Category: Sport

Hermitage A 0 – 0 Manus Celtic B (AET) Manus won 4-3 after penalties at the Fairgreen

33 PLACES separate Premier Division high-flyers Hermitage and bottom tier promotion hopefuls Manus Celtic B but the cup is a great leveller as it proved on Sunday when the tage’s flag was lowered.

And with every giantkilling story, there has to be a hero and on this occasion, the dragon slayer was Manus Celtic’s goalkeeper Jason Considine who not only kept his side in the game in open play, saved a penalty in the shoot-out and score the winner himself but was also only playing his first game of the season.

With such a dramatic storyline, you’d have to believe the script was written for Manus to take the Tage’s scalp and it was a plucky performance from the third Division side who may not have had many clearcut chances but more than matched their opponents in what was a dogged midfield battle.

Indeed, Manus started the better side and had a Bernard Scanlon shot inside the opening minutes hit the side netting but the Premier Division side grew into the game and could have snatched a goal just before the break, only for goalkeeper Considine to pull off a superb stop.

Hermitage continued where they left off on the restart and piled on the pressure but aside from a Scott Hennessy effort that hit the bar, they found Manus’ defence difficult to break down.

Contrary to expectations, it was the Premier side who appeared the more tired in the final quarter and as the game drifted into extra-time, both sides were happy to settle for penalties.

Up stepped Considine who saved the Tage’s second spot kick and when Hennessy put the fourth over the bar, the goalkeeper drove home the winner and secure Manus’ passage into the last eight.

Rock Rovers 2 – 3 Tulla United at Lees Road, Ennis

THESE are heady days for Tulla United. Back in the bigtime of the Premier Division after a number of years in the lower divisions and now in the Clare Cup quarter-final thanks to this thrilling win over former champions Rock Rovers.

Indeed, taking down Rock was a huge achievement for a Tulla side that’s more than holding its own in the top flight of the league thanks to their current standing of third place.

Rock were favourites given their sterling cup exploits in recent years – apart from being winners in 2008 they were quarter-finalists the following year and semi-finalists last year where they were shocked by Bridge United B.

And the Ennis side had things their own way early on, forcing the pace before breaking the deadlock after 20 minutes when Eoin Glynn’s cross from the right wing was volleyed to the net by David Ryan.

However, from there until half-time it went horribly wrong for Rock as they leaked two goals to a cock-ahoop Tulla side. Indeed, it only took four minutes – the equaliser came on 23 minutes when Stephen Loftus failed to gather a cross from the left and Mike McDermott gleefully tapped home to the net.

A minute later a free kick was floated into the Rock area from the right, with centre-forward Niall Whelan rising highest at the far post to head to the net.

Rock did have chances to equalise in the second half, but David Ryan and Marty McLoughlin both missed great chances early in the half. Opportunity knocked for McLoughlin again on 56 minutes, but his free header flashed over the bar from close range.

These misses came back to haunt Rock on 75 minutes when Tulla struck for a third on the break. A shot from left hit the cross bar and bounced down to Keith Lenihan who slammed the ball to the net from range.

Rock did give themselves a lifeline on 86 minutes when from a cross by Eoin Glynn, sub Stephen Hickey volleyed to the net from a yard out, but try as they might in the closing stages, the equaliser that would have brought the game to extra time never came as Tulla marched on.

Rock Rovers
Stephen Loftus, Michael Dinan (Ashley Glynn), Ciarán Russell, JasonWhite, Shane Daniels, Dean Gardiner, Eoin Glynn, Francis Daniels (Ronan Judge), David Ryan, Barry Woods, Marty McLoughlin (Stephen Hickey)

Tulla United

Shane Collins, PaudgeVaughan, Gearóid Doherty (Tommy McKeon), Dennis Murphy, Darragh Corry (Brian Hehir), Mike McDermott, Padraic O’Malley, Shane Mason, Niall Whelan,Alan Brigdale, Keith Lenihan.

Man of the Match
Darragh Corry (Tulla United) Referee Martin Monaghan

A QUINTESSENTIAL cup tie that appeared to be heading for extratime before centre-half Michael Concannon unleashed an unstoppable injury-time winner to send Corofin Harps into the last eight. It was a cruel way for home side Kilmaley to exit the cup. The victory was no more than Corofin Harps deserved on the day.

While the goal was a rare strike from general play, there were several opportunities from set-pieces with Kilmaley hitting the woodwork in each half.

That was as good as it got for Kilmaley who were second best possession-wise for the bulk of the encounter. On the flip side, Corofin played some eye-catching passing football but found Kilmaley’s defence difficult to break down.

So when Paul Linnane’s 88th minute free whistled just over the crossbar, extra-time seemed to be on the cards. That was until the ball fell kindly for Concannon to strike from 35 yards into the top right corner.

Kilmaley Fern Celtic
Gerry Healy, Pa Sherlock, Noel Healy, Philip Noonan, Jamie Meehan, Eoin McNamara (Alan Hehir, 78 mins), Jamie Mills, Conor Brennan, Greg O’Flanagan, Liam Meaney, Sean O’Flanagan

Corofin Harps
Mike Heath, Steven Quinn, Jason O’Connor, Michael Concannon, John Keane, Ronnie Meere (Fergal Neylon, HT), Paul Linnane, James Keane, JasonTierney, GaryTierney, Brian Halpin (Damien Ryan, HT)

Man of the Match
John Keane (Corofin Harps) Referee Paddy Dunne

Lifford 2 – Newmarket Celtic 1 at Cassidy Park, Drumcliffe

NEWMARKET Celtic are flying high at the top of the Premier Division and closing in on their first title in three years, but their Clare Cup drought will extend to a dozen years at least.

All because they were dumped out of this year’s competition by Lifford, who have go all the way back to 1976 for their last success in the blue riband of the game in Clare.

They reached the last eight for the first time since 2009 thanks staving off Newmarket in the second half, with Jean Silva in goal and central defenders Mickey Joe O’Sullivan and Hamed Kuku in inspiring form as they doggedly held on to the 2-1 lead they’d carved out by half-time.

The home side got a dream start when Lunga Balman latched onto a through ball from midfield, used his strength to fend off a couple of Newmarket defenders before planting the ball past Kieran McGlynn in goal.

Newmarket were back on terms after 30 minutes when Davy Wall’s pile-driver took a deflection off Eoin Hayes and flew to the Lifford net past Jean Silva, but Lifford wee back in front five minutes later when Gary McNaboe raced into the area and was fouled for a penalty that Ryan Boyle dispatched to the net.

Those three first half goals may have rounded off the scoring, bu there was no shortage of goalmouth action in the second half as Newmarket laid siege on the Lifford goal.

The Ennis side were content to soak up the pressure and try and hit Newmarket on the break, a ploy which nearly paid dividends in the 63rd minute when Conor Donnellan was foiled by a great save from Kieran McGlynn.

Donnellan also had a penalty claim turned down, as did TJ Ajisomo, but the other penalty area was the scene for much more activity as Newmarket threw everything into getting the equaliser.

Substitute Kieran Devitt, a cup winner with Rineanna Rovers two years ago, had a great chance to get his side on terms on 84 minutes but was foiled by Jean Silva.

However, Newmarket were conviced they’d got back on terms five minutes from time when Mike O’Malley’s header looked goalbound only for Jean Silva to claw it back into play. Newmarket protested that the ball had crossed the line but Dave McCarthy waved play on and with it Newmarket’s cup race was run.

Lifford
Jean Silva, Joe Lynch (Conor Donnellan), Hamed Kuku (Kieran Connelly), Mickey Joe Sullivan, Dylan Blake, Ryan Boyle,TJ Ajisomo, Gary McNaboe (Gary Browne), Ruairi Norrby, Roberto Pinto, Lunga Balman (Kieran Neenan).

Newmarket Celtic
Kieran McGlynn, Mark O’Malley (Davy O’Grady), Mark Donnellan, Eoin O’Brien, Paudie Hayes (Mike O’Malley), Mike Devitt (Kieran Devitt), Eoin Hayes (Gary Collins) (Neil Ryan), Darren Cullinan, Seamie Lawolor, Davy Wall, Mikey Crosby.

Man of the Match
Mickey Joe O’Sullivan (Lifford)

Referee
David McCarthy

THE CLARE Minors Ladies Footballers continued to hone their match skills when they hosted current AllIreland Minor Champions Galway at Quilty GAA Grounds last Sunday.

Another fast paced work-out for the Banner girls over three twenty minute games, Clare were faster off the mark than they were against Dublin last week showing an increase in appetite that is vital for their first round of the Munster A Championship against Kerry on April 9.

The overall result for the day was the fairest possible outcome but Clare were decidedly sharper than the Tribeswomen in their first selection.

This position was reversed in the second challenge and Clare took the win in the third game but results are secondary in this type of event as both sides are continually changed and tested over the course of the day.

The Clare Minors will take on Limerick at Parteen GAA Grounds next Sunday at 11am in a similar event.

A bus will leave Miltown Bank Corner at 8.15am and depart from the West County Hotel, Ennis at 9am sharp.

Sixmilebridge 0-17 – Clonlara 2-5 at Dr Daly Park, Tulla

YOU get the sense with Sixmilebridge that where this championship is concerned, 2011 is about unfinished business.

That mood was very much in evidence in Tulla on St Patrick’s Day when the defeated finalists from 2010 were comfortable winners over a Clonlara side that were always chasing a losing cause once they found themselves trailing by seven points at half-time having played with the wind.

Yes, the ‘Bridge hit this championship running, strutting to a six-point victory that flattered Clonlara somewhat as both their goals came in the flurry of action in the final five minutes that also saw Eoin Meehan and Cathal O’Connell see red for the vanquished, while John Fennessy suffered the same fate for the winners.

The 2009 champions never really looked back after responding to the opening point from Cathal O’Connell in the fifth minute by reeling off five of their own to lead by 0-5 to 0-1 after 15 minutes. Ronan Mullane did the early damage with two points before a hat-trick from man-of-thematch Jamie Shanahan.

The marker was down and the ‘Bridge more than living up to their early billing for the rest of the game. A four-point lead was stretched to seven by the interval, with Shanahan notching two more frees, while points from play came via Sam O’Sullivan, Shane Golden and Shanahan brought their tally to 0-11.

Clonlara were fighting a losing battle, with only Cathal O’Connell’s frees (2) and an effort from play by Colm Galvin keeping them anyway competitive. The 2008 champions did rouse themselves early in the second half, moving Darach Honan from midfield to full-forward and opening the scoring thanks to Thomas Begley.

However, it was as good as it got for over 25 minutes as the ‘Bridge soon assumed total control and reeled off another flurry of five unanswered points by the 50th minute to move 11 clear. Impressive wing-back John Fennessy got them going with a huge point from play three minutes into the half, before points by Shanahan and Seadna Morey stretched the lead to nine by the 40th minute.

Clonlara needed goals, but after Darach Honan’s 20-metre free was stopped by Stephen Fleming in the 45th minute they had to wait until very late in the game for consolation scores, with Honan blasting a semipenalty to the net in the 56th minute and then teeing up Cathal O’Connell for a goal a minute later.

Then came the argy bargy that saw three players seeing red, with Fennessy rather unluckily being picked out as one of the culprits.

O’Callaghan’s Mills 3-11 – Clarecastle 4-07 at Cratloe

IN THE END, only an injury-time Adrian Donovan ’65 with almost the last puck of the game separated the sides but in truth, even if Clarecastle had secured a draw, it would have been a major escape having played second fiddle for much of the game and only grabbing a late lifeline after some fortunate goals.

All this was in contrast to a near perfect start that saw the Magpies storm 1-3 to 0-0 clear early on with Conor O’Gorman grabbing the goal and Aaron Considine converting all three points. Unfortunately, far from settling the side, the Magpies failed to build on that lead and would only score one more point in the half through Patrick Casey as the Mills finally found their feet.

By half-time, three Adrian Donovan placed balls and further points from from Eoin’s, McInerney and McGrath slashed the deficit to only two at 1-4 to 0-5.

The Mills maintained that pattern after the break and took the lead for the first time in the 35th minute when Eoin McGrath pulled to the net from close range followed by another brace of points to take a 1-7 to 1-4 advantage.

Clarecastle’s attempted fightback through a pair of Aaron Considine frees was interrupted by a second Mills goal, this time with Ian Donnellan pulling through a crowded goalmouth.

By the 50th minute, the Mills had pushed 2-9 to 1-6 ahead but far from seeing out the game, a dramatic yet bizarre finale lay in store.

Goalkeeper Henry Skehan did well to keep out a Stephen O’Halloran shot only for the clearance to go straight to John Reidy who managed to find the net from 40 metres as Skehan lost his footing.

Crucially the Mills responded immediately to the set-back, with James McMahon pulling to the net followed by an Eoin McInerney point but even then a seven point lead wasn’t enough. An Aaron Considine free and a goal from a deflected David Green shot saw the Magpies recover to within a goal and in the 61st minute, a Conor O’Gorman ’65 again came off the stick of a defender to nestle in the corner of the net and tie up the game.

However, the Mills showed their character once more and were handed a highly controversial penalty as Eamon O’Connor seemed to legitimately hook Ian Donnellan on his way towards goal only for referee Damien Fox to signal a penalty. With only seconds remaining, Adrian Donovan unconventionally chose to go for goal instead of securing the win with a point and was almost punished when his effort was stopped for a ’65. However, this time he kept his cool to convert the placed ball and send his side into a quarter-final meeting with Whitegate.

O’Callaghan’s Mills
Henry Skehan, Sean O’Gorman, Gerry Cooney, Michael McGrath,Aidan Fawl,Adrian Donovan (0-4 2f, 2’65 s), Darren Cooney, Kevin O’Callaghan, Eoin McInerney (0-2), Eoin McGrath (1-1), Ian Donnellan (1-0),Aidan O’Gorman (0-1), ColmMcHugh (0-1), James McMahon (1-0), Jamie Lynch (0-2f)

Clarecastle
Jamie Coughlan, Gearoid Ryan, Eamon O’Connor,Austin Guckian, Cormac Donnellan, Stephen O’Halloran, Fearghus Ryan, Patrick Casey (0-1), John Reidy (1-0), Mark Foley, David Green (1-0), Conor O’Gorman (2-0), Seanie Dilger,Aaron Considine (0-6 3f), Michael Casey

Subs
Gary Porter for P. Casey (40 mins),Tom Kelleher for Guckian (47 mins), James McAllister for Foley

Man of the Match
Adrian Donovan (O’Callaghan’s Mills) Referee Damien Fox (WolfeTones)

Clare 5-10 – London 0-4 at Cusack Park, Ennis

THE fact that there were only 16 paying customers to Clare GAA headquarters on this bitterly cold Saturday afternoon told its own story.

Told of the apathy around the fixture, something that certainly seeped through to the Clare players in a forgettable first half before they opened their shoulders on the turnover and pummelled a truly lamentable London side into submission long before Richard Moloney’s final whistle that couldn’t come quick enough.

There were 21 points in it in the end as Micheál McDermott’s charges hit 3-7 to London’s 0-1 in the second half – a romp, but above all an embarrassing day for the Exiles that would have been an awful lot worse had Clare not hit 17 wides over the 70 minutes.

Ten of those wides came in the first half, with David Tubridy being the worst culprit, but such was his influence on proceedings that he still hit 2-7 as Clare cruised to their second with from four games of the current campaign.

The game was always going to go Clare’s way, it was just a matter of what the margin was going to be and for much of the first half it looked as if London could limit the damage to respectable proportions thanks to the tactic of playing seven in defence. Although London leaked a goal as early as the seventh minute when Alan Clohessy beat London net- minder Brian McBrearty in the air and palmed David Tubridy’s long deliver to the net, they were still competitive for much of the half.

A couple of points from Eoin O’Neill frees left them only 1-2 to 0-2 behind after 25 minutes, but real daylight between the sides started to emerge two minutes later when a sweeping Clare move involving Rory Donnelly, Michael Foran and Alan Clohessy was fisted to the net by Gary Brennan.

This strike, which was followed by pointed frees from David Tubridy and another Eoin O’Neill effort for London left Clare 2-3 to 0-3 ahead at half-time, an advantage they swelled by a point a man when turning to play with the wind and into the scoreboard goal for the second half.

The wide count was mounted to by seven, but the scores mounted too as London’s challenge fell asunder when a re-jigged Clare that saw Gary Brennan re-located from full-forward to midfield started peppering the posts for fun.

The tone was set only 12 seconds in when the hard-working Niall Browne set up Alan Clohessy for a point, while the floodgates really started to open after David Tubridy latched on to a perceptive pass from Cathal O’Connor on the endline to drill a low shot to the net from a very tight angle.

From there it was target practice – for Clare and above all for David Tubridy as the Doonbegman marked his return from a two-match suspension hit a further 1-3 inside ten minutes as London’s defence was swamped. The points came from frees while Gary Brennan teed him up for his second goal in the 52nd minute.

Four minutes later it was Alan Clohessy’s turn to rattle the net as London went into complete meltdown – their only consolation for a nightmare half coming with virtually the last kick of the game when Eoin O’Neill hit his fourth point from a free.

The stats of a 21-point win for Clare; those 16 paying customers and the fact that London’s scoring contribution amount to just four frees made this game something of a waste of time.

A fixture to fulfill – nothing more.

LAST WEEKEND saw Clare host the Munster Juvenile Handball Championships and it was a case of glory all the way as the county scooped no less than nine provincial titles at the Tulla and O’Callaghan’s Mills complexes.

Final – RESULTS 2011
Saturday March 12th: OCallaghan’s Mills @12 Noon. G12S: Ella Donnealn [Clare] bt Diane ONeill [Cork] 15-0, 15-1 B12S:Tiernan Agnew[Clare] bt Darragh Moynihan [Cork] 15-3, 15-5 B15D: Jacob Loughnane/Ciaran Cooney [Clare] bt Timmy Dunne/Aidan Kerins [Cork] 15-3, 15-2 B16S: Colin Crehan [Clare] bt Ryan Harkin [Cork] 21-17, 21-2 Saturday March 12th:Tulla @12 Noon. G14D: Clodagh Nash/Doireann Murphy [Clare] bt Katie Hayes/Lauren Mc Gregor [Waterford] 15-9, 15-1 B13D: Jack Hayes/Shane Hunt [Clare] bt Risteard Duggan/ Evan Murphy [Limerick] 0-15, 15-11, 15-13 G16S:Alice Akers [Clare] bt Aoife Landers [Waterford] 21-20, 6-21, 11-10 B14S: Brian Fahy [Clare] bt Shane Flynn [Cork] 15-2, 15-8 B16D: Niall Bolton/Colin Corbett [Clare] bt Daniel Relihan/Michael Hedigan [Cork] 21-17, 21-8

IT was hard to find a pulse in Cusack Park on Saturday afternoon such was futility of this exercise from London’s point of view, but Clare couldn’t let lack of enthusiasm for this fixture come between them and the bread and butter of two league points.

So it was that Clare moved through the gears, very slowly and sluggishly during the first 35 minutes before really pressing on the accelerator in the second half that made this largely forgettable encounter a tale of two halves for Micheál McDermott’s charges.

“Our first half performance was very poor and we had a good chat with the lads at half-time about what had gone wrong,” admitted McDermott afterwards.

“London dropped an extra man back in defence and we just weren’t clever enough to cope with that. When we pumped long ball in they were mopping it up.

“In the second half if they stayed with that formation we were going to run at them from deep, but they went 15 on 15,” he added.

But that’s where it all went wrong for London – the damage limitation they’d employed in the first half as corner-forward Austin Concannon dropped back between the full-back and half-back lines had at least made them competitive, but 15 on 15 fast turned things into something of an embarrassment as a six-point halftime deficit mushroomed to 21 points by the end.

“Our second half performance was a lot better,” said McDermott, “and I was very pleased with the goals that we worked because they came from moves that we had been working on in training.

“Gary Brennan coming out to midfield in the second half really helped us. He got a good goal in the first half from full-forward but for the first 15 minutes of the second half with him at midfield we dominated the area and we drove on and got some great scores from it.

“It was important to get a win under our belts before moving on the last four games of the campaign. Starting with Roscommon next weekend we know what we have to do.

“Every game is a big game from now on. Every game is a must win game if we want promotion to Division Three for next year.