Category: Sport

THE ENNIS Triathlon club are holding their first Ennis Duathlon on Sunday, April 3, which will start and finish in Lees road as a build up to the European Duathlon Championships taking place in Limerick two weeks later.

Anyone is entitled to take part in the Ennis Duathlon and the Ennis Triathlon Club are encouraging peo- ple who have never done a duathlon or triathlon before to come along and take part. It will consist of a run-cycle-run, starting in Lees Road; the run will take place through the forest area covering 2.7k and they will then take off from here cycling the by-pass for 14.3k before eventually returning to lees road for a further 2.4k run to the finish.

All you need to take part is simply runners, a bike and a helmet. All en- trants will be provided with a timing chip that will give split results for the cycle leg, both runs and transitions. The cost of entry is € 20 per person including a € 5 fee for a one-day license from Triathlon Ireland if you are not already a member. All proceeds from the event will go towards Clare Haven. The Clare People spoke with Bryan Mathias, a member of the Ennis Triathlon club on the upcoming event and he hopes it will be a big success. The main focus is on targetting it at beginners and people who are new to duathlons and that you don’t have to join the club you can just come for the event on the day. He also hopes that this will now become an annual event in Ennis for Clare Haven and that they have invited the Triathlon Ireland Junior elite squad to take part in the event.

Bryan will be taking part in the Eu- ropean championships in Limerick on April 17 with other members of the club such as Paddy Quinn from Clarecastle and Conor Rooney from Inch who will also be featuring in the first Ennis Dualthlon.

If you are looking to register or for more information you can log onto www.ennistriclub.com. Registration will also be taking place on the day from 9am to 10am with the event starting at 10.30am sharp.

Newmarket-on-Fergus 2-11 – Kilmaley 2-11 at Knockalisheen Park, Meelick

NEWMARKET WILL be disappointed that they didn’t hold on while Kilmaley will wonder how they lost their foothold in a game they seemed to be controlling for two-thirds of the tie but deep down, it’s unlikely that either club will turn their nose up at a chance to get another competitive game under their belts before facing joint-championship favourites Cratloe in the last four.

Kilmaley appeared to be cruising towards victory following an impressive first half showing that saw them lead by five. They got off to the perfect start with an early settling goal from Daire Keane after two minutes when he doubled on a long range Michael O’Neill free to the net. Newmarket responded well to gain parity by the ninth minute through Sean O’Connor, Shane Liddy and Darren Duggan but with centre-back Darren O’Connor sweeping up everything, the switch of Keane to centre-forward was the tonic needed to curb his influence. It allowed Kilmaley to pick off six points without reply from Daire Keane (3), John Cabey, Michael O’Neill and Shane Darcy and by the interval, Kilmaley held a 1-6 to 0-4 advantage.

Having been uncharacteristically sluggish in the opening half, Newmarket were determined to get back into the contest on the restart but needed a spark to ignite their flame. That came in the 38th minute when a defensive error allowed Shane Liddy to pick up possession, drive at the Kilmaley defence and unleash a shot to the top corner. That goal changed matters dramatically and with Sean O’Connor pulling the strings at midfield, Newmarket maintained that intensity to score a further 1-3 without reply to open up a four point lead by the turn of the final quarter.

Sean O’Connor had a hand in all those scores, setting up Niall Enright and Frank Melody to equalise before grabbing the second goal himself when collecting a Darren Duggan lineball and striking an unstoppable shot from distance to the net.

Meanwhile, freefalling Kilmaley finally stopped the rot in the 51st minute through a Daire Keane ’65 following a batted shot from the same player that was turned away by goalkeeper Niall Woods.

Two further close efforts were also spurned by a resurgent Kilmaley who by the 60th minute were still trailing by four at 2-11 to 1-10. However, after a John Cabey point, Michael Pyne earned his side one final opportunity with a 20 metre free and inevitably up stepped Daire Keane to smash the ball to the net and ensure another day out for both sides this weekend.

Newmarket- on- Fergus
Niall Woods, Shane McDermott, Niall O’Connor, Niall Garry,Alan McInerney, Darren O’Connor, David Liddy, Sean O’Connor (1-2), Frank Melody (0-2), Noel Frawley (0-1), Niall Enright (0-1), LiamClancy (0-1 1f), Thomas Griffin, Darren Duggan (0-3 1f, 1’65), Shane Liddy (1-1)

Subs
Shane Kelleher for Griffin (23 mins, inj), Ian Cusack for Clancy (53 mins)

Kilmaley
Bryan O’Loughlin, Martin O’Connor, Stephen Griffey, Niall McGuane, Kevin Collellan, Colin McGuane, Kevin McNamara (0-1), Eoin Enright, Conor Cleary, Michael O’Neill (0-1 1f), Michael Pyne, John Cabey (0-2), Shane Darcy (0-1), Daire Keane (2-6 1-2f, 1’65), Shane Culligan

Subs
Paul Kennedy for Culligan (44 mins), Eoin Fitzgerald for Darcy (52 mins)

Man of the Match
Sean O’Connor (Newmarket- on- Fergus) Referee Ger Hoey (Killanena)

Rineanna B 1 – 0 Bridge United at Cassidy Park, Ennis

BRIDGE UNITED made a shock exit from the Clare Cup as they were beaten by Rineanna Rovers B thanks to a very late goal from Rineanna which saw them progress with a one nil win.

Only a week after Bridge Utd had beaten Rineanna’s A team in the Premier Division they faced Rineanna’s B side in the cup but this affair did not go as smoothly as they might have liked. Bridge could have easily went a goal behind in the early stages of the game as what looked to be a penalty for a foul on Ronan McCormack was not given and the sides remained level until the half.

Rineanna found it hard to break down this Bridge side in order to create chances but on the opposite end they also managed to keep Bridge out as they kept this encounter nip and tuck all the way to the finish denying Bridge of any clear cut chances.

Bridge United then had a great chance to take the lead with 20 minutes remaining but Trevor Maxwell’s effort struck the post. Then as extra- time was looming up stepped Ronan McCormack with only minutes left to give Rineanna the lead. They finally found a gap which put him through on goal as he took it over the ‘keeper and into the back of the net to put his side ahead.

There was little time remaining for a shell-shocked Bridge United side and they failed to create any chances in the closing minutes to force the game into extra-time which meant Rineanna Rovers B will now progress into the next round after a great performance.

Rineanna Rovers B
Eugene O’Mahoney, Ger Cahill, Darragh McCormack, David Barrett, Paudie O’Looney, Kieran O’Connor, Martin Frawley,Alan Barrett, Ronan McCormack, Enda Barrett, Shane Meehan.

Subs
Declan O’Mahoney.

Bridge United
Paul Touhy, Johnny Hayes, Donald Devanney, Darren Murphy,AdrianWhyte, Shane Devanney, Steve Stewart, Mark Culbert, Kieran Quinlan, Trevor Maxwell, JasonWhyte.

Subs
Niall Gilligan, Paul Fitzpatrick, Greg Deegan.

Man of the Match
Ronan McCormack (Rineanna Rovers B) Referee

CLARE manager Micheál McDermott had harsh words for his team in Cusack Park on Sunday after their hopes of promotion to Division 3 for 2012 were finally extinguished after their 0-16 to 1-10 defeat to Connacht champions Roscommon.

For 15 minutes he held his players in conclave, admitting to The Clare People afterwards that this latest defeat – their third of the campaign to date – wasn’t “good enough”.

However, in telling the players some home truths about the performance, McDermott says that the character is within the squad to bounce back for the challenges of the final three league games against and the Munster championship opener against Cork in June.

“The second half was good from Clare, but this is the bottom line: we threw it away.

“We threw away victory against Roscommon. To me we were the better team. We had chances to win that game and we just didn’t take them.

“When you have chances and you don’t take them, you get punished, especially against a good quality opposition like Roscommon. Roscommon really punished us.

“I take no defeat easily. We are as goo a team as the Connacht champions. In fact we were better than them, but we didn’t win. That’s very frustrating and not good enough. Our finishing let us down. Our options let us down. That’s not good enough,” said McDermott.

“We gave a performance we can feel proud of.

“We actually worked hard and upped our level of performance from our last couple of games.

“If we played like that against Carlow or Leitrim, we would have been sitting here still in contention to win this division and get promotion.”

“My view is that the league is never over until the final whistle in the final game is blown.

“We’re not going to be promoted this year, but we have to make sure that eight Longford, Fermanagh or Wicklow are not promoted on the back of a victory against us.

“Then we have to look to championship. I know the lads have the character.

“After the final whistle I would have been worried about where we go from here, but talking to them I know the character is in them to bounce back next week after pick it up again,” he added.

Avenue United 1 – Lifford 0 at Cassidy Park, Ennis

AVENUE United’s chances of retaining their Premier League title remain faint but alive after a narrow derby victory over Lifford on Thursday.

David Russell’s 67th minute goal settled a game of few chances and keeps the title race alive for another few weeks at least.

Avenue have six games in hand over first place Newmarket who sit 14 points clear at the top of the table.

The reigning league and Clare cup champions will have to embark on a major winning streak if they are to steer the trophy away from Newmarket’s hands.

Given Avenue’s record of success and the talent and experience within their squad, such a prospect is by no means beyond the bounds of possibility.

It looked for a long time on St Patrick’s Day that Avenue would have to settle for a point after being frustrated in their efforts by a resilient and well-organised Lifford side.

Lifford had defended very well until a momentary lapse in concentration proved fatal.

Mattie Nugent picked out the unmarked David Smyth on space at the edge of Lifford’s 18-yard box.

Smyth turned the ball wide to a similarly unmarked Russell. On his return from injury, the second half substitute produced a thumping finish that gave Lifford goalkeeper Jean Silva no chance.

Lifford went looking for an equaliser but despite the trickery of Ryan Boyle and Clare youths player Ruairi Norrby on the flanks, they failed to breach Avenue’s sound defence.

Substitute Roberto did come close with a close range header while David Herlihy missed a glorious chance to further enhance Avenue’s lead in the closing moments.

The result leaves Lifford looking nervously over their shoulders towards the lower end of the table. Yet while they could get sucked into a relegation battle, Lifford, with Limerick FC coach and former Bunratty manager Donal Magee now on board, appear a far stronger unit than the one taken to the brink in last year’s pulsating play-off with Mountshannon Celtic.

Chances were few and far between with Avenue’s best moments in the first half largely restricted to a couple of long range efforts from David McCarthy.

The visitors enjoyed more possession after the break but couldn’t break down a Lifford defence well marshalled by Hamed Kuku.

Barry Nugent went close with a header in the 61st minute before Rus- sell secured the all important match winner.

Lifford
Jean Silva, Joe Lynch, Connor Donnellan, Michael Joe Sullivan, Hamed Kuku, Gary Browne,TJ Ajisomo, Gary McNaboe, Pat Nagle, Ruairi Norrby, Ryan Boyle

Subs
Kieran Neenan for Nagle, Roberto for McNaboe

Avenue United
John Healy, Simon Cuddy, Richard Lillis, Mattie Nugent, Con Collins, Gary Flynn, Pa Wilson, David McCarthy, Barry Nugent, David Herlihy, David Smyth

Subs
David Russell for McCarthy, Richie O’Grady for Flynn, Eamon O’Reilly for Lillis

Referee
John Murray

BURREN United came from a goal down at half-time to ease their way into the quarter-final stage for the second consecutive year and so end Cratloe’s cup ambitions.

It was a lively game all through, especially in the opening half, when a depleted Cratloe side that only had the bare 11 players held sway after conceding a goal as early as the tenth minute when Ian McInerney’s through ball was squared by Liam Keane for Patrick Darcy to head home.

Cratloe were back on terms after 15 minutes when Padraigh Chaplin’s in-swinging corner from the right took a deflection on its way to the net, while the south east Clare side were cock-a-hoop on 35 minutes when midfielder Michael Hawes beat Craig Flanagan for the lead goal.

However, it was as good as it got for Cratloe as Burren turned the screw on the turnover. The equaliser came in the 60th minute when Ian McInerney’s corner was headed home at the far post by Enda Coughlan.

The lead goal came five minutes later when sub Danny Burke raced into the box and was brought down, with Mark McCarthy converting the kick, while Martin McDonagh made it 4-2 on 80 minutes when heading home another McInerney corner. Aly McMillan got a consolation for Cratloe two minutes from time.

Burren
Craig Flanagan, Daniel Carey, Enda Coughlan, John McDonagh, Marine Gihat (Eric Murrihy), Ian McInerney, Martin McDonagh, Evan Talty, Mark McCarthy, LiamKeane (Danny Burke), Patrick Darcy (John McCormack).

Cratloe Forest
Pierce de Loughrey, Philip Counihan,Thomas O’Connor, Brian McMillan, Padraigh Chaplin, Jeremy Cortrious,Aly McMillan, Chris McGrath, Michael Hawes, Damian Browne, Martin McMillan.

Referee
Julian Stanford

CLARE CRICKET will be in the spotlight this Friday night as the two clubs in Clare, Lahinch and County Clare Cricket Club took part in an event that will be shown on Nationwide on RTE 1 at 7pm this coming Friday.

The RTE crew were in Shannon on Monday morning as both the Lahinch Cricket team and the County Clare Cricket team who are based in Shannon took part in some training and skills demonstrations for the cameras before heading back the coast to play a match between the two teams on the Lahinch beach which gathered quite some interest. The Clare People caught up with Colin Humphrey, a co-founder of the Lahinch Cricket Club which was set up two years ago to talk about his club and how it was formed. “We gathered together a crew of lads who used to play cricket at some time and we put together a broad mixture of people from Australia, New Zealand, India, England and Ireland and decided to start a team up.” He says that although they are currently only playing friendly matches, with a squad of 24 players they are hoping to enter the Munster League next summer. He then went on to tell of how the idea for the programme came about,

“Well Nationwide got in touch and they wanted to get footage of us for the programme this Friday. I think it was due to the interest of Ireland beating England in the World Cup so we organised a bit of training this morning in Shannon and then came back to Lahinch and organised a match on the beach.”

He also added that the days events were a great success and he hopes that the clubs will grow in size and support as a result of the coverage they will get.

County Clare Cricket Club beat The Lahinch Cricket Club by a single run in the game which was played on the beach but they will join together forces in early May once more as they will be playing league games throughout the course of the summer months.

Clare 0-04 – Wexford 2-14 at Piercestown, Wexford

CLARE SUFFERED a sizeable defeat at the hands of the All-Ireland champions Wexford on Saturday in Piercestown, Wexford. Taking on the current champions in both league and championship was always going to be a daunting task for Clare, whose problems were added to by the absence of key players Sinead Donovan, Siobhan Lafferty and Laura Linnane through injury. Wexford had the added impetus of this being their first opportunity of playing in front of a home crowd since their All-Ireland win last September, their two other games in the group having been away games. And they did not let their supporters down, treating them to a display befitting that of champions. Wexford won the toss and played with aid of a strong breeze through the first half, and by mid-way though the 30 minutes, had five points on the board, before Katrina Parrock goaled in the 22nd minute. Chloe Morey got Clare on the scoreboard with a pointed free in the 26th minute, before Parrock pointed again, leaving the half time score Wexford 1-6, Clare 0-1.

Clare were more determined and focused at the restart but with Wex- ford in scintillating form, it was always going to be a difficult task to contain them. Claire McMahon and Morey added a point each to Clare’s tally from frees but there was no stopping Wexford. Referee Karl O’Brien’s decision to not penalise Parrock for three catches, allowed her to raise her second green flag of the day, leaving the result in little doubt. McMahon pointed again from a free for Clare’s last score of the match in the 53rd minute. Wexford tacked on another four points before ref O’Brien called time on a game that was now shooting practise for Wexford, leaving the final score Wexford 2-14, Clare 0-4. Clare can take some consolation from the fact that this was their most cohesive performance to date in the league, but will realise that they need to improve before their Munster semi-final in four weeks time.

Wexford
Mags Darcy, Claire O’Connor, Catherine O’Loughlin, Ciara Storey, Lisa Bolger, Mary Leacy, Karen Atkinson, Michelle O’Leary, Deirdre Codd, Josie O’Dwyer (0-2), Una Leacy (02, 1’45), Brid Gordon (0-1), Lenny Holohan (0-1), Evelyn Quigley (0-1) Katrina Parrock (2-2)

Subs:
Ursula Jacob (0-2) for Una Leacy (inj), Kate Kelly (0-3) for Holohan

Clare
SusanVaughan (Ogonnelloe), Helen McMahon (Kilmaley), Kate Lynch (Kilkishen), Marion O’Brien (Ogonneloe), Chloe Morey (Sixmilebridge) (0-2f), Roisin McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Sinead O’Loughlin (Inagh), Ruth Kaiser (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Lisa Loughnane (Kilkishen), Deirdre Murphy (Clooney/ Quin), Sharon McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Claire McMahon (Kilmaley) (0-2f), Norah Murphy (Kilkishen), Fiona Lafferty (Kilnamona), Mairead Scanlon (Scariff)

Subs
Aimee McInerney (Newmarket-on-Fergus) for O’Loughlin (HT),AnneMarie Fitzgerald (Bodyke) for Mairead Scanlon (47 mins), Sinead O’Loughlin for Deirdre Murphy (56 mins, inj).

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

THE INTERMEDIATE and senior leagues commence this weekend with the intermediate matches on Saturday and senior games on Sunday. There are eight teams in both competitions this year, divided into two groups of four. The top two teams in each group will progress to the semi-final stages of competition, with finals for both competitions fixed for the weekend of the May 21/22. I nt er mediat e Lea gue Round 1 Gr oup 1 Cla r eca st le v Tr uagh /Clonla r a Sat ur day, 4pm TRUAGH begin the defence of their league title away to Clarecastle. They will be looking to county players such as Michelle Caulfield and Ellen Horgan to lead the team to backto-back league titles. After reaching last year’s championship final, the team will be hoping to improve on performances throughout the year to help them to a second county final. Truagh’s experience should see them as one of two teams to come out of the group. Clarecastle are setting out to rebuild their team over the course of the league this year and will be ea- gerly awaiting championship action in August. With a mixture of youth and experience, they will be hoping to compete well in this year’s competitions. Whit egat e v Sca r iff, Sat ur day, 4pm WHITEGATE’S experience in contesting the intermediate championship cup semi final last year should stand to them in this tie. St Joseph’s are in a rebuilding process and will hope that the league will give them an opportunity to get this process off to a good start.

The other game in this group, Scariff v Inagh, was played last Sunday, with Inagh running out comfortable winners on a scoreline of 8-20 to 006. Gr oup 2 Cr usheen /Killa nena v Ogonnelloe, Sat ur day THE amalgamation of Junior sides Killanena and Crusheen will add an interesting mix to this year’s Intermediate League. Crusheen contested the junior league and championship finals last year, conceding defeat in both to Kilnamona. Killanena won the intermediate shield final in 2010 and will be hoping to get their year off to a good start, with a least a semi-final spot in their sights. Senior League Gr oup 1 Sca r iff/Ogonnelloe v Kilkishen @ Ogonnelloe, Sunday 12pm THIS IS a repeat of last year’s senior B championship final that saw the amalgamated side claim the spoils. Kilkishen will not want a repeat of this, and though currently in a period of transition, will be hoping that the experience this youthful side gained from last year’s encounters will see them through to the latter stages of this year’s league. Sixmilebr idge v Cor ofin @ Sixmilebr idge, Sunday 4pm, Refer ee J im Hickey (Cr at loe) SIXMILEBRIDGE will have been disappointed not to have lifted silverware last year in adult competition, and will be hoping that 2011 will be their year. Promoted to senior status, after the successes of last year, Corofin will be looking to use the league as preparation for senior championship. Gr oup 2 Clooney/Quin v Kilma ley @ Clooney, Sunday 3. 30pm A REMATCH of last year’s league final, which saw Kilmaley run out winners. Clooney will want to build on last year’s performance and go one step further this year in clinching the title, however Kilmaley’s blend of experience and youth will not be easy to overcome. Newma r ket on Fer gus v Wolfe Tones, Sunday 3. 30pm NEWMARKET will want to make up for last year’s league performance and are strong contenders for a final spot. Wolfe Tones, whose poor showing over the last number of years, are currently rebuilding. They will be hoping that the league experience will give them a strong foothold to hold their own in the championship later in the summer. J unior Fixt ur es Gr oup 1 Fea k le v Ba llyea @ Fea kle, Sunday 4pm Éir e Óg v Killa nena @ Éir e Óg, Sunday 12pm Tr ua gh /Clonla r a v Sixmilebr idge, Sunday 12. 30pm Gr oup 2 Kilma ley v Cor ofin @ Kilma ley, Sat ur day 3. 30pm, Refer ee Noel McI ner ney Cr usheen v Kilkishen (post poned t o weekend Apr il 2/3) Tulla a bye

Liscannor 0-8 – Miltown 1-4 at Liscannor

DEFENDING champions St Joseph’s Miltown have yet to register a victory in the 2011 Cusack Cup after suffering defeat to Liscannor by the narrowest of margins on Sunday.

After an opening day draw with Kilrush, Miltown were embroiled in another tight contest with county finalists Liscannor who held on to secure their first competitive win of the year.

With weather conditions dominating proceedings, it was the proverbial game of two halves as backed by a strong wind in the first half, the home side stormed into a five point lead, with their triumvirate of Alan Clohessy (3), Ronan Slattery and Kieran Considine getting on the scoreboard.

Miltown on the other hand, found the going tough early on but were handed a major lifeline when a defensive error allowed Enda Malone to goal for the holders. Liscannor did recover with points through Davy McDonagh and Clohessy to lead by 0-7 to 1-0 at the break but that goal took the gloss off the home side’s first half display, with Miltown having the strong wind at their backs for the second period. The expectant fightback was severely hampered however only minutes after the restart when Kevin Keavey was dismissed for a second yellow but Miltown eventually set tled through a Joe Curtin point to cut the deficit to a goal. Further drama ensued for Miltown when Curtin earned his side a penalty only to see Sean Malone put the resulting kick wide while up the other end, county senior Clohessy scored what was to prove a crucial point for his side at 0-8 to 1-1.

The introduction of talisman Dessie Molohan saw the lead slashed to only the minimum with time running out but they could not get the crucial score to get anything out of the game, including a late Joe Curtin shot that was saved by goalkeeper Noel Kilmartin. He gave Liscannor their first win of the campaign and leapfroged their opponents in the process.

Liscannor
Noel Kilmartin, Shane Canavan, Davy McDonagh (0-1), Michael Foley, Robbie Lucas, Ronan Slattery (0-1), Denis Murphy, Joe Considine,Alan Flaherty, Niall Considine, Johnny Considine, Ger Considine, Kieran Considine,Alan Clohessy (0-5), Kieran Considine (0-1)

Sub
David Commane for Nagle

St Joseph’s Miltown
Niall Quinn, Enda Malone, Gordon Kelly, David Cleary, Gearoid Curtin, Kevin Burke, Ian Sexton, Sean Meade, Darragh McDonagh, Brian Curtin, Garry Egan, Kevin Keavey, John Meade, Sean Malone, Joe Curtin (1-1)

Subs
GrahamKelly for Burke, Martin Barry for Egan, Dessie Molohan (0-3) for S. Malone, Enda O’Gorman for McDonagh

Man of the Match
Alan Clohessy (Liscannor) Referee Pat Cosgrove (Corofin)