Month: February 2009

WITH a little over a quarter of the game elapsed, the task for Clare was beginning to become obvious. The trip to Emyvale to face one of the standard bearers of the game was an obvious step up in class for Clare and playing a simple and effective game, Monaghan had run through the visitors for a couple of well crafted scores.

The most crucial came after 17 min- utes when Therese McNally latched onto a breaking ball close to goal.

She drifted in from the left wing and once in possession, there was only one outcome. Goal. The thing was, this was Monaghan’s second goal of the game and it pushed them into an eight point lead.

It wasn’t as though Monaghan had things all their own way because Clare, after taking five minutes to settle, had begun to win some pos- session around the middle. The thing was, they were finding it more diffi- cult to come by scores.

Aine Kelly was working hard and winning ball and looked dangerous but after 20 minutes, she was with- drawn with injury. It wasn’t the only blow to Clare and by the end of the opening half, they were also with- out Grace Lynch and Aifric O’ Neill, through injury — all within the space of three minutes.

At the Monaghan end of the field, they simply ploughed on and contin- ued to heap pressure on Clare. Ni- amh Kindlon and Edel Byrne were causing particular problems, an ele- ment that was flagged in the open- ing five minutes, at which stage both had linked up impressively. By then, Kindlon had opened the Monaghan account with three scores, a well tak- en point in the opening seconds of the game, a close range free shortly after and a goal in the fifth minute.

Already, that difficult task for Clare had become all the more demanding. But they didn’t exactly back off the challenge and continued to attempt to claw back the growing deficit but against a tenacious defence and a competent midfield, Clare began to run down one way lanes and by the time the break had come, they were 3-4 to O-1 in arrears.

That third Monaghan goal came

two minutes before half-time when a Kindlon attempt at a point came back off the posts and the dropping ball fell into the hands of McNally and she had the task of easily slotting the ball into an empty net for her second

goal of the game.

That dozen point lead at the break came despite some decent defending from Clare, including three qual- ity blocks that prevented a trio of scores.

Afterwards, Clare almost pulled that lead back to nine when Eimear Considine hit the post with a shot from 20 yards out. That effort even- tually resulted in a Clare free when Niamh Keane was fouled, with the

free converted by Majella Griffin.

If this looked like some respite for Clare, it didn’t turn out that way. Monaghan continued to run hard at Clare through the middle of the field and sixty seconds later, Kendlon and Aoife McAnaspie had extended the Monaghan lead.

It could have been more when Ni- amh Kindlon and Edel Byrne linked up once more, but Byrne’s shot was brilliantly saved by Denise Walsh in the Clare goal.

Midway through the second half Clare managed a goal themselves when Majella Griffin, now playing at full-forward, ghosted inside the full-back line and picked up a long pass from Considine. In between the Monaghan goal effort and the Clare green flag, the home side had man- aged to rack up four points to safe- eAut-Nue Ostomy ene

With the writing on the wall, things fizzled out during the last quarter and deservedly, Monaghan eased to victory.

For Clare, the true task of top flight football became more vivid but all things considered, this is almost as tough as it gets.

NEWMARKET Celtic edged past Bridge Celtic in this all Premier League clash on Sunday afternoon.

One of the stand out ties when the draw for the Clare Cup was made last month, there was always going to be little to choose between reigning league champions Newmarket and their predecessors, Bridge Celtic.

As such, it took a goal of immense quality to settle a tight affair in New- market. Damien O’ Malley produced a superb lob to give Newmarket the lead inside the first ten minutes.

After such an explosive opening and given the calibre of the sides in- volved, you might have been forgiven for anticipating a goal fest. That nev- er materialised.

Despite a better showing in the second half, Bridge struggled to find the spark that has been the hallmark of some of their better displays this season.

Instead they found Newmarket in stubborn mood. When you talk about calibre, it isn’t just confined to those who ply the trade further up the field.

It also refers to the men at the back. For Newmarketet, Mark O’Malley and Colm Treacy were utterly de- pendable in defence. Likewise for Bridge, Pat Murtagh can pleased with his display at centre back.

The omens weren’t too promis- ing for Bridge even before kick off. Without a natural goalkeeper, K1- eran Aherne, normally a defender,

stepped in to fill a problem position on Johnny Flynn’s team.

Within minutes of the start, Aherne was picking the ball out of then net. Though in fairness, there he was little he could have done to prevent Newmarket from taking the lead.

The ball broke on the right hand

side of the Bridge penalty area and found its way to the grateful Darren OVEN

Spotting Aherne ever so slightly off his line, the midfielder’s perfectly judged chip arced over and into the net. It was the perfect start for New- market. The home side went looking

for a second goal and with the pacy Eoin Hayes and Damien O’Malley looking dangerous, it looked a real possibility.

But Bridge stood firm, giving lit- tle away at the back and making it to half time just one goal behind.

Celtic passed the ball a lot better af- ter the break but will be disappointed not to have made more of the posses- sion they enjoyed.

Newmarket were not for moving though Bridge came close to equal- ising when Ger O’Connell’s fiercely struck free kick was well tipped over by Newmarket goalie Trevor O’Donnell.

DESPITE giving up home advan- tage, Tulla United came through a tough third round tie with Shannon Olympic at Lees Road on Sunday

morning. In a hotly contested affair, Tulla physicality saw them through a very spirited challenge from the Shannon side, who will rue not tak- ing the chances that came their way.

Tulla just about shaded an even first

half with Keith Lenihan and Alan Brigdale both failing to capatalise on good openings.

The vital breakthrough came with just over half an hour on the clock. A corner from the right was flicked

on well at the near post by Andy McMahon. Keith Lenihan then got a touch to the ball, which was goal bound when Olympic keeper Kieran McCarthy fisted the ball into his own net.

Olympic will have been dissap- pointed not to go in at half time on terms with Paul O’Connor shoot- ing wide when one on one with the Neale

Olympic had the better of much of the second half with Ricky Collins making a number of quality saves to keep the Shannon men at bay. The best chance of the half fell to Donnacha Kelly whose header went inches wide.

Best for Tulla were Alan McMahon, Keith Lenihan and Denis Murphy.

THE husband of a woman murdered by a man who was last week jailed for attempting to abduct a child has said questions must be asked over decisions to grant him bail.

Gerard McGrath (24), was jailed for life last month for murdering Sixmi- lebridge resident Sylvia Roche-Kelly (below), in a Limerick hotel, in De- cember 2007.

At Clonmel Circuit Court last week, McGrath was jailed for 10 years for choking and falsely imprisoning a five-year-old girl who he tried to ab- duct.

McGrath, of Ballywalter, Cashel, County Tipperary, committed this offence in October 2007, just two months before he murdered Ms Ro- che-Kelly.

McGrath had previously assaulted a female taxi driver in April 2007.

ENNIS rugby club now have the big guns in their sight. Having travelled to a drenched Newport pitch over the weekend, missing a number of key personnel and having not played since the beginning of January, the odds might have been against an En- nis win, but a disciplined perform- ance saw them overcome Newport.

It sets up a mouth-watering meet- ing with UL Bohemian — one of the favourites to take the Munster Junior Cup — at the beginning of March.

Crucially, the game is to be played at The Showgrounds in Ennis, giv- ing the Clare side a decent chance of causing a significant upset and mak- ing it to the quarter-final stage of the competition.

“IT was anxious enough about the Newport game, simply because play- ers might have been rusty after the few weeks lay off,’ said Ennis coach Richie Murphy

HE’S GOT his back to the unplas- tered wall outside the dressing room door and is, by now, changed out of his match day clothes. Addressing the assembled media and playing ab- sent-mindedly with a pair of glasses, Mike McNamara resembles a poet philosophising to a group of stu- dents. His zen-like reaction to the 70 minutes of hurling just passed simply re-enforces his status as laureate-in- chief of Clare hurling and he’s not getting overly-excited by an open- ing game that promised two league points but delivered defeat.

“You know what,” he says, “there’s a difference between the Crystal Cup and a game in the league in the Gaelic Grounds against our friendly neighbours. They’re two different Web eetSace

In the cold gloaming of an early February Sunday, perspective is as valuable as foresight and McNamara takes us back to last year, when Clare travelled to Limerick and returned home, tail firmly between legs.

“The last time, we came out of here with something like a nine or ten point drubbing, maybe going no place, maybe drifting aimlessly to

wherever people drift to,” he said, cryptically enough. “So we’ll take the positives out of today. It was a strange game but when you come to Limerick, as we know to our cost, you can’t just expect to win. It’s a very difficult place to win and that has been proven over the years.”

As for the Clare comeback in the final stages of the game, McNamara was inclined to give little away, say- ing simply that they sat down at half- time, drank a cup of tea and vowed to plough on.

“Maybe we’ll have a closer look at the first half as opposed to the second half. We were twelve points down with 25 minutes to go, but we showed the character we’re looking oe

“We might have made a few mis- takes. We might have introduced some of the newer boys who had been showing well. But we decided we’d go with the full array of strength and take it from there. We were looking for opportunities to introduce some of the young fellas as the match went on but it really didn’t transpire, with the exception of John Conlon. We’d have liked to have used Caimin Mo- rey but he has the flu with the last two weeks.”

With regard to the omission of the injured Niall Gilligan, he said on an- other day he might have been risked.

“If this was the championship, maybe we’d have forced Niall out to play. On a day like this, we took the caution of not playing him.”

And the goals’?

“They were unusual things. We got some of those breaks last year, so we’ll take the bad with the good. We’ll mix it all up. They come and they go. We would have to look at it ayer HOO

“If we were Manchester United we’d look at it with in-depth analy- sis. We’d see where the goals came from. Maybe have a look at the pay- packets of some of them. We haven’t that luxury.”

And Waterford next week?

“Me old buddy Davy and myself back again. Maybe they’re in a deep- er hole than us. It’s a difficult thing to come away from an All Ireland final like that when you know you didn’t play well and the opposition played to the maximum. That’s a difficult thing.

A HISTORIC first ever Dr Harty Cup final place awaited the winners but neither side were willing to yield as St Caimin’s came from behind to snatch a draw in Meelick on Satur- Cr MA

The stakes were high but the inten- sity never wilted and really it could have gone either way in what was a tension-filled final twenty minutes.

That nervousness probably con- tributed to the majority of the scores coming from frees, with Sixmilebri- dge’s Patrick Sheehan unerring free- taking matched by Ard Scoil Ris’ Kevin Downes and Declan Hannon. In all, the Shannon school only man- aged three scores from play while Ard Scoil only fared slightly better with six but it didn’t take from the entertainment as both sides went all out in their quest to forge history.

To add even more bite to the occa- sion, club players from the county found themselves in the unique po- sition of having to play against their club-mates with Cratloe split by St Caimin’s representatives of Enda Boyce, Sean Hynan, Padraic Collins and Joe Conroy on one side while Ard Scoil Ris had Conor Ryan and Cathal McInerney in their ranks. Equally Ard Scoil Ris’ 14 year old substitute Jamie Shanahan, had to contend with Sixmilebridge team- mates Noel Purcell, Kevin Lynch, Patrick Sheehan, Alan Mulready and Timmy Crowe.

That rivalry was empitomised by the respective captains Sean Hynan

and Conor Ryan, who were in direct opposition from the throw-in. Supporters had barely found a po- sition on the hill before St Caimin’s stormed into a early lead, grabbing 1-2 in less than three minutes. A Patrick Sheehan free either side of Alan Mulready’s second minute goal blazed a trail for the Shannon side, with goal-poacher Mulready getting on the end of a breaking ball from fellow Bridgeman Timmy Crowe to UUM romeeemiam It took Ard Scoil Ris five minutes to open their account but once Kevin Downes converted a free after Niall Kennedy had been fouled, it was the start of a fruitful period for the Lim- erick side, who had the experience of two extremely difficult ties with St Flannan’s in the previous fortnight. Six points out of the next seven spearheaded their recovery by the 23rd minute, with Downes the chief marksman with three placed balls. Now on the backfoot, Caimin’s retreated further and Ard Scoil Ris took the opportunity to strike a de- cisive blow. It came after Brendan O’Connor’s shot was blocked by cor- ner-back Colm McCaul and as goal- keeper Tommy Griffin attempted to scramble the ball clear, O’Connor stepped forward again to strike to the net. St Caimin’s reply was swift and almost as effective but Sheehan’s 20 metre free was saved by goalkeeper PJ Hall and on the rebound, Timmy Crowe had to be content with a point to cut the deficit to two at 1-7 to 1-5. That response was shortlived how- ever as Downes converted two more

frees before the break to extend Ard Scoil Ris’ to three.

It would get worse before it would get better for St Caimin’s as Ard Scoil’s Shane Dowling made it I- 10 to 1-06 by the 38th minute, after Sheehan and Declan Hannon had ex- changed frees.

However, they dug in superbly and upping their challenge a gear over the next seventeen minutes, they held their opponents scoreless on their way to cancelling out the lead with four unanswered Sheehan placed balls by the 55th minute.

The final score came after Padraic Collins blocked goalkeeper PJ Hall’s clearance and the ball broke to Tim- my Crowe whose shot for goal was somehow defected for a ’65 by Meel- ick’s Eanna Mulvihill

The tension was almost palpable now as Kevin Downes hit two frees wide and they needed some inspira- tion to reignite their challenge. That spur came from wing-back Cathal McInerney who played a one-two with fellow Cratloe player Conor Ryan before hitting a monster point from half-way.

From the puck-out, Kevin Downes, now operating deeper, gathered and hit it back over goalkeeper Tommy Griffin’s head and now two points clear entering the final minute of nor- mal time, it appeared that Ard Scoil were heading towards the final.

St Caimin’s refused to be beaten though and after Patrick Sheehan held his nerve to point a free from half-way, up stepped Wolfe Tones’ John Guilfoyle to save the day with

a point on the run. St Caimin’s did have two late chances but after com- ing from behind, a draw was argu- ably the fairest result in the end. Mock exams, football commit- ments and a mid-term break mean that the replay will now take place on Saturday week, with the final against Thurles CBS down for March 8.

UNDERAGE football development in Clare took a significant step last Thursday with the official announce- ment of the appointment of two new full-time football coaches in the county. This forward-thinking plan was initiated by the Clare Football Supporters Club, and in conjunc- tion with the Clare county board and Bord na nOg, the project proposes to divide the county into three regions, West Clare, North Clare and Mid- East Clare, each having their own full-time coach. Currently the Clare County board employ one full-time coach, former Kilkee and county player, “Baby’ John Enright but through an interview process, head- ed by Munster Council’s coaching and games development officer and former Kerry senior football manag- er, Pat O’Shea, it is hoped that three full-time coaches will be in place in the coming months.

Details of this scheme were an- nounced at a press conference held in Murty Browne’s Pub in Tullycrine last Thursday, with representation from all three parties as well as vari- ous media outlets in attendence. Pat Cotter, John O’Brien, Paudie Neylon and Martin Keogh of The Clare Foot- ball Supporters Club, county chair- man Michael O’Neill and Michael O’Connor of the county board and Anne Hayes and Liam Woulfe from Bord na nOg Peil were all present on the night as the meeting chairman, Pat Cotter outlined the evolution of the significant underage project for clubs and schools.

“We decided at the beginning of the year that the standard in Clare foot- ball had reached an all-time low and it was time to do something to address the issue. So under the efforts of the Clare Football Supporters Club, we

decided to redirect whatever monies we had collected towards underage football and in a lot of discussion with the county board and lots of other people, we decided the best ap- proach would be to divide the county into three — West Clare, North Clare and Mid-East Clare. “Baby’ John En- right is in place in West Clare coach- ing so the idea then would be to put a full-time coach into the other two regions as well. The Football Sup- porters Club would finance one, the County Board would finance the oth- er and Baby John 1s already in place so then we would have three full- time coaches looking after the game at a very young level, from eight up at club and schools level. That is the best way we feel we can make a con- tribution to the standard of football in Clare” |

Bord na nOg Peil’s Liam Woulfe pledged their total support to the initiative, revealing plans to com- mit €5,000 to the enterprise while County Chairman Michael O’Neill also endorsed the project but stressed the need for clubs to play a more ac- tive part to aid the coaches’ work.

“We have sat down with the lads over the last number of months in a way as to how we can help out and it’s really about everybody working together to up the standard of foot- ball in the schools and clubs. There are massive restraints on schools and clubs at the moment but we can’t be concentrating on the nega- tives, we have to look at the positives and I suppose football needs a bit of a lift, starting at the bottom re- ally in conjunction with Bord na nOg and putting in the coaching officers where we feel they are necessary, and in conjunction with the clubs. So the schools play a vital part but the most important thing as well in this is that they are not a substitute

for the clubs and we always keep say- ing that. The coaches are a back-up to anything that the clubs themselves might do and that’s probably some- thing that hasn’t happened over the last couple of years. In the past, if a coach entered a school, some clubs took it for granted that the kids were being coached sufficiently. However, one or two people would only scratch the surface at the end of the day, it’s up to the clubs to get someone in there with them. Two or three people if possible are necessary, in conjunc- tion with the school obviously and bring that back to the club afterwards or the clubs if the schools cover more than one club.”

To provide further information to the clubs, three additional regional meetings will be held in the coming week, with Pat O’Shea, also address- ing each meeting.

AVENUE United issued a firm re- minder of their title ambitions with a convincing victory over Bridge Celtic on Sunday.

The win moves Avenue into sec- ond place, eight points behind league leaders Bunratty.

Avenue have the same amount of points, 18, as Lifford and Bridge Celtic but have two have less games played. Crucially, they have three games in hand on Bunratty.

They would rather have the points but Avenue know that if they can maintain the kind of form they showed against Bridge then they can make life uncomfortable at the top for Bunratty.

Their win also checked Bridge Celtic’s gathering momentum. John- ny Flynn’s side have been in very im- pressive form of late but looked like a shadow of the side that recently beat Lifford 2-1.

Bridge trailed to Gary Flynn’s 54th minute goal before being reduced to ten men. Celtic’s chances of retriev- ing anything evaporated when Trevor Howard was sent off.

Ciaran McManus struck twice late on to make sure of that.

McManus’ late arrival meant that Avenue actually started the game with ten players.

Not that you would have noticed. Playing upfront his own, the talented and seriously quick David Smyth caused Bridge plenty of problems.

David Russell and David Herlihy came closest to breaking the dead- lock for Avenue, the latter with a well-executed bicycle kick that flew just over the bar.

Bridge were struggling to break Av- enue down when Barry O’Connell’s through ball was intercepted by Rob- ert Forde in the 29th minute.

When goalkeeper John Healy de- cided to pick up the ball, referee Pa- draig Sutton blew for an indirect free

kick inside the Avenue box. Avenue survived when Ger O’Connell’s shot was cleared of the line.

Forde succumbed to injury soon af- ter and was replaced by David Mon- aghan. The re-alignment saw Dean Ryan move to centre back, Smyth come out to the right wing and Mon- aghan partner McManus up front.

The substitute was instantly in- volved when he played in Russell who lifted over the bar just before half time.

It wasn’t until the 54th minute that Avenue’s ascendancy was reflected on the scoreboard. Herlihy’s throw on the right was worked on by Rus- sell and Monaghan for Flynn to ram home from close range.

Bridge lost Trevor Howard in the 74th minute. Down a man and chas- ing an equaliser, Bridge inevitably left space at the back. They did and Avenue exploited it.

Herlihy released Monaghan down the right who squared the ball to

McManus to roll home in the 84th minute.

McManus grabbed his second of the game when he latched onto Brati- Slav’s flick on, raced clear and buried his shot.

FINE Gael in Clare is preparing to hold its last three conventions for the local elections within the month.

On Friday, February 20, the most talked about convention of the lo- cal elections so far will take place in west Clare as the candidates for the Kilrush electoral area will be se- lected.

It is still unknown, even among those within the party, who will run in the electoral area that will be re- duced from seven seats to six.

Meanwhile, on Monday next, Fine Gael will select its candidates for Kilkee Town Council at 8.30pm in Stella Marris.

Sitting Fine Gael councillor Michael Martin has decided not to run for the town council on this occasion.

His fellow councillor Brian Keane is expected, however, to put his name

forward.

In total, six people are believed to be considering standing for Fine Gael in Kilkee, and if all six con- tenders still wish to run on Monday, it is very likely they will be allowed to do so.

Among those thought to be in the running are former councillor Paddy Collins and the niece of former coun- cillor Frank Murnane, Karen Reilly.

Among the new faces interested are Elaine Haugh-Hayes, Joanne Dillion and Cillian Murphy.

On Tuesday next, delegates will meet in the Shannon Oaks at 8.30pm to select the Fine Gael candidates for the Shannon Town Council election.

Four names will be put forward on the night, including the two sitting councillors, Tony Mulcahy and Sean McLoughlin.

They will be joined by Michael Flemming and Mary Brennan.