Category: Sport

CBS Ennis 3-2 – Clarecastle NS 2-2 at Cusack Park, Ennis

A DRESS rehearsal for the main event and an opportunity for future stars to play in Clare headquarters as the CBS and Clarecastle locked horns for the first of two deciders on Wednesday afternoon. And in the end, it was the Ennis school that edged the contest in the proverbial game of two halves.

Clarecastle had the conditions at their backs for the opening half and used it to build up a 2-2 to 0-0 lead, with Darragh Healy scoring 1-1, Kelan Browne grabbing the second goal while Stephen Gilroy also got in on the scoring action. Others to impress included Liam Halpin, Oisin Casey, Mark O’Loughlin and Ronan Donnelly.

However, eight wides from the Magpies and a goal in reply by CBS’ Johny Ryan just before the break would prove to be crucial as the game became more congested in the second period.

Another 1-1 from Ryan and a further strike from Paul Tuohy put the CBS into the driving seat and with Colm McGrath pulling the strings, they held on for victory.

CBS Ennis
RobbieWoods, Conor Whelan, Eldon Nolan, Conor Hehir,Tomás Mulpeter, Gary Stack, Pierce Kenneally, Gavin Carr,TomMcDonald, Paul Tuohy (1-0), David Kirwan, ColmMcGrath (0-1), Khalid Ladigbolu, Eoghan Foudy, Johny Ryan (2-1)

Subs
Salah Abedelrazig, James Casey, Christopher Whelan, Luke Molloy,AndrewShannon,Alan Abraham,Aaron Ryan,Tony Odubote, Jack Crowley, Luke Hillary, Ian Butler, Jack Flynn, Cormac Killilea, Stephen Dolan, Neil Molloy

Clarecastle National School
Eoghan Wallace, LiamHalpin, Cian McNamara, Ricky Mulcaire, Oisin Casey, Mark O’Loughlin, Ruaírí Power, Kelan Browne (1-0), Stephen Gilroy (0-1), Joey Lynch, Ronan Donnelly, Lee Brigdale, Stephen Hogan, Stephen Birney, Darragh Healy (1-1)

Subs
Josh Brack, Harry Ward, DavidTuohy, Eoin Dinan, Dylan Brown, Mark Coughlan, Cormac Moloney, Eanna O’Donoghue, Cillian Casey, Gareth Guinnane,Aidan Ryan, Michael Kelly, Ben Sullivan, Dillon Pearson, Robyn Doyle, DavidWalshe, Jamie Lewis Cullinan, Conor Halpin, Brandon Healy, Sean Heaney,Alec Cassley, Evan Dolan

Referee
KevinWalsh (WolfeTones)

IT was 15 minutes from time – Clare were still trailing by three points, but it was the point when Clare coach Liam McHale was like a seasoned salmon fisher on River Moy outside his native Ballina.

The prize catch of the day, a real heavyweight catch, was hooked – just to win the battle of reeling it in to shore.

“I thought we had them,” says McHale. “It was when the Down defender came out and kicked it over the sideline with no one near him.

“I said to myself ‘these guys are under real pressure, we can take them’. Coming into the game, they were under pressure because they’re considered one of the best teams in the country and they were coming to play a Division 4 team.

“They weren’t supposed to be in the position they found themselves in when we were roaring back at them and dominating this game, but it wasn’t enough…….”

It wasn’t enough, say McHale, because the Clare performance over the 70 minutes wasn’t what it should have been. Rather than reflect in the strange kind of glory that comes with any near-miss by an underdog, McHale parses why the result didn’t go his team’s way.

“We had a lot of unforced errors – at the end of the first half and the start of the second half,” he says. “We were turning the ball over, not bringing the ball back and switching the play.

“We had some nightmare plays, especially at the start of the second half. That gave them a six-point lead that ultimately we couldn’t overhaul. It’s disappointing because we had been working on situations where there are two or three defenders around you, but then looking around and working it back, switching the play and attacking again.

“Yes we were excellent at times and played the best football we’ve played this year, but at other times we were very, very poor. We have to try and stop those basic errors. Every time you commit a basic error against a team like this, they’ll punish you. That’s what Down did. “We showed a lot of heart and we were the team playing all the football with about 12 minutes to go – but we wanted to do that for the whole game and unfortunately we didn’t do it. It’s a learning curve.

“If we were a litte bit smarter and took care of the ball a little bit more at certain stages of the game, especially at the end of the first and the start of the second, we could have won that game,” adds McHale.

Instead, just another defeat – Clare’s sixth defeat out of ten competitive games between league and championship – the only returns from the year coming in the league with wins of Kilkenny, London and Longford and a draw with Wicklow.

Wicklow, Longford and London all advanced in the first round Qualifiers – Clare didn’t, which even in their strange kind of glory moment, put a very disappointing year in perspective.

“We have to try and improve,” says McHale. “The ambition for this team at the moment is to get out of Division 4 – with the likes of Wicklow, Fermanagh, Limerick and Waterford, it’s not an easy task, but that’s the team’s ambition and that’s the right way to got about it.

“Get out of Divison 4, stay in that and then have an assault on Division 3. When you’re at that level and in Division 2, maybe then Clare can compete with the big boys in Munster. That’s what Clare football has to do first. Getting the best team out and getting out of Division 4 is a big must.”

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.

St John’s NS, Cratloe 2-3 – Knockanean NS 1-4 at Cusack Park, Ennis

THE SCOREBOARD may have been malfunctioning throughout this Division 2 decider on Wednesday but there was no denying Cratloe who edged past rivals Knockanean to claim the silverware.

In a tense affair that could have gone either way, a Billy Connors double against the conditions effectively put St John’s on the road to success approaching the break. Up to that point, Knockanean and in particular, Keelan Butler, Tom O’Brien and Jack Hannan had controlled mat- ters in building up a 1-2 to 0-0 lead by the tenth minute. However, those two goals altered the narrative of the game decisively to give his side a one point half-time advantage.

The impressive Jack McInerney doubled that lead immediately after the break; Tom and Mark O’Brien swapped scores as the clock ran down while Butler reduced the deficit to only the minimum in injury time to set up an anxious last few moments.

However, with McInerney dropping deep, Diarmuid Ryan excelling at the back and Connors converting a late free, Cratloe eventually got over the line.

St John’s National School
Jack Danaher, Killian Arthur, Rian Considine, Ross Dunworth, Emmet Costigan, Diarmuid Ryan,Aaron Costigan, Mark O’Brien (0-1), Kyle Neylon, Conor McMahon, Conor Hallisey, Jack McInerney (0-1), Billy Connors (2-1 1f)

Knockanean National School
Niall Galvin, Jack Hannon, Eoin Campbell, Cian Barron, Keelan Butler (0-3 2f),TomHannan, Jason Herbert, Maurice Nugent,Vincent Quinlan, Graeme Glynn, TomO’Brien (1-1), Eoghan Perill, Dylan Mulligan

Sub
Fintan O’Halloran for Campbell (20 mins)

Referee
KevinWalsh (WolfeTones)

Ga lway v Cla r e @ Pea r se St adium, Sa lt hill, Sat ur day 7pm (Dia r muid Kir wa n, Cor k) Ext r a-t ime playable if necessa r y CALL IT Déjà vu if you will but the truth remains that we have been here before. Only 12 months ago in fact, off the back of an encouraging yet losing start to the championship, Clare entered the qualifiers with renewed hope before disappointingly failing to perform when it mattered most.

How much Clare have learned since then is still up in the air but their propensity to leak ‘soft’ goals is something that has haunted the Banner for the past three years and going on the Tipperary game, is still quite prevalent. Clare have now conceded 14 goals in their last seven games while only scoring six themsevles.

As Anthony Daly stressed before the league final, that tendency to flit in and out of the game is something that just needs to be ironed out over time and comes with young and inex- perienced players and looking at his Dublin side, it certainly gives Clare hope for the future.

For that to happen, Clare need to make the breakthrough and take a big scalp. After all, it’s over three years since Clare’s last championship victory and having lost their last seven games, beating Galway is now of paramount importance.

However, Clare’s neighbours have been eerily quiet since being humbled by the Dubs which is worrying for the Banner. Had they come out and pointed fingers, the morale in the camp would have diminished further but by staying quiet, you can sense a back lash from the Tribesmen. After all, before Tipperary emerged from the pack last year, it was felt that Galway were the team most likely to knock Kilkenny off their perch and they haven’t become a bad team overnight, regardless of what is being said about them outside of the camp.

So this is essentially a clash of two wounded animals who may have to eat up the other in order to survive. It’s survival of the fittest at this stage.

Kilmaley NS 4-15 – Barefield NS 1-01 at Cusack Park, Ennis

AS COMPLETE a performance as you are ever likely to witness as a stylish Kilmaley side took the first honours of the day on Wednesday. Barefield put up a brave display, particularly through goalkeeper Daniel O’Keeffe, Conor Kearns and Darragh O’Shea but were powerless to stop Kilmaley who were simply a class apart in their passing, interplay and more importantly finishing.

Indeed, they were 3-9 to 0-0 ahead by the break with a brace of goals from Peter Ronan sandwiching another for chief marksman Sean O’Loughlin who would finish the day with 2-6.

Eanna McMahon pulled the strings for Kilmaley throughout, ably assisted by Aidans, Griffey and Kennedy around the centre while O’Loughlin added a fourth goal in the 26th minute to cap off a fine personal display.

Barefield did grab some consolation when Conor Kearns scored 1-1 late on but unquestionably, this was to be Kilmaley’s day.

Kilmaley National School
TomO’Rourke, Saoirse Glynn, Rafe Queally,Abigail Connellan, Aidan Griffey (0-1), Eanna McMahon (0-8 2f, 2’45), Aidan Kennedy,Aidan O’Brien, Peter Ronan (2-0), Sean O’Loughlin (2-6), Diarmuid O’Ceallaigh

Subs
Pat Hayes for Glynn (30 mins), Cordell BaalhamMiller for Connellan (32 mins), Eoghan Culligan for O’Ceallaigh (33 mins), Jack Haren for Ronan (35 mins), Bradley Higgins for O’Loughlin (36 mins),Aaron Gavin for Queally (36 mins), Luke Queally for Kennedy (36 mins),Aidan O’Malley for O’Rourke (37 mins)

Barefield National School
Daniel O’Keeffe, Eoghan O’Sullivan, Milo Collins, Conor Breatnach, Luke Carmody, Darragh O’Shea, Conor Kearns (11), Scott Currid, Ryan Fitzpatrick, EoghanThynne, Sean O’Connell

Subs
James Gleeson for O’Sullivan (HT), Ronan Collins for Fitzpatrick (27 mins), Stephen Knowfor Collins (33 mins), James Whelan for O’Connell (34 mins), JJ Baker for Breathnach (35 mins)

Referee
JimHickey (Cratloe)

Kilnamona NS 3-6 – Inagh/Clounanaha NS 0-1 at Cusack Park, Ennis

THIS local derby tie went the way of Kilnamona by the decisive margin of 14 points as they proved much too strong for the Inagh/Clounanaha amalgamation side on Thursday afternoon.

Kilnamona dominated this game from the opening minutes and by half-time had moved into a 2-2 to no score lead. Both Chloe O’Neill and Andrea O’Keeffe showed the way in that first half, bagging 1-1 each in the half as Kilnamona laid down their marker.

Rebecca Keating raised a flag for Inagh/Clounanaha in the second half but Kilnamona tacked on a further 1-4 to extend their advantage. Chloe O’Neill grabbed another 1-2, while Andrea O’Keeffe and Theresa O’Keeffe also tacked on points.

Kilnamona NS
Sinead Power, Sarah Cotter, Michaela Roughan, Aoibheann Hogan, Nicola O’Neill, Chloe McNamara,Teresa O’Keeffe (0-1), Laoise Ryan, Andrea O’Keeffe (1-2), Róisín Longe, Ruth Crowe, Chloe O’Neill (2-3), Róisín Clancy, Freya Rynne, Sorcha Burke, SoibhánWarren, Áine Kearins, Alanna O’Keeffe

Inagh/ Counanaha NS
Rebecca Keating, Chloe Foudy, Ciara Hehir, Rachel Harvey, Claire Hehir,Amy Keating, Orlaith Cotter, Eimear Brennan, Áine Lynch, Rebecca O’Leary, Natasha Moloney, Cathy Cullinan, Megan Leyden, Ciara O’Connor, Eimear Cotter, Róísín Callinan, LeanneWoods, LeahWynne, Eimear O’Looney, Hannah Shannon, Róísín Mahony.

Scoil Mhuire, Corofin 7-3 – Scoil na Mainistreach, Quin 2-1 at Cusack Park, Ennis

A NINE GOAL thriller to end Wednesday’s action packed schedule with Corofin coming off best in the break down of green flags. Essentially it was the partnership of Louise Browne and Corina McMahon that earned victory for Scoil Mhuire when hitting 5-3 between them and Scoil na Mainistreach simply had no answer for such firepower.

With the wind behind them, Corofin built up a 3-3 to 0-0 half-time lead, with Browne scoring 2-1 of that total while having an equal amount saved by Quin goalkeeper Aoife Deane.

Quin came out fighting on the restart and had pulled back two goals within the opening three minutes through substitute Emily Duggan and the impressive Eve Ryan. Indeed, Ryan would have another shot saved before Corofin would regain control.

Louise Browne scored her side’s fourth goal in the 29th minute and in the next passage of play set up Shan non Walsh for the fifth, and as Quin dropped their heads, there was further goals for McMahon and Browne to cement a memorable victory.

Scoil Mhuire
Siobhan Lane, Darcey Malone, Aleisha Malone, Clare O’Dea, Fiona Killeen, Louise Browne (4-2), Corina McMahon (1-1), Cliodhna O’Dea, Chantel McCaw, ShannonWalsh (2-0), BrianaTierney Subs Caoimhne Corbett for Walsh (37 mins), Ciara Heagney for Tierney (37 mins),Aisling Cleary for O’Dea (40 mins)

Scoil na Mainistreach
Aoife Deane,Anna Corry, Lauren McConway, Ellen Liddy, Eve Ryan (11), Jennifer O’Neill,Amy Moloney, Sarah Costelloe, Alice O’Donnell, Emma Deegan, Siobhan Frain Subs Emily Duggan (1-0) for Frain (HT), Mary Conneally for Liddy (37 mins), Ciara O’Reilly for Moloney (40 mins)

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

Kilmaley NS 4-2 – Broadford NS 2-1 at Cusack Park, Ennis

KILMALEY NS crowned what has been an historic year for them on the hurling and camogie fiels when claiming this title at GAA headquarters on Thursday afternoon. Before going into action in this camogie final, the boys in the schools had claimed their title the day before while success also came the school’s way in the Sevens county final in Clarecastle back in March.

In this final they stood firm in the second half against a brave Broadford side that threw everything into it when playing with the wind and trying to claw back what was an 11point half-time deficit.

In the first half Kilmaley dominat- ed with Saoirse Glynn’s long-range frees causing havoc in the Broadford defece. Glynn goaled as early as the second minute while another free two minutes later was deflected to the net to give Kilmaley a brilliant start. Two more Glynn goals ensured that Kilmaley led by 4-2 to 1-0 at half-time.

Broadford showed great resolve to battle back – their first goal came on the stroke of half-time, while they bagged 1-1 in the second half, but that seven points was as close as they got to Kilmaley. Flann Howard.

Kilmaley NS
Eimear Kennedy, Nora O’Rourke, Sarah Gubbins, , Polina Rybaltchenko, Martina Keane,Abigail Connellan, Saoirse Glynn, Áine Ronan, Helen O’Sullivan, Gráinne Cooney.

Subs
Aoibhín McCabe, Caoimhe Cotter, Katie Haren, Emma Mullally, Rebecca Balogh Cilia, Lauren O’Brien, Maxine Martin Pahl, Fia Coote,Therese Pyne, Emma Pyne, Shauna Byrnes,Andrea O’Brien, Saidhbhín Ní Cheallaigh.

Broadford NS
Aoife O’Brien, Catherine Donnellan, Hannah Mason,AoifeVaughan,Anna Lee Shanahan Marsh, Niamh Mulqueen, Siobhan O’Connell, Áine Ryan, Moya Marsh McMahon,Apryl O’Reagan.

Subs
Aoife Boland, Laura O’Connell, Maria Vaughan, Zoe O’Keeffe, Rabgea Seidel, Sarah Fitzgerald.