Category: Sport

Doonbeg 2-10 – Liscannor 0-07 at Liscannor

DOONBEG were already assured of the semi-final berth before making the journey up the N67 for this 2010 county final re-match against Liscannor, but there was still no letting up as they comfortably claimed their fifth win of the campaign.

Liscannor were without their midfield talisman Brian Considine because of a broken nose, while the Magpies fielded 12 of the side that started the championship opener the previous weekend against Lissycasey.

In truth they had the points wrapped up by half-time as they stormed into a 1-7 to 0-3 interval lead – David Tubridy showing the way with points, while Paul Dillon further staked his claim for a permanent starting spot with a goal that helped open up that seven-point gap.

Liscannor looked to the half-forward line for scores, with Niall Considine chipping in with two points over the hour, while Alan Clohessy hit five. However, any hope of retrieving the situation in the second half was killed off by a David Tubridy goal as the Magpies eased to a nine-point victory.

The defeat keeps Liscannor in relegation trouble ahead of their final game this weekend against Kilmurry Ibrickane. However, victory could still catapult them to safety and into a semifinal at the semi-final. That’s the thin line they’re walking on.

Doonbeg
Nigel Dillon, Joe Blake, Padraig Gallagher, Conor Whelan, Brian Dillon, Padraig Aherne, Richie Vaughan, ColmDillon, Enda Doyle, Conor Downes (0-2), Brian Egan, Frank O’Dea (0-1), JamieWhelan, DavidTubridy (1-4, 3f), Paul Dillon (1-2).

Subs
Jim Bob Griffin for Conor Whelan, EamonTubridy (01) for O’Dea, Philip Smith for JamieWhelan.

Liscannor
Noel Kilmartin, Shane Canavan, Davy McDonagh, Darragh Blake, Robbie Lucas, Ronan Slattery, Denis Murphy,Alan Flaherty, Michael Foley, Davy Commane, Niall Considine (0-2),Alan Clohessy (0-5, 3f), Paul Guerin, Kieran Considine,Alan McDonagh.

Subs
Johnny Considine for Commane, Declan Fawl for Kieran Considine, Gerry Considine for Lucas, Joe Considine for Flaherty.

Man of the Match
Paul Dillon (Doonbeg) Referee Michael Talty (Kilmurry Ibrickane)

St Joseph’s Miltown 1-7 – St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 1-4 at St Michael ’s Park, Kilmihil

IT was emotional for Doora-Barefield players after the death of their team-mate Niall White, but honouring his memory and contribution to football in The Parish by way of a victory wasn’t to be on Friday night as Miltown ground their way to the two points in this battle of the two St Josephs’.

The Josephs’ from Doora-Barefield were left to rue what could have been – they hit seven very bad wides when playing against the wind in a first half they dominated for periods, a profligacy they paid a high price for at the game’s end.

Meanwhile, in celebrating a winning start to their 2011 campaign the Miltown St Joseph’s were left to praise the left boot of Dessie Molohan – the one that ignited their challenge in the first half with a brilliant 18th minute goal; the one that thumped over three points in the second half, with the final one from play in the 59th minute finally killing off the limited DooraBarefield challenge.

If you haven’t guessed already, this was a turgid, low-quality affair, one that was only illuminated by Molohan’s goal that came eight minutes after Aidan O’Connor had marked his first senior championship game in eight years (he played with Éire Óg in the 2003 campaign) with a tenth minute goal when he latched onto a David O’Brien centre and lashed to the net from five yards.

It should have been the spark for Doora-Barefield to drive home their early supremacy that was built on Mark Hallinan’s aerial ability in midfield and an impressive defensive unit in which Kevin Dilleen and Sean Flynn were outstanding.

However, the Doora-Barefield forwards were lamentable and a point via a 22nd minute free from O’Connor was all they had to show for their labours as Miltown amazingly found themselves 1-2 to 1-1 up at the break.

A Gordon Kelly burst from centre back helped tee up Molohan’s goal that he drilled to the net from a very tight angle, while Micheál Malone, who grew into the game made a burst in the 23rd minute and landed a fine point.

Those scores and the way they came about were a portent of things to come, because on the turnover it was Miltown who showed the greater resolve – Gordon Kelly carried from deep, they dominated midfield, while sub John Meade made a telling contribution as they forged 1-4 to 1-1 clear by the 35th minute thanks to points from Gearóid Curtin and a Dessie Molohan free.

After points by Cathal Duggan (2) and Aidan O’Connor had DooraBarefield level by the 45th minute it Dessie Molohan who showed the way for Miltown when drilling a 45 in the wind and over the bar in the 47th minute.

Miltown never looked back; Barefield waited too long to bring on subs in the forwards and paid the price when captain Eoin Curtin and Molohan closed out the game with points from play.

Shannon Gaels 1-13 – Clondegad 0-15 at Labasheeda

SHANNON Gaels showed that there’s life after a championship defeat, bouncing back from their reverse against Cratloe the previous weekend to gather two precious league points in their fight against relegation.

It was all down to their inside line in which John Paul O’Neill and Michael Coughlan contributed 110 between them as the Gaels just edged this entertaining encounter that ebbed and flowed as much as the nearby Shannon Estuary.

It was O’Neill’s goal seven minutes into the second half that kick-started the Gaels’ strong second half showing, coming at time when Clondegad had kicked on from their 0-7 to 0-6 interval lead with points from Paudge McMahon (2) and Gary Brennan to lead by four points.

However, O’Neill’s strike, coupled with his brace by points by the 39th minute as he gave his marker Paddy O’Connell a torrid time of it, teed up a fight to the death in which the Gaels’ greater experience held sway.

It was close all the way through – points by Michael Coughlan (2), John Paul O’Neill and Shane Tubridy to replies by Gary Brennan (2) and Paudge McMahon left the Gaels 0-4 to 0-3 ahead by the 15th minute.

Clondeged forged 0-7 to 0-5 clear by the 22nd minute thanks to three more McMahon points and another from Brennan, with O’Neill and Coughlan keeping them within their sights with points before the break to leave the minimum between the sides.

With John Paul O’Neill moved to full-forward in the second half it turned into a battle between the two last lines of the attack – Brennan and McMahon leading the Clondegad charge early on before the complexion of the game changed radically after O’Neill’s goal.

Clondegad did bounce back with a four-point blast via Brennan, Kenneth Kelly and Paudge McMahon by the 48th minute to lead by 0-14 to 1-8, but the closing ten minutes were dominated by the Gaels when their final resurgence was flagged by a Francis Cleary point when he thundered up the field from corner-back.

It was followed by points from John Paul O’Neill, Michael Coughlan to level matters by the 54th minutes before Sean Reynolds hit the lead score in the 57th minute. From there the Gaels were not to be denied as another John Paul O’Neill point edged them two ahead before Paudge McMahon eighth of the day left the minimum between the sides at the end at the end.

Clondegad
Declan O’Loughlin, Brian Murphy, Paddy O’Connell, Conor Gavin, Flan King, Kieran Browne, Francie Neylon, James Murphy, Paddy Breen, Kenneth Kelly (0-1), Francis O’Reilly, Kieran Donnelly, Flan Enright, Gary Brennan (0-6, 2f), Paudge McMahon (0-8, 2f).

Shannon Gaels
Keith Ryan, Frank Cleary (0-1), Tomas Madigan, Fergal Kenny,Tomas Cleary, John Neylon, John Bermingham, Michael O’Donoghue, Sean Reynolds (0-1), Noel Kennedy, John Paul O’Neill, Fergal O’Neill, ShaneTubridy (0-1), Nigel Hehir, Michael Coughlan.

Subs
Brian O’Shea for Tubridy, Cathal O’Neill for Fergal O’Neill, Ruairi Norrby for Hehir.

Man of the Match
John Paul O’Neill (Shannon Gaels) Referee Michael Rock (Ennistymon)

AN INTRIGUING game for more than one reason on Saturday evening. Firstly, due to their intense rivalry that peaked in the 2006 and ‘07 county finals; the fact that Lissycasey legend Martin Daly is the current manager of Éire Óg while the reverse was true of Barry Keating while there was also the small matter of Éire Óg needing the victory to secure their semi-final place while Lissycasey required the points just to stay alive in the division after a disappointing start.

True to form, it turned out to be an inch tight contest that see-sawed in both directions before Lissycasey snatched it with a late brace of points.

The Townies had the better of the opening half’s exchanges to hold a 0-7 to 0-5 advantage but the second half livened up considerably with Lissycasey mounting a full recovery through a Martin Moran penalty. Éire Óg’s reply was also through the penalty spot from captain Stephen Hickey and it looked to have been enough to take all the points when holding a 1-11 to 1-10 lead with time almost up.

There was enough time to mount one final rally though and a late brace completed by Francis Hayes’ winner could yet be a pivotal score in Lissycasey’s season.

Lissycasey
Joe Hayes, Cyril Sheehan, Gerry Moran, Martin O’Connor, Cathal Hill, Michael Melican (0-1) Martin Moran (1-0) Enda Finnucane (0-1), Daniel Clohessy, OisinTalty, Francis Hayes (0-2) Alan Nagle (0-1), Paul Nagle (0-1) Niall Kelly (0-3) Derek McMahon (0-2)

Subs
Sean Hayes (0-1) for Talty, Fergal Talty for P. Nagle

Éire Óg
Eoin Slattery, Robbie Malone, Conor Healy, Michael O’Regan, Paul Madden, Dean Ryan, Nicky Hogan, Shane Daniels, Donie Lyne, Niall Daly, Stephen Hickey, Brian McMahon, Gary Flynn, Sean Crotty, David Monaghan

Subs
Danny Russell for McMahon, DonaghWalsh for Daly

Referee
Michael Fitzgerald (Ballyea)

A LOT of people forget that way back when things were rotten, that it was a junior team that showed the way for Clare hurling, winning a Munster final three days after the seniors were pummelled by Tipperary in their final, then going on to win the All-Ireland in Croke Park.

Still, being intermediate manager is a tough station – the seniors are the flagship team, the minors and the under 21 have a higher profile; the juniors are left to pick up the crumbs.

That’s what manager Kevin Kennedy must have thought many times over the past few months as he tried to piece together a panel of players to try and win a first Munster title in grade for 16 years.

“It was frustrating,” he says. “Very frustrating. I’m like Trappatoni. I’m depending on clubs to release players. There are players who don’t want to play for their county. Isn’t that great?

“There were number of players that I asked and they just weren’t interested. Then there were the clubs. Club managers wouldn’t release players for training. It’s practically impossible to prepare a team. What we did was gathered a group of players who were interested and we really pushed it for the last few weeks after the first two rounds of the club championship were over,” adds.

It was the arrival of Niall Gilligan and Tony Carmody into the squad that gave things a huge lift. “It gave lads a huge lift,” says Kennedy, “and now the players we have now are interested and very committed. Whether we’re good enough remains to be seen, because Cork are supposed to be very good.

“There is no doubt about it but there is a team in Clare that could be got together to win a Munster and All-Ireland title in this grade. Two or three years ago we had a good team and we were in a semi-final against Limerick. Ciaran Carey played for Limerick and was the difference between the sides. That’s why I invited the two lads in.”

With Gilligan and Carmody up front, the blend between youth and experience is provided by the younger brigade of Martin Duggan, Ivor Whyte and the precociously talented Daire Keane.

“I would have liked to have got more young fellas,” says Kennendy. “A few under 21s but the problem is that the under 21 management are not interested in having young fellas moving from one panel to the next.

“There are two or three fellas who would on the team, who are under 21 but didn’t join me. I can do nothing about that.

“We played two challenge matches against Galway and Limerick and were impressive in putting up big scores, but unfortunately we were conceding goals.

“That’s a worry, but I think we have the forwards this year to make a difference,” adds the 1997 All-Ireland winning manager.

TWO Clare surfers have been selected for the Irish Surf team to represent the country when the European Surfing Championships “Eurosurf”, supported by Fáilte Ireland, happen in Bundoran, County Donegal, from September 23 until October 3 this year.

Oliver O’Flaherty, 24, and Stephen Kelleher, 24, both from Lahinch competed in a series of selection events in early 2011 in order to secure a place on the Irish national surf team.

O’Flaherty is a member of the West Coast Surf Club and will be competing in the open surfing division of Eurosurf. Kelleher has recently been elected vice-chairman of West Coast Surf Club and is no stranger to international competition and was ranked 17th whilst representing Ireland at Eurosurf 09 in Jersey. He is also WCSC Longboard Champion 2008, the even he will compete in at Eurosurf.

The European Surfing Championships alternate each year between the senior event “Eurosurf” (odd years) and the Junior event “Eurojunior” (even years). The separation into a junior event and senior event happened in 1992.

The Euros were first held in 1970 in Jersey. 2011 will be Irelands fourth time to host Eurosurf, and third time in Bundoran. The previous Eurosurf events held in Ireland were 1972 in Spanish Point, which was won by England, 1985 in Bundoran, won by France, 1997 in Bundoran, won by Portugal.

The other team members are Ronan Oertzen, Shauna Ward, Darragh McCarter & Richie Fitzgerald from Bundoran, Stephen Kilfeather & Ashleigh Smith from Sligo, Shane Meehan from Strandhill and Cain Kilcullen from Enniscrone.

One position remains to be filled on the team and the contest is between John Britton (JB) from Rossnowlagh and Keith O’Brien from Tramore. A “surf-off” will take place at the Sea Sessions surf and music festival in Bundoran at the end of June to decide the final member of the Irish Surf team to compete at Eurosurf 2011.

The team will be coached by Pascal Devine, a native of Newtownstewart in County Tyrone and managed by Stevie Burns from Portrush. With over 40 years of surfing between them, they are well qualified to bring the team through their paces to compete against the best of Europe in September.

Newmarket-on-Fergus 2-22 – Whitegate 2-08 at Newmarket-on-Fergus

NEWMARKET moved back to the summit of Division 1 after a comfortable victory over relegation strugglers Whitegate on Monday afternoon. Both were understrength and without county seniors but it was the home side who were sharper and more clinical throughout, building up a seven point lead by the break before finishing the job on the turnover.

Tommy Griffin was the first half’s standout forward with three points on their way to a 0-11 to 0-04 half-time advantage, with Padraig Kilmartin and Enda Barrett also instrumental in keeping the east Clare side out at the other end.

Whitegate did manage to grab two goals through Ian Fahy and Stephen Malone in the second period while Newmarket were reduced to 14 following the dismissal of substitute Martin Murphy at the turn of the final quarter. However it still failed to trouble the home side who had a brace of goals of their own through Martin O’Hanlon and Anthony Kilmartin to ease up to victory and maintain their impressive unbeaten record of seven unbeaten competitive games.

Newmarket- on- Fergus
Kieran Devitt, Padraig Kilmartin, Stephen Kelly, Sean O’Connor,Alan Barrett, Enda Barrett, Noel Frawley, Martin O’Hanlon, Paraic Collins, Enda Kelly, David Barrett, JimMcInerney, Eoin Hayes,Anthony Kilmartin,Tommy Griffin

Subs
Darren Duggan for Griffin, Martin Murphy

for E. Kelly, Brian Clancy for Frawley, Bernard Gaffney for A. Kilmartin

Whitegate
AndrewFahey, Cathal Mulvihill, John Bugler, John Minogue, Jason Malone, Patrick Minogue,Trevor Kelly, Ian Fahy,Tomás McNamara, Michael O’Brien, Ray Cahill, Shane O’Rourke, GeorgieWaterstone, Stephen Malone, John O’Brien

Subs
Christy Jones for J. Minogue, Eoin Quirke for Kelly, John Minogue for Cahill

Man of the Match
Padraig Kilmartin (Newmarket- on- Fergus) Referee Damian Fox (WolfeTones)

Clooney/Quin 0-17 – Tulla 0-11 at Clooney

GOOGLE ‘HARMLESS’ and you will more than likely find a link to this game high on the reference list. More a fixture fulfilling challenge game rather than competitive action as both sides were understrength following the previous weekend’s championship fare.

The expected bite between the neighbouring clubs was predominantly non-existent as both sides went through the motions in an hour long formulaic struggle.

Clooney/Quin will undoubtedly emerge from this game in brighter spirits however as they controlled the game from the end of the opening quarter and srengthened their competition for places as John Earls hit five points from play; Adrian Fleming grabbed three; Brian Shally also contributed handsomely from both placed balls and play, including a standout volleyed point while the returning Seamus Conroy got some valuable game time.

Tulla meanwhile had none of the passion of their championship victory over the Mapgies that has one of Jim McInerney’s feet in the quarterfinals and while their defensive unit remained unchanged from the weekend, only three players remained from their front eight and it was to prove decisive. Without Eanna Torpey (emigrated), Danny O’Halloran (suspended), Conor O’Halloran, Brian Lynch, David McInerney and Andrew Quinn, Tulla were noticeably limp up front as measured by only six points from play that equates to one every ten minutes.

Instead, an even start that saw the sides level on four occasions by the 13th minute subsided into a one-sided second quarter in which the home side outscored their opponents by 08 to 0-1 in a 15 minute spell. Earls, Shally and Fleming were to the fore as was Cillian Duggan who swept up practically everything that crossed the halfway line as they led by 0-12 to 0-05 at the break.

The second period descended further into forgettable territory after Aidan Lynch’s early penalty was saved by replacement goalkeeper Patrick Cunningham. Instead, the Earls, Shally, Fleming triumvirate opened up a 0-17 to 0-08 advantage by the 57th minute and while Tulla finished with three Ray Stewart frees, it was Clooney/Quin who easily maintained their position in the semi-final qualification spot.

Clooney/ Quin
Damien O’Halloran, Shane McNamara, Conor Harrison,Tony McMahon, Mike McNamara, Cillian Duggan, Enda Harrison, Martin Duggan (0-2), Seamus Conroy, John Earls (0-5),Adrian Fleming (0-3), Daire Hannon, Mike Daffy (0-1), Cathal Egan, Brian Shally (0-6 4f)

Subs
Patrick Cunninghamfor O’Halloran (HT), Brian McInerney for Conroy (41 mins), Donnacha Murphy for Hannon (46 mins), Rory McNamara for Egan (52 mins), Niall McMahon for M. Duggan (58 mins)

Tulla
Philip Brennan, Eugene Cooney, Sean Torpey, John Brennan, Cian McInerney, Paul Lynch, Mark Quinn,Tomás McMahon, Cathal Dinan (0-1), John Fahy, Michael Murphy (0-1), Daragh Corry (01), Ray Stewart (0-5 3f, 1’65), Cathal Bolton,Aidan Lynch (0-3 1f)

Sub
Karl Quinn for McInerney (25 mins, inj)

Man of the Match
Cillian Duggan (Clooney/ Quin) Referee Seanie McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus)

Crusheen 2-12 – Sixmilebridge 0-16 at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

SKY SPORTS would have had been promoting this game for months in advance. The county champions Crusheen versus the Clare Cup equivalents Sixmilebridge promised a supercup of sorts to decide the ultimate champions. Instead, after the rigours of the weekend’s championship action, the standard of play was more like the Charity Shield, with both sides having to dip into their extended panels to decide which side took poll position in the race for two semi-final spots.

A goal in each half was enough to secure the points for the county champions, a victory that seemed very unlikely in a lacklustre first half offering that saw them trail by 0-8 to 0-2 as late at the 29th minute.

Up to that point, it was the Niall Gilligan show, with the former county senior and indeed current county intermediate chalking up five early points along with having a pull saved by goalkeeper Donal Tuohy.

Meanwhile, Crusheen couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo but improved significantly with the introduction of Gearoid O’Doherty who decisively hit 1-1 from placed balls late in the half to slash the deficit. The goal came from a 20 metre free after he had been fouled himself and it was a welcome boost going in at half-time only trailing by two at 0-8 to 1-3.

With Gilligan being Sixmilebri dge’s main scoring forward, he maintained his good form on the restart with three further points while also having a flick drift by the post.

Crusheen, however, seemed to have the better balance and after O’Doherty, Paddy Meaney, Gerry O’Grady and Niall Fitzgibbon had levelled matters by the 40th minute, they used the momentum to grab a second goal in the 42nd minute when Shaun Dillon was quickest to react to a rebound from a Paddy O’Grady shot.

Now in front for the first time in the game, the county champions cemented their lead further with points from O’Doherty and Dillon, and while Gilligan would add four more points, O’Doherty and Paddy Meaney were equal to those efforts on the scoreboard.

The home side did create a match winning goal chance in injury-time when David O’Connor pulled across the 20 metre line to Tommy Morey but his shot was expertly hooked by Cathal Dillon and Crusheen held on for could be an important victory.

Crusheen
Donal Tuohy, John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon,Alan Brigdale, Jason Greene, Cian Dillon, Cathal Dillon, Shaun Dillon (1-1), Gerry O’Grady (0-1), Gearoid O’Donnell, Niall Fitzgibbon (0-2), Jamie Fitzgibbon, Conor O’Donnell, Patrick O’Grady, Paddy Meaney (0-3)

Sub
Gearoid O’Doherty (1-5f) for C. O’Donnell (25 mins)

Sixmilebridge
Derek Fahy,Tadgh Keogh,Aidan Quilligan,Trevor Purcell, Barry O’Connor, John Fennessy, Paidí Fitzpatrick (0-1), David O’Connor, Robert Conlon,Tony Carmody,Tommy Morey, Pa Sheehan (0-1), Niall Gilligan (0-12 7f, 2’65’s), Brian Culbert, Danny Morey (0-2)

Subs
Paul Fitzpatrick for Purcell (HT),Anthony Liddane for Culbert (39 mins)

Man of the Match
Shaun Dillon (Crusheen) Referee Seanie McMahon (Newmarket)

Ruan 0-14 – Sixmilebridge 0-12 at Clareabbey

IT WAS almost a year to the very day since these sides last clashed at the same stage of the intermediate championship, in a game that ultimately mattered far less due to the advancement of three teams from the group of five.

On Tuesday, the consequences of defeat were far greater as now only two places are up for grabs in a group of six teams. In that meeting, an Earol Tuohy goal was enough to give the ‘Bridge a two point victory, this time Ruan got over the line by the same margin when late points from Brendan Lyons and the ever-reliable John Punch put daylight between the sides.

In truth, while Sixmilebridge needed victory more after losing their opening tie against Parteen and indeed will be kicking themselves that they didn’t avail of the chance to close out this game after doing so much hard graft to level up the game by the 58th minute, Ruan deserved to prevail.

In similar circumstances last year, they let slip a three point advantage in the closing minutes but fortunate- ly for Ruan, this time they held their nerve to see out the win. In all, 16 wides made it a far less comfortable ride to collect the points, especially in the opening half when they dominated but still only found themselves ahead by the minimum at the break, with John Punch securing the first four of that total at 0-8 to 0-7.

The ‘Bridge’s best opportunities came from frees as they would only score three points from play over the hour but it was only in the final five minutes that they would really threaten Ruan’s hold on the game. Trailing by 0-12 to 0-09, two Sam O’Sullivan frees and a point from substitute Paul Corbett gained parity by the 58th minute as memories of last year’s late turnaround came flooding back.

However, whether last year’s final experience has steeled Ruan or not, they didn’t panic with Lyons and Punch pointing to maintain their perfect start to the championship and more or less ending the ‘Bridge’s hopes in the process.

Ruan
Pakie Roughan, Gary Bell, Niall O’Connor,

Leon Quirke, Killian Ryan, Jonathan Clohessy, Dara Roughan,Tadgh Hanrahan, Caimin Howard,Aidan Lynch (0-2), Eoin Hanrahan, MikeyVaughan, John Punch (0-10 7f, 1’65),Alan Bell, Brendan Lyons (01)

Subs
Sean Cullinan (0-1) for A. Bell (35 mins), Colin O’Donoghue for T. Hanrahan (54 mins)

Sixmilebridge
Sean Chaplin,Wayne Kennedy, Eoin Quinn, Cathal Walsh, Jonathan Downes, Stiofan Fitzpatrick, Christy Griffin, SamO’Sullivan (0-6f),Adrian Chaplin, Mark Culbert, Ronan Hayes (0-1), Sean Stack, Earol Tuohy (0-1), Rory Liddane, Tommy Liddy (0-3f)

Subs
David O’Meara for Stack (43 mins), Michael O’Halloran for Liddy (46 mins), Paul Corbett (0-1) for Griffin (54 mins)

Man of the Match
Eoin Hanrahan (Ruan) Referee Michael Fitzgerald (Ballyea)