Category: Sport

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.

LIAM Óg Murphy from Ennis who currently plays rugby with Young Munster received his first cap for Ireland at the weekend after he was selected on the Ireland Club XV.

The Ireland Club XV is a team which is picked from non-professional players of the AIL League in Ireland and gives players an opportunity to represent their country with great recognition. The team beat the Scotland selection 32-30 last Friday and Liam Óg made his first appearance for Ireland when he was brought on as a substitute 62 minutes in.

This was a major honour for Liam Óg and The Clare People spoke with him to see how he was feeling about it all.

“Certainly one of my goals at the start of the season was to make the Ireland Clubs team.” Having accomplished this he was delighted to get a bit of the action last friday,

“It was a bit surreal going out and wearing green on your back. I’m just happy I was involved.”

He sees this as a big stepping stone in the hope of furthering his international career. “There’s a couple more like myself who have been picked and are seeing this as an opportunity for higher honors with Ireland.”

Liam Óg was part of the USA under 19 and 20 rugby team’s that took part in the World Cup a few years ago and he felt it was a great chance for himself to play international rugby.

“I played about twenty minutes the last day which gave me a good enough chance to prove myself so hopefully I’ll be in with a shot.”

The Ireland Club XV will host England this Friday at Anglesea Road (Kick-off 5.30pm) and they will be looking for revenge from their 29-25 defeat last year. The Clare People would like to wish Liam Óg the best of luck with his international career.

‘SHOOTING FISH in a barrell’ and ‘cakewalk’ were just some of the phrases that could be heard exiting Cusack Park on Sunday as Clare had a 31 point victory over Down. What Ger O’Loughlin and his backroom team of Danny Chaplin, Liam Doyle and Fiach O’Loughlin actually learned from this bloodless affair was debatable but considering their last league performance in Clare headquarters against Limerick, manager O’Loughlin was content to take the points ahead of tougher tests in the coming weeks.

“We started poor again. It took us ten or fifteen minutes to get into the game but once we found our feet, we were ok. The opposition was poor and then the two sendings off probably made a bit of a farce of the game really but in saying that, we’ll take it. We needed to get a good score and the confidence was there today for the lads. We had some good displays today but as I say, the opposition wasn’t great today so it was hard to read into what we will learn out of it. It’s two more points on the board anyway.”

His opposite number, Down manager Gerard Monan was full of chat this time last year when travelling to Clare for their opening league tie but he wasn’t as forthcoming this time around, preferring to stay silent, possibly due to the two sendings off that essentially wrecked any hopes of keeping the game competitive according to O’Loughlin.

“The second sending off killed the game. I think they lost a lot of heart after that as well and after 15 minutes of the second half, the game was over and there was no shape to it. But that’s not our fault so we will take our win and hopefully we’ll keep improving. We have Kerry in two weeks, then Laois and Carlow so for those three matches, we will have to be at the top of our game. It’s in our own hands so hopefully we can keep improving.”

“All the lads go back to the clubs for the Under 21 championship on Thursday and Sunday, and we have a challenge match on Thursday against Cork without the Under 21’s so it gives a chance to other lads and we will possibly have another game on Sunday against Dublin so we will see how that goes.”

And just before the Clarecastle native exited the field for warmer environs, he gave one last summary of the 5-22 to 0-06 scoreline.

“I thought we got some good scores but perhaps at times we had too much room and we might not learn a whole lot out of it. We just have to take the positives out of it and there were plenty of positives.”

TEENAGERS Kayleigh McCormack and Sally Carrig (left) were Clare’s golden girls at the National Youth and Lady’s Boxing Championships in Dublin at the weekend.

Both boxers took home gold medals for Clare who had five competitors battling for glory at the National Stadium.

Coach Colum Flynn hailed the performances of Clare’s boxers, describing their appearances in the finals as a “great achievement”.

After defeating Lauren Smith from the South Meath club in the semi-final, McCormack (16) had too much for Ulster Champion Rosemary Doherty in the final of the 57 kg lady’s division.

The Kilfenora boxer overpowered her opponent from the Carndonagh club, racking up an impressive 3-0 points victory.

“She won the title last year and she is one of the best boxers around”, said Flynn.

Carrig (15), representing Ennis Boxing Club, was similarly impres- sive when she defeated Mayo’s Ciara Loftus 14-3 in the final of the 63 kg lady’s division.

Both girls were level at 3-3 after the first round. But Carrig showed her class to wrap up a convincing victory.

There was disappointment for Kayleigh’s cousin, Caoilinn Mc Cormack. Caoilinn, making her first appearance in the national championships, was beaten in the final by Helen Carty from Kilkenny.

“She’s definitely one for the future. She’s very sharp, a good boxer. She has very few flaws”, said Flynn.

After impressing in her 16-3 semifinal win over Katie Hyland, reigning champion Antoinette Keane (16) was defeated 6-1 by Louth’s Shani Just in the 63 kg final.

There was disappointment too for 16-year-old Lee Sherlock who lost to John Stokes from the Mulhuddart club in the 54 kg youths final.

Flynn said, “He had a good second round, he rallied a bit but Stokes came on very strong after that. He’ll (Sherlock) will definitely win a title in the next couple of years”.

Newmarket Celtic 5 – 1 Hermitage at McDonough Park, Newmark-on-Fergus

RUNAWAY Premier Division leaders took a huge step towards winning a first Premier League title in three years when they blitzed Hermitage in this top of the table clash that was played on Sunday morning.

Liam Murphy’s side did in style, bouncing back from being rocked by ‘Tage goal inside the first minute from Adrian Walsh to get home with something to spare to put 14 points between them and the Ennis side in the Premier League standings as both side only have four games left to play.

A keen tie was expected here, given the high-scoring nature of the first league meeting between the sides back on September when they played out a hugely entertaining 3-3 draw at the Fairgreen, but this return leg turned out to be damp squib as a rampant Celtic side showed no mercy in turning the screw.

Michael Crosby was Celtic’s star turn on the day, helping himself to a hat-trick as they ended the ‘Tage’s hopes of making a dream title-winning return to the top flight of Clare soccer. Celtic recovered from their early set-back to equalise inside five mintues thanks to Mark Donnellan, who rose highest at the back post to head home Seamus Considine’s cross from the right wing.

Crosby then put made his first impression when toe-poking the ball into the corner of the net after 15 minutes after the ball fell nicely for him just inside the area. And when Seamus Lawlor got in on the scoring act in the 30th minutes, Newmarket were on the high road to their 11th win of the campaign.

The second half proved to be very comfortable for the home side, with a brace from Crosby bolstering Newmarket’s impressive goal difference to plus 22 as they brought their tally of league goals to an imposing 44 for the season to date.

The first came after 60 minutes when Crosby ran on to a through ball from Davy Wall before slotting the ball past Joe Burke in the ‘Tage goal, while his hat-trick was up ten minutes later when a similar type goal.

Newmarket Celtic
MartyWhelan, Mark O’Malley, Mark Donnellan, Eoin O’Brien, Darren Cullinan, Mike O’Malley (Eoin Hayes), Mike Devitt, Seamus Considine (Pa Coughlan), Seamus Lawlor, Michael Crosby, Davy Wall (Gary Collins).

Man of the Match
Michael Crosby (Newmarket Celtic) Referee Dave McCarthy

Avenue United 2 – 1 Tulla United at Lees Road, Ennis

AVENUE UNITED keep their hopes of winning the Premier alive as they secured three points on Sunday narrowly beating Tulla by two goals to one.

The first chance of the game fell to Tulla but Niall Whelan was unable to put his side in front. Avenue then began to get on top and held possession well. Mikey Mahoney then set up Barry Nugent for the first goal 25 minutes in and cries of offside from the Tulla contingency fell on deaf ears as Avenue took the lead.

The game then became nip and tuck from here as Tulla went in search of an equaliser but it was Avenue that struck again with a David McCarthy free kick that found the net putting them two up. Tulla did not give up hope and only minutes later they were back in it when Gearoid O’Doherty hit a great free kick past John Healy in the Avenue goal.

The sides went in at the break with Avenue 2-1 up but with a resilient Tulla side there looked to be a great second half battle in store. Unfortunately, Tulla were reduced to 10 men as Trevor Corbett received a second yellow card and this put a major dent in Tulla’s chances.

Avenue pressed on from here as Tulla began to struggle. They then had the chance to increase their lead to three when the referee awarded Avenue a penalty for a Denis Murphy foul in the area. Tulla were given a glimmer of hope though as Gary Flynn stepped up and put the ball over the bar to keep the the game tight to the finish.

The result of the game still hung in the balance in the closing stages as Avenue began to sit back on their lead and Tulla tried to pile on the pressure. Alan Brigdale then had a chance to gain a share of the spoils and level matters very late on but he was unsuccessful with his effort and Avenue held out to claim the victory.

Avenue are currently 22 points behind leaders Newmarket F.C but they have seven games in hand and will hope to utilise all these games to close the gap at the top of the table bringing the closing stages of the season to an interesting finale.

Avenue Utd
John Healy, Simon Cuddihy, David Herlihy, Con Collins, Mattie Nugent, Pa Wilson, David McCarthy, Gary Flynn, David Smyth, Barry Nugent, Mikey Mahoney.

Subs
Eamon O’Reilly, Colin Smyth.

Tulla Utd
Shane Collins,Tommy McKeon, Gearoid O’Doherty, Denis Murphy, Pat Vaughan, Mike McDermott,Trevor Corbett, Niall Whelan, Shane Mason, Keith Lenihan,Alan Brigdale.

Subs
Brian Hehir, Kevin Deloughrey,TomBurns.

Clare 5 – Galway 1 at County Grounds, Doora

A SUPERB and comprehensive victory saw Clare sweep aside the challenge of reigning champions Galway to book a place in the semi-finals of the Inter League Youths Cup on Saturday.

Clare, playing in the knock out stages of the competition for the first time since winning the trophy in 1971, were full value for a win that sets up a semi-final meeting with Kilkenny in the Marble City.

Playing with noticeably more aggression and pace than their opponents, a physically powerful Clare side led 2-0 at half time thanks to goals from Daragh Sexton and Niall Whelan.

Yet Galway weren’t for throwing in the towel. A goal from the visitor’s most impressive player, Timmy Molloy, seconds after the re-start threw the game wide open.

Far from unsettling Clare, the goal prompted a brilliant response from manager Mike Moloney’s team.

Avenue United’s Eoin O’Loughlin poached two goals in the space of two minutes to quell any notion of a Galway comeback. Substitute Eoin Fitzgerald completed the rout in the final moments.

There was plenty to admire about Clare as they went about their business in a game re-fixed for the County Grounds after heavy rain had made the original venue at Tulla unplayable. Niall Whelan was immense in midfield; Colin Smyth gave a classy performance at centre back while Ruairi Norrby, Sexton and O’Loughlin combined to give Clare a deadly cutting edge in the final third. As a whole, Clare defended with purpose and kept their shape.

They made the perfect start. O’Loughlin and Norrby both went close before Clare took the lead. Galway goalkeeper Aaron Connolly’s short kick out was read by Sexton who powered past one defender be- fore curling, a side-footed effort over Connolly in the 15th minute.

Galway steadied and enjoyed more possession but apart from Molloy’s dangerous shot run in the 18th minute, Clare’s goal was rarely threatened. The better chances continued to flow Clare’s way.

Daragh Fitzgerald almost scored after good approach work from Alan Roche and Sexton. Norrby, Fitzgerald and Smyth then all saw efforts saved or clip the bar as Clare turned the screw. The second goal duly arrived in the 42nd minute.

Darren Murphy’s long free kick looked to be travelling wide. Connolly and defender James Casserly dithered. Whelan did not.

The Tulla United man controlled the ball on the byline, held off Casserly and poked the ball home from a tight angle. Advantage Clare.

Galway however had other ideas. A minute into the second half, Smyth was forced to clear off his line but Molloy was on hand to slot home. But the visitor’s hopes were short lived as Clare hit back with a devastating counter attack. As Smyth strode out of defence in the 59th minute, O’Loughlin peeled away into space on the right flank. Smyth located his club mate with a perfectly weighted pass.

Without having to break strike, O’Loughlin rolled the ball past Connolly. O’Loughlin grabbed his second minutes later, finishing from close range after Whelan’s shot was saved. The striker came close to completing his hat trick before Eoin Fitzgerald notched Clare’s fifth goal in the finals seconds.

Clare
Ciarán MacMathuna (EnnisTown), Jack Walsh (Avenue United), Paraic O’Malley (Tulla United), Darren Murphy (Bridge United), Colin Smyth (Avenue United), Niall Whelan (Tulla United), Daragh Fitzgerald (Bridge United),Alan Roche (Avenue United), Eoin O’Loughlin (Avenue United), Daragh Sexton (Avenue United), Ruairí Norrby (Lifford)

Subs
Thomas McKeown (Tulla United) for Daragh Fitzgerald, Dylan Blake (Lifford) for Whelan, Eoin Fitzgerald (Avenue United) for Norrby

Galway
Aaron Connolly, Shane Gallagher, James Moran, Ronan Greany, James Casserly, Barry McEntee, Mark Murphy, LiamHreherow, Mike Collins, Connor Murray,Timmy Molloy

Subs
Daniel Tully for Murphy, Jack Byrne

A CLEARLY delighted Clare manager Mike Moloney said his side’s stunning 5-1 victory over Galway exceeded all expectations.

As he left the pitch in the County Grounds in Doora on Saturday, Moloney hailed the performance of his players.

He said, “It’s exceeded what we would have expected. Galway, coming down as holders, had a lot to play for. We’ve got great confidence in our own lads. The preparation was unbelievable. But to end up 5-1, it’s beyond what we could have expected.”

A two-goal lead at half time duly reflected Clare’s dominance and the margin could have been more had the home side been more clinical on front of goal.

Moloney highlighted the importance of Clare’s second goal, scored by Niall Whelan.

“You’re always concerned that you’re not putting away your chances and you’re going to suffer for it. And then Ciarán (MacMathuna) made an absolutely fantastic save just before at half time and then the goal we got just before half time was a gift,” he said.

Moloney added, “Niall chased it down and slipped it under the keeper. We needed it that considering that they got such an ideal start to the second half.”

Galway struck back at the start of the second half but Moloney was hugely impressed with Clare’s ruthless response.

He said, “There is always that sense when you go in 2-0 up at half time, that it is a dangerous lead and that you might fall asleep a little bit. I think it was just a lack of communication at the back and they slipped one in. We responded straight away and soon as we got that third goal, I think it was downhill after that”.

Clare prepared intensively for the quarter-finals, training in Tulla and Gort and playing high profile friendlies against reigning FAI Junior Cup champions Fairview Rangers (a game that ended 3-3) and League of Ireland side Athlone Town

Moloney explained, “I think we’ve built a club atmosphere because we’ve been together for five months and maybe a lot of Clare sides haven’t had that before. There is great commitment given by the lads and you could see that there today. They were fighting for each other.”

He added, “We played Athlone Town up in Athlone and they gave us a bit of a lesson. They had a lot of their League of Ireland side out. I think they are type of games that we need to get us up to the level that we’re at now.”

Clare should have Daragh Corry available for selection for next month’s semi-final against Kilkenny. The talented Tulla United man was forced to sit out Saturday’s win with a chest infection.

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