Month: March 2011

Clondegad 1-10 – Kilrush Shamrocks 0-9 at Michael Tubridy Memorial Park, Kilrush

A LITTLE piece of football history was visited upon Kilrush’s ‘Cricket Field’ on Sunday afternoon when intermediate operaters Clondegad scalped another senior championship side in impressive fashion.

History because in getting the better of the Shams by four points thanks to Shane Brennan’s thumping goal a couple of minutes before the end, Clondegad recorded what their local football historian Seamus O’Reilly reckoned to be their first Cusack Cup win over the most storied senior championship team in Clare football.

And it was a deserved success too as Dermot Coughlan’s charges laid the foundations for their success in the first half when playing against the wind before kicking on to victory on the turnover when aided by the elements.

County Under 21 team captain Paudge McMahon was the man, bagging six points over the hour as Clondegad came from 0-7 to 0-4 adrift at the interval to notch their second brace of points in their 2011 campaign.

Kenneth Kelly had opened the scoring for Clondegad inside the first minute with latching on to a pass from Shane Brennan, but with Peadar McMahon showing well for the Shams at full-forward they were back on terms by the fifth minute.

Three McMahon points inside the first 15 minutes to a replay from his namesake, Paudge McMahon, left the Shams 0-3 to 0-2 clear.

Ruairí O’Connor landed a great point in the 16th minute for the home side before an opportunist effort from Colm Gavin after 21 minutes ensured only point separated the sides once more. The Shams finally pressed home their first half wind advantage with points from Stephen Sweeney, Pat Joe McGrath and a Ruairi O’Connor free to a lone response by Paudge McMahon left three points between the sides at the interval.

The fact that the Shams were restricted to two second half points, both of which came in the final five minutes via Paddy Clancy and Donal O’Sullivan tells its own story.

Clondegad dominated, with the Paudge McMahon show in the early stages of the half turning the tie decisively in their favour.

Three McMahon points, two of which were from play, inside the opening 12 minutes had the sides level, while Clondegad hit the front on 49 minutes when a quick free by McMahon teed up Gary Brennan for his opening point.

McMahon’s third pointed free gave them a two-point lead entering the last ten minutes, while the Shams’ challenge was finally killed off in the 59th minute when Eoin O’Donnellan’s rasping goal effort that was saved by Tony Burke was volleyed to the net by Shane Brennan to seal Clondegad’s day.

Clondegad
Declan O’Loughlin, Flan Enright, Pat Coffey, Conor Gavin, Francie Neylon, Kieran Browne, James Murphy, Eoin Griffin, Gary Brennan (0-3), Paudge McMahon, ColmGavin, Shane Brennan, Kenneth Kelly (0-1), Eoin Donnellan, Francis O’Reilly

Kilrush Shamrocks
Tony Burke, Niall Gilbride, Niall Clancy, Cathal Lyons, Donal Madigan, MatthewMoloney, Darragh Bolton, JimYoung, Paddy Clancy, Pat Joe McGrath, Paul Heaslip (0-1), CalumBond, Ruairi O’Connor, Peadar McMahon, Stephen Sweeney

Subs
Donal O’Sullivan for Bond, Seamus Bolton for Heaslip.

Liscannor 0-8 – Miltown 1-4 at Liscannor

DEFENDING champions St Joseph’s Miltown have yet to register a victory in the 2011 Cusack Cup after suffering defeat to Liscannor by the narrowest of margins on Sunday.

After an opening day draw with Kilrush, Miltown were embroiled in another tight contest with county finalists Liscannor who held on to secure their first competitive win of the year.

With weather conditions dominating proceedings, it was the proverbial game of two halves as backed by a strong wind in the first half, the home side stormed into a five point lead, with their triumvirate of Alan Clohessy (3), Ronan Slattery and Kieran Considine getting on the scoreboard.

Miltown on the other hand, found the going tough early on but were handed a major lifeline when a defensive error allowed Enda Malone to goal for the holders. Liscannor did recover with points through Davy McDonagh and Clohessy to lead by 0-7 to 1-0 at the break but that goal took the gloss off the home side’s first half display, with Miltown having the strong wind at their backs for the second period. The expectant fightback was severely hampered however only minutes after the restart when Kevin Keavey was dismissed for a second yellow but Miltown eventually set tled through a Joe Curtin point to cut the deficit to a goal. Further drama ensued for Miltown when Curtin earned his side a penalty only to see Sean Malone put the resulting kick wide while up the other end, county senior Clohessy scored what was to prove a crucial point for his side at 0-8 to 1-1.

The introduction of talisman Dessie Molohan saw the lead slashed to only the minimum with time running out but they could not get the crucial score to get anything out of the game, including a late Joe Curtin shot that was saved by goalkeeper Noel Kilmartin. He gave Liscannor their first win of the campaign and leapfroged their opponents in the process.

Liscannor
Noel Kilmartin, Shane Canavan, Davy McDonagh (0-1), Michael Foley, Robbie Lucas, Ronan Slattery (0-1), Denis Murphy, Joe Considine,Alan Flaherty, Niall Considine, Johnny Considine, Ger Considine, Kieran Considine,Alan Clohessy (0-5), Kieran Considine (0-1)

Sub
David Commane for Nagle

St Joseph’s Miltown
Niall Quinn, Enda Malone, Gordon Kelly, David Cleary, Gearoid Curtin, Kevin Burke, Ian Sexton, Sean Meade, Darragh McDonagh, Brian Curtin, Garry Egan, Kevin Keavey, John Meade, Sean Malone, Joe Curtin (1-1)

Subs
GrahamKelly for Burke, Martin Barry for Egan, Dessie Molohan (0-3) for S. Malone, Enda O’Gorman for McDonagh

Man of the Match
Alan Clohessy (Liscannor) Referee Pat Cosgrove (Corofin)

THE INTERMEDIATE and senior leagues commence this weekend with the intermediate matches on Saturday and senior games on Sunday. There are eight teams in both competitions this year, divided into two groups of four. The top two teams in each group will progress to the semi-final stages of competition, with finals for both competitions fixed for the weekend of the May 21/22. I nt er mediat e Lea gue Round 1 Gr oup 1 Cla r eca st le v Tr uagh /Clonla r a Sat ur day, 4pm TRUAGH begin the defence of their league title away to Clarecastle. They will be looking to county players such as Michelle Caulfield and Ellen Horgan to lead the team to backto-back league titles. After reaching last year’s championship final, the team will be hoping to improve on performances throughout the year to help them to a second county final. Truagh’s experience should see them as one of two teams to come out of the group. Clarecastle are setting out to rebuild their team over the course of the league this year and will be ea- gerly awaiting championship action in August. With a mixture of youth and experience, they will be hoping to compete well in this year’s competitions. Whit egat e v Sca r iff, Sat ur day, 4pm WHITEGATE’S experience in contesting the intermediate championship cup semi final last year should stand to them in this tie. St Joseph’s are in a rebuilding process and will hope that the league will give them an opportunity to get this process off to a good start.

The other game in this group, Scariff v Inagh, was played last Sunday, with Inagh running out comfortable winners on a scoreline of 8-20 to 006. Gr oup 2 Cr usheen /Killa nena v Ogonnelloe, Sat ur day THE amalgamation of Junior sides Killanena and Crusheen will add an interesting mix to this year’s Intermediate League. Crusheen contested the junior league and championship finals last year, conceding defeat in both to Kilnamona. Killanena won the intermediate shield final in 2010 and will be hoping to get their year off to a good start, with a least a semi-final spot in their sights. Senior League Gr oup 1 Sca r iff/Ogonnelloe v Kilkishen @ Ogonnelloe, Sunday 12pm THIS IS a repeat of last year’s senior B championship final that saw the amalgamated side claim the spoils. Kilkishen will not want a repeat of this, and though currently in a period of transition, will be hoping that the experience this youthful side gained from last year’s encounters will see them through to the latter stages of this year’s league. Sixmilebr idge v Cor ofin @ Sixmilebr idge, Sunday 4pm, Refer ee J im Hickey (Cr at loe) SIXMILEBRIDGE will have been disappointed not to have lifted silverware last year in adult competition, and will be hoping that 2011 will be their year. Promoted to senior status, after the successes of last year, Corofin will be looking to use the league as preparation for senior championship. Gr oup 2 Clooney/Quin v Kilma ley @ Clooney, Sunday 3. 30pm A REMATCH of last year’s league final, which saw Kilmaley run out winners. Clooney will want to build on last year’s performance and go one step further this year in clinching the title, however Kilmaley’s blend of experience and youth will not be easy to overcome. Newma r ket on Fer gus v Wolfe Tones, Sunday 3. 30pm NEWMARKET will want to make up for last year’s league performance and are strong contenders for a final spot. Wolfe Tones, whose poor showing over the last number of years, are currently rebuilding. They will be hoping that the league experience will give them a strong foothold to hold their own in the championship later in the summer. J unior Fixt ur es Gr oup 1 Fea k le v Ba llyea @ Fea kle, Sunday 4pm Éir e Óg v Killa nena @ Éir e Óg, Sunday 12pm Tr ua gh /Clonla r a v Sixmilebr idge, Sunday 12. 30pm Gr oup 2 Kilma ley v Cor ofin @ Kilma ley, Sat ur day 3. 30pm, Refer ee Noel McI ner ney Cr usheen v Kilkishen (post poned t o weekend Apr il 2/3) Tulla a bye

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

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 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

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.

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

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”.

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.