Month: December 2009

A SMILE still stretched across his face, Sean O’Sullivan, Spa manager tells it like it is. A Munster interme- diate title that the club never dreamed about, a scoreline that probably flat- tered the Kerry champions and a Spa full-forward that the Kerry manage- ment must call upon.

“This win will take a while to sink in,’ he says. “We never dreamed we could even get this far but we worked so hard.

“I’m sure Cratloe are the same and my heart really goes out to them because losing a Munster Final like this is difficult and I don’t know how I would handle it if we were beaten here today because it means so much Comte

“The bottom line is I’d have to congratulate Cratloe after the year they’re after having and Id have huge respect for them. Huge respect.

‘As for ourselves, we had a target and a game plan coming up here and we were always going to stick to it. We’re after picking up a couple of bad injuries and we’ll have to assess that damage but right now the cup makes up for it.”

There were some shaky moments, O’Sullivan says, when Cratloe clawed their way back into the game and put Spa under pressure. But he identifies Mike O’Donoghue’s second goal of the game, just before half-time, as an important score.

“The second goal came at a cru- cial time. And no better man than Mike O’Donoghue. He really stood up to the pressure today. Even when we lost Andrew Garnett, that was a savage loss, as was the loss of Niall O’Mahony and Brian Gleeson, but after we lost Andrew, Mike inter- cepted a ball and got a savage point out of it.

‘That was another big score for us. We needed it then and Mike stepped up and looking back on that game, that was a serious turning point. The bottom line is that Jack O’Connor should be seriously looking at this ner eb

“But we did lose our way a small bit in the second-half. At half-time we knew we were in a decent posi- tion, up a few points, but I saw Crat- loe play Valley Rovers in Clarecastle last week and I knew that they can play well against the wind.

“I knew we were going to be up against it in the second-half. We had to consolidate our win but they made us work very, very hard and we did pull away in the end but that score- line might be a small bit flattering.”

And off he goes into the half-light of the dressing room, the short road and bonfires on the edge of Kuillar- ney laying in wait.

TEAM trainer Ger Lawlor wasn’t looking to hear any talk of moral victories or hard luck stories, but you know deep down he felt that this was an opportunity lost.

The seven point differential didn’t tell the story of this Munster final, of that he was convinced, albeit he didn’t really say so directly in his post-match reflections.

“We were back in it when it was down to two points. They were hav- ing a real go but they came back and hit some great points near the end,’ he said.

“If we had got a goal in the second- half we could have won this Munster title. We had them under the cosh. We took them on but at times were afraid to take them on and we went for a few impossible scores when we could have worked our way in more towards goal,” he added.

Mention of goal and he came to Spa’s goal, but at either end of the first-half that represented the two biggest hammer blows to Cratloe’s hopes of becoming the first side to win a Munster intermediate title.

“We gave them too much respect starting off. We stood off them too much in the first ten, 15 minutes of the game.

“We let them get the ball first, showing too much respect for them

– whether it was because they were from Kerry, I don’t know. You can’t do that with a team from Kerry and they punished us with that first goal that meant we had a terrible start. “They’re natural footballers” – they’re playing football since they’re out of the cradle and they’ll punish you if you give them too much space as we did at the start. The goal before half-time really killed us. We should

have only been two points down at half-time.

“But you have to admire our lads. They showed great determination and heart. They never gave up and you couldn’t ask them for any more. They’re unbelieveable. They’re great. A credit to their club and credit to their families.

They all stood up in that first-half when coming back and again in the

second-half.

“It was always going to be very hard to recover from five down but we brought it back to two again and with seven or eight minutes to go I really thought that we could kick on ANG MY eU0mHsom BLO loe

“We were playing the better foot- ball and they were getting very edgy, but it wasn’t to be when they kicked a few points.”

EXPERIENCED Kerins O’Rahillys defender Barry O’Shea has played in plenty of big games — All-Ireland senior football finals, Munster decid- ers, National League finals, Sigerson Cup finals and two county senior football championship finals — but Sunday’s Munster senior club final against Kilmurry Ibrickane is prob- ably the most important of them all.

O’Shea, who is playing some of the best football he has played in the last two years when he was plagued with injury, admits that this Munster club final will be the biggest day in his ca- reer to date.

“Tt’s always great when you achieve something big with your club and I would think that if we could beat Kilmurry Ibrickane in Sunday’s fi- nal, that would top anything else that I have achieved so far,’ O’Shea said.

‘IT know we won the county final in 2002 but a Munster final 1s another couple of notches higher again so winning would be massive for eve- ryone involved and the entire Kerins O’Rahillys club.

“Anything you win with the lads you grew up with and _ socialise with beats anything you might have achieved with your county or with your school or college.

‘“That’s why there is such a big buzz

around the Strand Road area at the moment because everyone realises that the club stands on the verge of history, but getting across that win- ning line is not going to be easy.”

O’Shea is quick to dismiss the fa- vourites tag and maintains if any- thing Clare opponents Kilmurry Ibrickane should be favourites.

“TI think that the 4/7 being offered about Kerins O’ Rahillys is a joke and in no way reflects the even nature of the contest that will probably go right

down to the wire,’ O’Shea said.

‘The only reason we are odds-on 1s because we are a Kerry team play- ing a Clare team, so they assume that it’s a similar story to the inter-county scene where Kerry would always be favourites to beat Clare.

“Look at the facts — Kilmurry Ibrickane were in last year’s final and only lost by a point and they are also county champions in Clare.

“We were never in the final and didn’t win a game in Munster until

we beat Clonakilty this year and we did not win a game in our county championship — we qualified via the club championship, so how could you make us favourites.”

O’Shea, who did a superb marking job on Declan Browne in the Mun- ster semi-final, also points to the fact that of all years for O’Rahillys to reach a Munster club final, this is the year when they have haemorrhaged WEN ace

“T can tell you one thing — if there is a god of football there, then he is not from Strand Road,’ O’Shea laughed.

“When you look at the team that finished the last day against Moyle Rovers, we were missing seven from the team that lost last year’s county final in injury time.

‘Just look at the year we have had. We lost the lads (Tommy Walsh and David Moran) to Australia, Brian Moran and his dad have been sick during the year and now Brian is doubtful for the final having popped his elbow in the semi-final.

“Danny O’Sullivan is out with his cruciate, Pat Madden has emigrated and Giles O’Grady had to miss the semi-final and is an injury doubt for the final.

“T think any club that would have to play without that number of qual- ity players would struggle, yet we are still in there and preparing for a

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“I think that it shows the battling qualities and the resolve of the squad to be able to overcome such adversity and we will be giving it our all the jie. ¢ me rh Val

How does O’Shea, who will be lining up with his brother Morgan alongside him, think O’Rahillys will do in the final?

“It’s winter football this time of the year so it will be low scoring and a battle all the way,’ he pointed out.

“We need to hold onto possession more than we did the last day and also make better use of the ball when we have it.

‘“Kilmurry Ibrickane are a strong side with a good record in this com- petition and they will know that they are only 60 minutes away from win- ning a Munster final.

“We will have to play at the top of our game, take all our chances, work hard as a team to back each other up and hope that we get a break on the day.

‘As I said earlier, the gods have not been on our side since last year’s county final almost 12 months to the day so let’s hope we are back in fa- vour. I would take a one point win this minute,” he added.

THE next phase of Clare’s prepara- tions for the hosting of the National File Under 14 hurling competition 1s about to crank into gear with the pro- motion aspect ready to be launched.

With just over six months to the arrival of clubs from all across the country, preparations have stepped up a gear and Clare Féile Secretary Declan Hogan, from Tulla, says the third weekend in June represents a massive occasion for Clare.

“It was great news when we were chosen to host the 2010 competition and we’ve been hard at work since the announcement,’ he said _ this week. “But the real hard work is only starting now.

“From a logistical point of view alone it’s a mammoth task. You’re talking about 2,000 youngsters de- scending on Clare for the weekend so even in terms of accommodation, it

will take a lot of planning, but we’ve been tackling that over the past few months.”

According to Hogan, the competi- tion will provide a great shop win- dow for Clare.

“You have to look at it from two angles,” he says. “First, we have the chance to promote Clare as a county to the thousands of people who will be visiting. And second, and most 1m- portantly of all, we have the chance to promote Gaelic Games to the kids of Clare. It’s an opportunity of a life- time from that point of view.”

He said the Féile committee are also looking for support from, the county board and the Bord na nOgs.

‘Take the first Friday of the compe- tition for example. We’ll have in the region of 50 pitches in use that day, so we’ll need all the facilities and all the referees we can get our hands on. It would be great to have a free week- end fixture wise.”

In the spring, the committee will begin to host a number of Under 14 blitzes in a bid to familiarise Clare clubs with the structure of the Féile competition.

BRIDGE United A continue their march up the premier division table after this hard fought victory over Lifford. They now sit comfortably in third and will surely be delighted with their position after six games played. Of course for Lifford it’s very different. After seven games they have only seen one win and their total of three points was not altered after this close encounter.

The opening exchanges of this bat- tle was very competitive with but sides showing little hesitation in try- ing to convey who would control and boss this match. Neither goalkeeper had much to deal with in the opening quarter but the threat of a goal being scored on the counter was always an evident reality.

With 20 minutes this goal came. However it was not a direct result of some jaw dropping swift move up the park. Instead like in most games it was a direct result of a set play. Bridge stole the early advantage when defender Jonathan Downes headed home the game’s opening goal from a well judged corner placed danger- ously into the Lifford box.

Was it going to be another of these days for the Ennis club was the burn- ing question on most of the specta- tors’ minds and probably on a few of the Lifford players as well. Credit must be awarded to the team who are rooted to the bottom of the league ta- ble however as they offer a fight back even though ultimately it was to no ZENO

The equalizer again came about from a corner kick. Fabrice Baptista found the vital touch to send the ball past Derek Fahy in the Bridge goal. We certainly had a game on our hands now.

The rest of the first half slowly

passed with very little incident worth mentioning. Both sides seemed to ac- cept the faith of going in level at the break and this was what unfolded.

The second half started in a very similar fashion, very nip and tuck with neither outfit enforcing any great sense of dominance. This was how the game flowed up to the three quarter’s mark and then suddenly the floodgates appeared to be forced open when three goals struck the net in the final fifteen minutes of the game.

Michael Reddan commenced the spree when he restored his team’s early lead. His cross come shot float- ed into the net to the confusion of both the Lifford keeper and defense. His effort was certainly aided by the gale that was in his team’s possession

for the second half. The conditions were definitely another factor that influenced the final result.

Trevor Maxwell then appeared to have wrapped up the game when he made it three one. He finished expertly as he easily got around the centre halves at the rear guard of the Lifford defense.

It wasn’t all over just yet as Lif- ford pulled another one back with five minutes to go. Scot Hennessey blasted to the net after an excellent cross by Ryan Boyle.

Bridge now had a very nervy con- clusion on their hands. These nerves reached breaking point when with almost the last kick of the game Lif- ford had one final chance. However Fahy did not want to be beaten again and his amazing save ensured no

more goals would be added to the final score.

Bridge probably just deserved this outcome but for Lifford it’s the same unfortunate story. I guess they have to return to the drawing board, Neen Oe

CHRISTMAS time promises to be rosier than ever this year with two new Christmas markets announced for the Burren area.

Alongside the established and ever popular market in Ballyvaughan, new markets will be held this year in Kinvara and Kilfenora. Indeed, the Ballyvaughan market has agreed to cut its normal season by one week to allow the Kinvara and Kilfenora markets the weekend to themselves.

Established just this year, the Kin- vara Farmers Market will host its first annual Christmas Food and Craft Market on Saturday and Sun-

day, December 5 and 6.

The market, which will take place from llam to 6pm each day in the Kinvara Community Centre, will boast up to 40 stalls selling a huge variety of seasonal produce and gifts with live music and fun stuff for young and old.

The markets will include a selec- tion of handmade Christmas gifts as well as a host of Christmas food to buy or order, including turkey, goose, seafood, shellfish, cheese, deli prod- ucts and vegetables as well as cakes, puddings and baked goods.

As usual, crafts will be many and varied with jewellery, textiles, pot- tery, toys, books, photographs,

Christmas decorations, stained glass, Christmas flower arrangements and paintings all on offer.

Meanwhile, the Burren Centre in Kilfenora will host their first ever Christmas Fair on December 4 and 5 in Kilfenora. The fair will run from llam to 5pm each day and will show- case a Selection of the quality crafts available in the Clare.

Many of the items are handmade and shoppers will have the opportu- nity to pick up many Christmas gifts while avoiding the crowds and con- gested car parks.

Stalls will include Wildes Choco- lates, books, Christmas hampers and wine, jewellery, Christmas gifts,

wreaths and plants, candle arrange- ments and home-baked products.

The Burren Centre Tea Rooms will also be open on both days to allow shoppers to relax and enjoy some Christmas treats.

For more information on the Kil- fenora Christmas Fair, contact the centre on 065 7088030 or email info @theburrencentre.ie.

Organisers of the Ballyvaughan Christmas Market have announced their fair will take place on Decem- ber 12, 13, 19 and 20 this year, with the usual variety of top-quality local producers. For more details on the Ballyvaughan market, check out next week’s Clare People.

Remembering the Mills’ lost children

Big demand for over-55s to get started

FLOOD hit businesses prepared to re-open yesterday in Ennis amid warnings that more floods could be on the way.

Businesses in the Gort Road, Ab- bey Street and Newbridge Road were among the worst affected when floodwaters rose to unprecedented levels in Ennis last month.

The Gort Road was expected to fully re-open last night while New- bridge Road is closed from the Club Bridge to the junction of Gort Road and New Road.

Paddy Perill, of Perill’s Furniture Store, was forced to close up shop last Wednesday when floodwaters spilled over from the nearby Colaiste Muire secondary school.

Perill’s reopened yesterday with Paddy, who has run the business at Newbridge Road for 23 years, saying he had never seen floods as severe.

He said, “There was a bit of dam- age done alright. It wasn’t too bad but there was still a bit. It never hap- pened before that we got flooding as bad. I was talking to a man from up the road who is 84 and he said he never saw it as bad”.

Mr Perill said he had experienced heavy flooding in 1999 when the River Fergus burst its banks and cov- ered Newbridge Road.

“It came over the road 10 years ago but what got us this time was the water coming down the back from

the Colaiste.” He believes that there isn’t a whole that local authorities can do to prevent floods from strik- ihetear-hex-BU0E

“There’s nothing that really could be done. Look at all that rain fell in the last few weeks. Water always finds its level. It has to go some- where,’ he said.

Ronan Cahir of GiftVenue.ie at Ab- bey Street is hoping to re-open this week after floodwater caused exten- sive damage to his premises.

“No time is ideal for businesses but

with Christmas around the corner, it was a far from ideal time for this to happen,’ said Mr Cahir.

In order to dry out his business, Mr Cahir said he has been forced to run three large dehumidifiers 24-hours a day for the last week.

‘“We’ve had to get new carpet and flooring in but they can’t be put down until the place 1s dry”, he said.

Mr Cahir, who was initially refused sandbags after Abbey Street was not designated as a priority area, said he is determined to re-open despite fur-

ther flood warnings.

‘Every day for the past two weeks there seems to have been warnings about high tides and more floods. You could lose a lot of sleep and you could freeze with anticipation but you have to get on with it”.

SOME of the leading lights of the last decade of the Lismorahaun Singers will return to north Clare for a series of festive concerts this December.

Leading soloists such as tenor Pe- ter O’Donohue, soprano Kate Daly and the choir’s young new talent Katie O’Donohue, will join an army of other voices for the three-concert series which will mark the 10th an- niversary of the choir.

The concert will take the form of a musical stroll down memory lane with the Lismorahaun Singer revisit- ing their most famous performance, with a selection of numbers from Mozart’s ‘Requiem’.

The ‘Requiem’ was first performed by the choir in Ennistymon and in Dublin’s RDS in 2005 and was later released as the Lismorahaun first al- bum.

Along with the “Requiem’, the con- cert will also feature a selection of the most popular numbers performed by the choir over the last decade in- cluding Vivaldi, Verdi, Orff and a host of other celebrated composers.

The second of the concert will feature a range of both secular and traditional Christmas favourites that have become popular with audiences as part of the choir’s annual holiday ee ae

Each of their three concerts will raise money for a different local OirWwIA

The first concert will take place on Saturday, December 12, in Lisdoon-

varna and will benefit the local Pavil- ion Theatre. The community building

has been totally restored by the local community over the last number of

years and now, among other things, is home and rehearsal space for the Lismorahaun Singers.

Proceeds from the second con- cert, which takes place at the Fri- ary Church in Ennis on Wednesday, December 16, will go towards the Special Olympics. Fittingly, the final concert in the series will take place at the site of their first ever perform- ance – St John the Baptist Church in Ballyvaughan, with all money raised going towards vital repairs for the Church. This final performance will take place on Thursday, December 17.

“The choir would like to welcome everyone to come and celebrate our tenth birthday in high style this year,” said PRO of the Lismorahaun Sing- ers, Marych O’Sullivan-Sanford.

“We all wish to express, in song, our sincere thanks for the generous enthusiasm received from so many concertgoers over the years.”

The concerts will take place on the 12, 16 and 17 of December in Lis- doonvarna, Ennis and Ballyvaughan. Tickets are available from €15 (€50 family ticket) from Jordans in Lisdoonvarna; Mooneys in Bal- lyvaughan; Crosbies in Ennistymon and Scéal Eile in Ennis.