ENNIS rugby is on the cusp of a fa- mous double this week as they go into battle against storied Garryo- wen in the final of the North Munster Under 18 Cup final.
Already this season the Ennis side coached by Frank Considine, John Colleran and Niall McGann have claimed the league title.
‘To win the cup would be great and we have exceeded all expectations since starting out last July with this team,’ Frank Considine told
WITH exactly one month until the European Elections, Fianna Fail has just one candidate in the race for Ire- EE TteM Condom one
Party members in Clare now be- lieve that it is not possible to find a candidate to replace outgoing MEP and formerly declared candidate, Sean O’Neachtain.
Geographically, the party’s only candidate, Paschal Mooney, is in Leitrim and miles from the Banner County, and many in Clare feel he is unlikely to have any significant im- pact here.
While Fianna Fail has just one can- didate named, Fine Gael launched all of its European candidates, including two for Ireland North West, on Sun- day.
Eleven counties in total make up the Ireland North West Constituency – Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscom- mon, Sligo, Clare, Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan Longford and _ West- meath.
None of the eight candidates de- clared are from Clare, however, with the nearest candidate hailing from Galway in the form of the Libertas founder and party leader.
Sitting MEPs Marian Harkin (Ind) and Jim Higgins (FG) are now the
only two MEPs hoping to retain their seats in this three-seater con- stituency.
Other candidates seeking election include Senator Joe O’Reilly for Fine Gael, Padraig Mac Lochlainn for Sinn Fein, Fiachra O Luain will run as an Independent and Susan O’Keefe has declared for Labour.
Ms O’Keefe is the journalist who exposed malpractice in the beef in- dustry that led to the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry in the 1990s.
In 1995, she was threatened with prison for refusing to reveal her sources on the beef industry story.
Senator O’Reilly, from Cavan will join Jim Higgins on the Fine Gael ticket.
A former schoolteacher, Sena- tor O’Reilly was elected to Seanad Eireann (Industrial and Commercial Panel) in July 2007 and polled al- most 10,000 first-preference votes in General Election, 2007.
Sinn Fein’s Cllr Mac Lochlainn is from Donegal, as is Independ- ent candidate Fiachra O Luain. Mr O’Luan, who is the founder of the website www.dearmrpresident.eu, has invited European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and all of the candidates from the North West to a debate in Donegal on the eve of the election.
Petition set up for sacked garda
AVENUE’S fate wasn’t in their own hands going into this Sunday morn- ing showdown in Liscannot.
In a way Moher Celtic were partly to blame for that because it was the north Clare side’s sensational 4-3 victory over the Avenue in Lees Road in early April that looked like being the hammer blow to their league chances.
Not so thanks to a storming finish to their campaign, while their title rivals around them spluttered as the finishing line drew nearer. And, while Bunratty’s 18-match programme fi- nally spluttered to a disappointing end in Cassidy Park, Avenue were whipping up their biggest storm yet.
This was revenge for their 4-3 de- feat five weeks previously as the mercurial Mikey Mahony led a rout against a hapless Moher Celtic team that sadly lacked the menacing pres- ence of Dessie Molohan up front.
It was Molohan’s hat-trick that un- did Avenue at Lees Road — Mahony hit a double hat-trick in a remarkable display of finishing that helped him to top scorer in the league for the sec- ond successive season.
There was little to suggest in the early exchanges that it would be so easy — Moher, who needed a win to
have any chance of avoiding relega- tion, were competitive in the first 20 HOD USLULKoISE
However, despite great displays from Dara Blake and Alan Clohessy, a severly depleted Moher side, who
only had nine out of 26 first team players to call on due to injuries and GAA commitments, were eventu- ally steamrolled when the Avenue machine cranked to life midway through the first half.
Soon after Gary Flynn’s opener from a penalty in the 21st minute the competitive element drained from the game. The penalty came after David Herlihy’s cross from the right was handled in the area.
Five minutes later Avenue started putting daylight between the sides — this time a Sweeping move in which they broke from defence was finished to the net by Davide Ghilard1.
From there it was a stroll, some- thing that was really hammered home in the 35th minute when ‘keep- er Simon Donnell through to Eamon O’Reilly, Gary Flynn, David Smyth and Davide Ghilardi were involved in a brilliant passing move down the field — the final pass went to Mikey Mahony who fired to the net from 12 NETKORSE
From there on it was the Mikey Mahony show.
A minute before half-time he cut in from the left and drove home his sec- ond via Craig Flanagan’s right hand post. His hat-trick was up five min- utes after the re-start, albeit that Mo- her hit back for a goal of their own via a Dara Blake penalty.
However, by this stage word had filtered through to Liscannor that Lifford were 2-O up on Bunratty — it gave cause for further celebration and the real bluebloods over the last
25 years did that in style.
Bratislav’s flick put Mahony in for his fourth in the 64th minutes while Richie O’Grady was the provider for the fifth in the 77th. Number six ar- rived in the 85th minute when Maho- ny snapped up a rebound from Craig Flanagan and thumped to the net.
So ended one of the great one-man- shows in Clare soccer history. So begins the rebuilding process for the Moher boys.
FIVE BROTHERS, charged in con- nection with a volatile feud between two Traveller families in Ennis have re-appeared in court.
The accused are Michael (36), Ed- ward ‘Ned’ (33) and David (24) Mc- Donagh, of 20 John Paul Avenue; Gerard McDonagh (26), Bramble Lane and Jason McDonagh (25), Dun na hInise, Ennis. They are charged with assault causing harm to John McDonagh, at John Paul Avenue, Ennis, on March 28 last.
John McDonagh was knocked un- conscious after he was struck to the back of the head with a spade and knocked to the ground, in an alleged attack. While on the ground, he was hit in the face with a plank of tim- ber. He sustained a broken chin, jaw, nose, eye socket and received cuts to
the head and inside his ear. He had all of his top teeth knocked out and spent a week in hospital.
When the five accused appeared in court last Thursday week, gardai strongly objected to bail. At the end of a lengthy hearing, bail was re- fused for Edward ‘Ned’, Michael and Gerard McDonagh, while Jason and David McDonagh were granted bail.
On that occasion, they were repre- sented by solicitor Charles Foley. At Ennis District Court last Friday, the accused were represented by another solicitor, Michael McDarby. He ap- plied for bail for those in custody.
However, Inspector John O’Sullivan pointed out that that application had been made previously.
Judge Eamon O’Brien told the so- licitor, “You have to appeal that deci- sion to another court.” The case was adjourned until later this month.
MISSION accomplished for Rock Rovers in the end, but to say that they made very hard work of it is the understatement of the Clare soccer year.
The maths beforehand were sim- ple really – Rock had to win this lo- cal derby to claim the title, while a draw would have plunged them into a play-off decider against Shannon Olympic, provided the latter got the better of Kilrush Rangers at home.
Olympic got their win – Rovers did too, but it was nailbiting stuff at the end of this Ennis derby as the ‘Pike chased down an equaliser that would have seen the Clare League’s assist- ant secretary Oliver Fitzpatrick keep the First Division trophy under lock and key in his car.
Seven minutes from time it looked as 1f that equaliser had arrived – a diving header from substitute Shane Moroney looked destined for the bot- tom left-hand corner of the net until Leonard Keane somehow got a hand to it to turn it the other side of the post.
Then two minutes from time Brian Shannon got past Rovers’ defensive wall, but from 10 yards shot straight at Keane.
Thing is, if the ‘Pike had managed to breach Leonard Keane’s goal in this desperate onslaught that saw keeper Dermot Gannon move for- ward into the opposition half, Rovers would only have had themselves to blame.
They dominated this game in the first half – the bumpy pitch failing to upset their attempts to play a slick passing game – and were rewarded with a 2-0 by half-time.
Stephen Hickey was the man. Go- ing into the game he had 18 goals to his name this season – 25 minutes into the final game of the season he reached the landmark figure of 20.
The first after ten minutes was a goal worthy of winning the league t1- tle. David Considine whipped a cor- ner towards the penalty spot; Marty McLoughlin belied his lack of inches to nod the ball towards Hickey and the hottest striker in Clare soccer found the net with an audacious over- head kick.
Hickey doubled Rock’s advantage 15 minutes later – this time it was a more conventional strike as the league leaders cut through the brittle looking ‘Pike defence.
Marty McLoughlin put Niall Mc- Niven through and after his shot was saved by Dermot Gannon, Hickey pounced to pick up the scraps and rolled home the rebound from eight yards.
It looked as if Rovers would have a comfortable afternoon of it – they were dominating in most sectors of the field, while the ‘Pike had nothing
to play for.
Their season was effectively ended on Wednesday night when their 1-1 draw away to Mountshannon Celtic ended their hopes getting third place in the division and thereby playing third from bottom of the Premier Division in the promotion/relegation play-off.
However, the ‘Pike were never about to roll over for Rovers and their battling qualities emerged in the sec- ond half, once they were gifted a goal eight minutes into proceedings.
It was a calamity from Rovers point
of view – Jason Hayes’ shot from just outside the area shouldn’t have trou- bled Keane, but somehow the ball re- bounded off him before being turned into his own net by Greg Howard.
Suddenly the “Pike had a cause – this was a local derby after all and for the rest of the half they had the definite edge.
And as the minutes dragged on Rovers seemed to getting more nerv- ous as their finishing line jitters near- ly came between them and going up to the Premier Division for the first time as champions.
In the 78th minute Stephen Hickey did have a chance for his hat-trick that would have killed the game, but scuffed his shot, while Niall Mc- Niven balooned over the bar from 12 yards in the 82nd minute.
All the while the ‘Pike never stopped pressed forward in search of an equaliser – their persistence seemed to have paid off when Shane Moroney’s header looked all over a goal, while Brian Shannon with that booming left foot of his would al- ways fancy his chances in a one-on- one with a keeper.
Not to be however for both Moro- ney and Shannon as Leonard Keane, a former Turnpike Rovers stalwart, emerged as a hero to rival player of the year Stephen Hickey.
A MAN HAS been charged with de- manding money from another man, in exchange for having a threat on his life lifted.
Kieran Custy (43), of Lismul- breeda, Darragh, Ennis, is accused of demanding €4,000 from Paschal Hurley in return to have a threat on
his life lifted. The alleged offence was committed in the car park of the Auburn Lodge Hotel, Gort Road, Ennis, on November 7 last.
Garda Michelle Holian told Ennis District Court on Friday that she ar- rested the defendant that morning. He did not make any reply to the charge, after caution. Defending so- licitor William Cahir applied for free
legal aid for his client. ““The defend- ant is going to take a certain course in relation to the charge,” he said.
Inspector John O’Sullivan told the court that the DPP directed that the case could be dealt with summar- ily, in the district court, but only on a plea of guilty. Mr Cahir replied, ‘“He’s pleading.”
However, Judge Eamon O’Brien
said he was declining jurisdiction. “It’s a serious charge,’ he said.
Mr Cahir then said, “In the circum- stances then, I’d ask you not to mark a plea.”
Inspector O’Sullivan asked for the case to be adjourned for several weeks, to allow the book of evidence to be prepared. Judge O’Brien grant- COM NOD ECe
EAST Clare went down to Rathkeale in hope but came back with sil- verware as two immense displays against Seanduin and Mid Tipperary earned them the Munster Under 16 inter-divisional championship title on Monday. Winners of the compe- tition as recent as 2006, East Clare qualified for the knock-out stages off the back of group game wins over Avondhu and North Tipperary in Cappawhite at the beginning of April and continued that good form with a O-16 to 2-04 semi-final victory over Cork side Seandtn early on Monday with Clonlara’s Cathal O’Connell leading the way on the scoreboard with seven points, with Alan Mul- ready (4), Colm Galvin (3), Sean
O’Connor and Shane McGrath also getting in on the action in an impres- sive team display. The only downside for East Clare was a leg injury sus- tained by Clooney/Quin’s Eoin Mee- han who had to miss the final which was played soon afterwards.
Their opponents in that decider were Mid Tipperary, who had already beaten fellow Clare side Mid Clare in the group stages by 2-9 to 0-8 on their way to topping their group and after seeing off fellow Premier side North Tipperary in the other semi-fi- nal, they would have been confident of going all the way.
However, East Clare were in defi- ant mood and although they found themselves 1-3 to O-4 in arrears by the interval, a superb second half performance in which they outscored
their opponents by 2-9 to 0-2 saw them reclaim the coveted title. Goals from Colm Galvin and _ substitute Oisin Hickey set them on their way with Cathal O’Connell again to the fore with six points and Sixmilebri- dge pair Alan Mulready and captain Seadna Morey (through placed balls) chipping in with a brace of points each as East Clare eventually ran out 2-13 to 1-05 winners.
AN ENNIS man charged arising out of two incidents in the Cloughleigh area of the town has been ordered to sign on twice daily at the local Garda station.
Michael Molloy (20), of Gordon Drive, Ennis, is accused of dangerous driving and engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, at Gordon Drive, on April 18 last.
He is also accused of engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting be- haviour, at Gordon Drive, on April 21 last.
Sergeant Sean Maher told Ennis District Court on Friday that the ac- cused replied, “I don’t even know what you are talking about,’ in re- sponse to one of the charges. He did not reply when charged with the other two alleged offences.
The case was adjourned, at the re- quest of the accused’s solicitor and free legal aid was granted.
Bail was granted and a number of bail conditions were imposed. These included that he reside at his home address; abide by a curfew and sign on twice a day at Ennis Garda Sta- tion.
IT just wasn’t meant to be for Clare last Friday. In the end, their constant waves of pressure could not yield the necessary goal to get something out of this tie and ultimately devoid of any luck in front of the posts, all of their hard work was eventually tinged with heartbreak.
In what was a throughly compel- ling and evenly matched affair, both sides poured out everything they had over the hour but it was Tipperary’s superior conversion rate that essen- tially edged it, especially against the strong wind that blew towards Thomond Park.
And that was the key really. Both sides played their best camogie when facing into the breeze with Clare’s sharpness shading the first half pos- session despite being 1-3 to O-1 in ar- rears by the interval while Tipperary upped their game considerably on the resumption and along with frus- trating Clare for long periods, Nicole Walsh’s unerring accuracy from frees meant that Clare had to eventu- ally resort to searching for a goal as the time ticked away.
Playing into the conditions and sun
in the opening period, for 20 minutes Clare’s policy of attack being the best form of defence worked to perfection as Chloe Morey, Niamh O’Dea, Or- laith Duggan and Katie Cahill were all to the fore in a dogged display.
With only a Nicole Walsh free to show for their efforts over that pe- riod, Tipperary surprisingly found themselves on the backfoot but some strong defensive performances from Sheila Ryan and Caoimhe Maher ensured that they only conceded a Chloe Morey free themselves.
However, Tipperary did finally make use of the conditions in the 20th minute, seizing on a Clare mis- take in midfield to work the ball to Claire Kennedy on the 20 metre line but although her shot was suberbly kept out by goalkeeper Suzie O’Shea, full-forward Michaela Graham was the first to react to pull to the net. That score appear to liberate Tip- perary and they added further points from Walsh and Graham to lead by five points at the break.
Clare would have been satisfied with their overall first half perform- ance. After all, their first touch and intensity had improved considerably from the Galway game and with the
wind to come, their first half display would have only fueled their confi- dence. However, what they didn’t bank on was a stark improvement in Tipperary’s work-rate and just like their opponents in the opening pe- riod, Tipperary weren’t about to lie down and let the wind dictate the play. Using corner-forward Nicole Walsh as a third midfielder, Tipper- ary came out fighting in the second half and it took Clare five minutes before the first point arrived through Sinead Tuohy.
Substitute Niki Kaiser reduced the deficit to three two minutes later with a point from a narrow angle on the right but instead of wilting, Tipper- ary went on the offensive and by the 48th minute, they had restored that five point advantage through another Walsh free and a point from Aoife Ryan.
With time rapidly running out, all appeared lost for Clare as their forwards were unable to get clear possession. However, out of sheer persistence from Sinead Tuohy and Katie Cahill, Clare earned a reprieve when they smothered a Tipperary clearance and Niki Kaiser was on hand to pull to the net.
By the 53rd minute, there was only the minimum between the sides when Chloe Morey stepped forward to take a free from 30 metres on the left. Momentum seemed to be firmly with Clare but that was to prove as close as Clare would get as a reis- lient Tipperary tacked on two further Walsh frees.
In between, Clare simply peppered the Tipperary goal but shots from Sinead Tuohy and Rachel O’ Halloran was excellently batted clear by goal- keeper Orla MclInery. Tipperarys’ back were to the wall but they never allowed Clare any clearcut chances and as the game moved into injury- time, Clare were to have one final attack. Helen Hehir won possession around the centre and offloaded to Sinead Tuohy who set off on a mazy run through the heart of the Tipper- ary defence before being clothlined A NITCO CONE TREE
It earned Clare a 20 metre free that Chloe Morey took repsonsibility for but her effort was blocked out of play and the resultant 45 just went over the bar. Clare’s golden touch in front of goal that had secured an average of three goals per game up to this point had finally deserted them, just
when they needed it most. Judging by the amount of chances, sometimes you jusy have to concede that it just wasn’t going to be their day.