The Clare People Archive

WITH their hopes of retaining their league title all but over, the cup now becomes the main priority for New- market Celtic. The ten times winners may not have been in the winners enclosure since 2000 but they eased their passage into the last eight on Sunday with a comfortable victory over Bridge Celtic B.

Off the back of two battling results against fellow title contenders Av- enue Utd and Lifford, and barring the shock of the tournament, New- market were always fancied to easily account for the third division side as they had already beaten Celtic’s first side in the previous round. However, it did given stand-in manager Paudie Cullinan the opportunity to test out some of his fringe players and they responded with an assured display.

Still, Bridge Celtic’s second string didn’t make it easy for their Premier Division opposition and while they never really looked like breaking the deadlock themselves, they did frus- trate Newmarket sufficiently in the first half. Had they held out until the break, it would have given them great confidence but a Keith Power goal just before half-time, finally settled Newmarket and from that point on, it was only damage limitation for the O’Briensbridge side.

Eased by that breakthrough goal, the floodgates opened for Newmar- ket in the second period with two Siullery headers and a second from

Power guiding them to a 4-0 advan- tage. Worse was to follow for Bridge Celtic when the impressive Sillery was taken down in the area and Sea- mus Considine converted the penalty and Newmarket’s Grand Slam Sun- day was completed when substitute Jimmy Houlihan grabbed the sixth.

With Avenue’s surprise exit to Shannon Olympic on Sunday, New- market are now installed amongst the favourites for this year’s Clare Cup along with Lifford and holders Rock Rovers. From here on in, it will come down to the luck of the Friday night’s draw as Newmarket look to secure some silverware out of the Tere) IF

BARON de Coubertin’s Olympic ideals of “Stronger, Faster, Higher” could well have been borrowed by the other Olympic on Sunday morn- ing — the Shannon version that is, as they sent shock waves around the county in dumping eight times cham- pions and competition favourites Av- enue United out of this year’s Clare Cup race.

“Everything clicked for us,” said manager Jason Stretton afterwards. “We put everything into it and it hap- pened for us,” added the former Clare Cup winner with Newtown.

Conversely, it didn’t happen for Avenue United as their roller coast- er form of the past month contin- ued over a depressing 90 minutes. Dumped out of the cup at the last 16 stage and facing an uphill battle to prevent Bunratty from claiming the league title, 1t could be another trophy-less year for the bluebloods of the Clare game.

Olympic, meanwhile, are now genuine contenders for the cup title, while they’re hot on the heels of cur- rent champions Rock Rovers in the promotion race out of Division 1.

This cup tie effectively turned seis- mically in Olympic’s favour in the first half — a chance missed at one end by Avenue and an amazing goal

down the other end by Olympic.

Opportunity knocked for the home side after 25 minutes when star at- tacker Mikey Mahony burst into the area — on another day Mahony would have applied a clinical finish, but on this day he was thwarted by Kieran McCarthy.

From Avenue’s point of view this miss was compounded 15 minutes later when Wayne Regan whipped a right footed inswinging corner from the left all the way into the top corner of the net beyond the flailing arms of Colin Smyth.

It was a hammer blow, but one Av-

enue looked like recovering from when they dominated the early ex- changes of the second half. Ten min- utes in Eamon O’Reilly was denied by the crossbar, while in the resulting scramble the ball was cleared off the line.

It was as close as Avenue came to

levelling things up — the Olympic defence in which Paul O’Connor and Jan Hogan were outstanding soaked up everything Avenue could throw at them before they broke out of de- fence and struck for the all-important second goal ten minutes from time.

With centre-forward James Fit- zgerald causing Avenue endless problems, a second goal was always likely, but in the end a mistake by Eamon O’Reilly let in Ray Quigley who skipped past a few defenders be- fore rolling the ball underneath Co- lin Smyth to book Olympic’s quarter- final place.

LIFFORD B march on after spring- ing a cup surprise against Mount- shannon Celtic on Sunday.

The Ennis side progressed to the quarter finals thanks to two assists from goalkeeper Joe Burke and two razor sharp finishes from Adrian McDonagh.

Admittedly, Lifford were helped along the way by some very careless defending from Mountshannon.

Having been the superior side throughout the second half, Lifford still hadn’t found a way through when their fortunes turned in un-ex- pected fashion.

Lifford goalkeeper Joe Burke launched a long kick out at the Mounthshanon back four in the 77th minute.

His opposite number, Christopher Jones, rushed out but failed to hold the ball. Lifford’s Adrian McDonagh drilled home from a tight angle to give his side the lead.

Six minutes later, Lifford had one foot in the quarterfinals. The second goal was almost a carbon copy of the first with McDonagh again latching onto Burke’s goal-kick to lift the ball into the net.

Mountshannon will be sick at be- ing knocked out in such elementary fashion. Both goals were prevent- able. But take nothing away from McDonagh. Both strikes were well executed and indicative of Lifford’s

Superior cutting edge upfront. The roots of Lifford’s victory are prob- ably to be found in the decision at half time to switch formation from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2.

First division Mounthshannon had given their second division oppo- nents a bit of run around in midfield in the first half. In response, Lifford manager Lenny Franks teamed Pa Mannion, Darren Daly and Adrian Walsh in the centre of the park with

instructions to shut down Mount- shannon’s passing game.

The move worked a treat. Lifford saw more of the ball and gradually took a grip on the game.

Mountshannon, even with Cathal and John Moloney working like de- mons in midfield, rarely troubled Lifford’s well-organised defence.

The east Clare side might reflect that they should have done better with their earlier chances. 18 minutes

had elapsed when Burke got down smartly to tip away Arthur Burzyn- ski’s low drive.

Burzynski flashed a half volley just over the cross bar soon after as Mountshannon raised the tempo. Lifford’s best chance of the half ar- rived when Francis Franks teed up Stephen McGuane who squeezed a shot away from five yards that was held by Jones. Q-0 at half time and it was Lifford who seized the initia-

tive thereafter. McGuane lifted over from a tight angle in the 48th minute before Darren Daly’s drive from 20 yards trailed just wide.

The home side were clearly on top and should have taken the lead in the 57th minute when McDonagh headed over from Eoghan Judge’s cross.

Burzynski made Burke work with a curling shot soon after. That was as good it got for Mounthshannon.

Minutes later Burke and McDon- agh teamed up to give Lifford the lead before the duo combined again to rubberstamp Lifford’s place in the quarter-finals and who knows, maybe a crack against their clubmates from Lifford A.

THIS was a must win for both teams and for very different reasons. Lif- ford, on the back of a disappointing loss to Newmarket on St Patrick’s Day, had to win to stay in with any kind of chance at league honours. The Newmarket defeat meant they missed on the opportunity to close the gap on leaders Bunratty and a successive defeat would almost cer- tainly have dashed their title hopes.

Moher, on the other hand, are bat- tling the long arm of relegation and needed to get something from the game to ensure they stayed in touch at the bottom of the table.

In the end, the game went accord- ing to league standings but it came with a scare for Lifford as well. Twice Moher lifted their game to reel in Lifford but eventually, Lifford had enough class and composure to see them through to securing that much needed victory.

In the early stages, it seemed as though Lifford could run away with the game as they took control of the game and on five minutes they were rewarded for their hard work when Ryan Boyle was on target.

Moher didn’t he down though and Johnny Daly popped up to direct a free kick to the net with a fine header that equalised proceedings. It an ac- tion packed first half, Lifford once more pressed forward and Roberto put them back in front after a neat dribble from the edge of the box saw him drive the ball low and accurately into the corner of the Moher goal.

But the away side still weren’t finished and just before the break, Shane Keane headed home Moher’s second goal to leave the sides locked at 2-2 at the break.

Just when it looked like Lifford could become frustrated with the lack of a breakthrough, David Mc- Carthy popped up with a superb strike. David McCarthy latched onto a cleared header and volleyed to the top corner from the edge of the box. From there, Lifford dominated and took the points to ensure they could still have a say in this year’s league.

CONNOLLY Celtic became the lat- est side to fall prey to the goal scor- ing talents of Rock Rovers hitman Stephen Hickey on Sunday.

Hickey scored a hat-trick to secure a win that puts Rock three points clear at the top of division one.

Hickey struck midway through the first half and twice after half time to kill off the challenge of a spirited Connolly side.

Brendan Dillon scored a late con- solation goal for bottom of the table Connolly who dominated for long stretches of the second half.

Indeed Celtic squandered a glori- ous opportunity to tie the game early in the second half.

Rock, who were far from their best, were thankful to Hickey’s predatory instincts close to goal.

The striker had already seen one

towering header rebound of the foot the post before he gave Rock the lead.

Connolly will be disappointed with the manner in which they conceded the goal. The away side were award- ed a free kick from a promising posi- tion on the right.

However the ball was cleared swift- ly to Hickey who broke clear of an under-manned Connolly defence to score.

Connolly caused plenty of prob- lems for the Rock defence early in the second half but were desperately unfortunate not to score.

Rock, with David Considine a steadying prescence in midfield, sur- vived and doubled their advantage in the 65th minute.

Brian Fitzpatrick picked out Hickey with a great pass, and, as before, he buried to the back of the net.

The goal took the wind out of Con-

nolly and minutes later the visitors fell further behind. This time Dean Gardiner did the spadework, digging out a byline cross that Hickey tapped home from close range.

Dillon scored a deserved goal late on when he created a yard on the edge of the area and found the net with a low drive.

The future may not look too grim for Connolly if they can play with the same attitude for the remainder of the season. Rock, meanwhile, will hope Hickey keeps doing what he does best.

Clare’s builders ‘underemployed’

THE mid-west branch of the Con- struction Industry Federation (which includes Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary) has backed a recovery plan put forward by construction employers to save jobs, generate in- creased government revenues and kick start economic recovery.

The CIF recently held an emergen- cy meeting that brought together all of the major construction employers, including the major material sup- pliers, representatives of the archi- tectural, engineering and surveying professions, major contractors and house builders.

Conor O’Connell from the CIF Mid-West Branch has outlined the key issues contained in the recovery plan drawn up by the CIF. According to O’Connell “infrastructure spend- ing 1s the key to saving jobs, increas- ing exchequer revenues and provid- ing a platform for economic recovery for the mid-west region.”

“In the mid-west, construction cur- rently employs in the region of 15,000 people directly, which is down by almost 10,000 people in two years. This does not include the thousands of people who are employed indi- rectly. The sector in the mid-west also supports thousands of induced jobs in the shops, restaurants etc. where construction workers spend WeCoJD MAYER Xo ee

“It was agreed as part of the recov- ery plan that urgent action is needed within the next month to protect these existing jobs. The prospect of thousands of job losses in construc- tion throughout the mid-west and the entire country is real unless the pipe- line of projects increases.”

“One of the major fears for con- struction employers in the mid- west region relates to infrastructure spending and the possibility of fur- ther cuts in labour intensive projects arising from the upcoming budget- ary measures.

It is the view of the mid-west Branch that this would be the en- tirely wrong thing to do from the economy’s perspective resulting in increased social welfare costs and undoing any savings from upcoming budgetary measures.”

“As it 1s, 75 per cent of infrastruc- ture spending is already committed to ongoing or contracted projects and even a minor cut in spending would mean that virtually no new projects will start over the coming months. In addition, spending on the pre-tender design, engineering and surveying has been significantly cut meaning a reduction in ready to go projects over the coming 12 months.”

‘Now is the time for the Govern- ment to take advantage of the com- petitive tendering environment and to place an emphasis on labour inten- sity and projects that are vital for the local economy in the long term.”

“Doing nothing is not an option for the economy. The cost of stimulat- ing the industry is less than the cost of doing nothing, including social welfare costs, loss of productivity and the wider recession caused by doing nothing.”

Crisis forum points the way ahead

THE only certainty in the upcoming Shannon Town Council election is change, how big that change will be all depends on the town’s reaction to the Government parties come poll- baer Ne

As the youngest town council in the county Civil War politics has had Iit- tle place in its make up.

Instead Shannon town, with its large manufacturing and multi na- tional investment has retained a La- bour stronghold.

Even its Independent councillors have a left leaning with Cllr Patri- cia McCarthy (Ind) starting out life in the town commission as a Labour councillor.

The Labour party will be hoping that a strong non-national workers vote will see Anna Kulikowska join Tony McMahon and Greg Duff in the council chambers in June.

Fine Gael is also planning for suc- cess in the upcoming local election, entering four candidates into the Ieelees

Last time out the main government Opposition party won an extra seat at Fianna Fail’s expense, and doubled its seats from one to two.

Will Government dissatisfaction see that trend continue?

While Fianna Fail has held the bal- ance of power in county councils and town councils it has struggled to fea- ture in Shannon.

That struggle is about to become an epic battle as the party has yet to find another running mate to join Noel McNamara and Woytek Wiesnuwski in the hustings.

Added to the soldiers of destiny troubles is the retirement of its two only sitting councillors – Sean Hillery and Geraldine Lambert.

With no experienced politician go- ing forward for Fianna Fail and the search on for at least one more candi- date, the party’s troubles are far from over.

Issues surrounding the airport and unemployment are likely to hit the Government party hardest in Shan- non town, as unemployment contin- ues to increase day by day.

Shannon Town Council has always been made up of strong Independent councillors who have fared well in elections.

Even Mike McKee retained his seat when he left Sinn Féin to run Inde- pendent in 2004. Former party col- league Cathy McCafferty was close on his heels in that election, just missing out on the seat.

It is not known if Cllr McKee will run in the election this time, making the Shannon Sinn Féin candidate a worthwhile bet.

Whatever his decision, changes are definitely ahead in 2009 in Shannon.

An extended boundary, a bigger electorate and new faces around the chamber table for the monthly meet- ings are the only guarantees.

THE amount of cannabis resin seized in Clare increased substantially last year with the number of heroin and cocaine seizures dropping.

Figures released by the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern TD show that 9,000 grams of cannabis resin was seized – compared to 774 grams in 2007.

However, the figures provided by Minister Ahern in response to a Dail question show that the number of cases where drugs were analysed fell

sharply last year.

The figures show that 167 cases were analysed last year – this com- pares to 328 cases analysed in 2007 and 272 in 2006.

However, the figures show that there were fewer seizures 1n more high profile drugs such as heroin, cocaine and amphetamine in Clare last year.

The figures show that 5.46 grams of heroin was recovered last year where eight cases were analysed.

This compares to 13 separate hero- in seizures in 2008 when 38.3 grams

were analysed.

The returns show that last year 169 grams of cocaine were recovered in 13 separate cases. This compares to 43 seizures in 2007 when 1,073 grams of cocaine were seized.

The numbers provided by Minister Ahern confirmed that the numbers in the Clare Drugs Unit have increased from four in 2006 to six in 2008.

However, the statistics do show that the quantity relating to MDMA or esctasy seizures last year increased.

The figures show that 401 grams of powder esctasy was seized in 2008

and this compared to 89 grams in 2007.

However, the figures show that the Gardai recovered 8,100 MDMA tab- lets last year — this compares to 4,926 tablets recovered in 2007.

The figures also show that the quan- tity of amphetamine seized last year was down on 2007.

The figures show that 17 grams of amphetamines were recovered last year compared to 68 grams in 2007.

The figures for 2006 show that 521 erams of amphetamine powder was recovered in 2008.

The minister stated that some cases await analysis.

In response, Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said yesterday, “Illicit drugs are dangerous and using them can and does destroy lives. Drugs are a blight on society. It is a fact that illegal drug use 1S on the increase among all age groups. Criminals supplying the mar- ket are extremely clever in how they manage their distribution network.

She added, “Many young people have been persuaded by the lure of easy money or threats to become small time dealers. It is important that the main dealers are pursued but it is equally important that the net- work of small dealers is constantly monitored and brought to justice. This can be extremely difficult given the quantity involved which can be passed off as for “own use’. This is an unacceptable excuse. Crime is on the increase and many of the crimes committed can be directly related to the supply and use of drugs.”