-5 adrift at the break.

However, Down’s rapid fire response on the turnover that saw them hit five points inside 12 minutes seemed to restore order.

Their county minor captain Caolan Mooney got them going while Liam Poland, Paul McComiskey, Benny Coulter and corner-back Brendan McArdle also pointed as Down moved 1-11 to 1-5 clear.

Remarkably though, Down only managed two points in the final 25 minutes as Clare’s tour de force brought them to within inches of a fairytale success.

They roused themselves once more thanks to a David Tubridy point from play in the 48th minute. From there it was all Clare as two more Tubridy points from frees, either side of two from play by sub Joe Dowling brought the gap back to 1-12 to 1-10 by the 57th minute.

Then John Hayes raided up the right wing and stroked over a point in the 63rd minute, while David Tubridy’s 66th minute equaliser had an air of inevitability about it.

So did the winner – but it had come down the other end from McComiskey’s fisted effort, not Laurence Healy’s one in the final minute of normal time.