Month: April 2011

Connolly Celtic 0 – Shannon Olympic 3 at Connolly

SHANNON Olympic A secured all three points with a three nil win away to Connolly Celtic in their first midweek game of the season last Wednesday evening.

Olympic were forced to start the game with 10 men as some of their players were unfortunately delayed arriving to the match. As Olympic were trying to overcome this handicap, Connolly started the game the better with chances from Brendan Dillon and Bernard Field in the opening ten minutes.

Olympic finally got all eleven men together, fifteen minutes into the game, and quickly settled into the task. The opening goal of the game then came from Mick O’Connell in the 20th minute when he headed home a Jay Regan corner to put Olympic into the lead.

A challenge on Karl Scott led to an Olympic penalty in the 42nd minute which he went on to convert himself to put the away side 2-0 up and just before half time Olympic punished Connolly again with a free kick at the edge of the box. Jimmy Houlihan curled the ball into the far top corner scoring an impressive goal widening Olympics lead to 3-0.

Connolly had several chances in the second half from Alan Markham and Bernard Field however they couldn’t get passed Olympic keeper Gary McGettrick who was on top form on the day.

Shannon Olympic
Gary McGettrick, David Collins, Ian Hogan, James Fitzgerald, Karl Fogarty, Ray Quigley, Jimmy Houlihan, Donncadh Kelly, Mick O’Connell, Jay Regan, Karl Scott.

Subs
Wayne Regan, Richie Hanly, Eamonn O’Neill, Dave Kearns, Michael Byrnes.

Connolly Celtic
Dermot O’Brien, Brian Costello, KillianTorpey, Kieran Quinn, Keith O’Looney,Alan Markhan, Sean Mc Carthy, Bernard Field, Brendan Dillion, Pat Hogan, Donal Keane.

Subs
Danny Casey, Sean Courtney, Sean Cregan.

LOSING is always hard to take, while the cruellest cut of all in cup football is failing at the semi-final.

Failure wasn’t the word though as Clare had a brilliant year that brought them to the cusp of a first Inter-League Youths decider in 40 years.

No wonder then that pride was the over-riding emotion of manager Mike Moloney after Clare’s agonising defeat.

“I couldn’t have asked for more from the lads in terms of what they put into it – the six and half months they put in,” he told The Clare People .

“Obviously you don’t want to go down there and fall 1-0 down after four minutes and 2-0 after 18 minutes.

“We had to expend so much energy chasing the game and got ourselves back in it with goals from Darragh Corry and Ruairi Norrby, but you can’t just keep up that pace for 90 minutes. We ran out of a bit of steam in the second half.

“Where we were getting a bit of joy was around set pieces. We needed a couple of better deliveries in the second half into the box from the free kicks that we won. We never seemed to get those deliveries in to get that third goal.

“I reckon if we got that third goal you wouldn’t have known what would happen. They were rattled when we got it back to 2-2, so it would have been nice to get the third to see how they would react to going behind,” added Moloney.

And, the Clare manager has said the preparation undertaken by his team since last September is the benchmark for the future as Clare bid to compete at the highest level in national competition.

“I believe the talent is there every year but you have to give them the platform,” Moloney said.

“They have to get good preparation, they have to be taken care of, the same as they would be if they were hurling or Gaelic football team at minor level. You have to spend a bit of money to do that, but if you do the rewards are there.

“We had a group of players who were able to play at a very high standard against a really good side. With a break or two here or there we would be in a national final now,” he added. Pr ego Menswea r Cup Thir d Round Br idge Celt ic A V Br idge Unit ed B @ Br idget own, Sunday 11a m TWO SIDES probably more concerned with league relegation issues than advancing in the cup as Bridge Celtic are hovering dangerously near the basement of the Premier Division while Bridge Utd’s second string are in a more perilous predicament at the rear of the First. In saying that, sometime the cup can be a welcome freedom from the toils of the league and so a home win might be able to boost confidence ahead of a tricky league run-in. Ver dict : Br idge Celt ic A Pr ego Menswea r Cla r e Cup Qua r t er -Fina ls Cor ofin Ha r ps V Bur r en Unit ed @ Cor ofin, Sunday 3. 30pm A MUCH anticipated north Clare derby due to the familiarity of the sides in the First Division battle for promotion. Corofin have had the better of their previous meetings this season by winning 5-3 at home while the corresponding fixture in Lisdoonvarna was a 2-2 draw. Burren Utd have several games in hand in the league to make up if they are to leapfrog Corofin so that alone might preoccupy their priorities and allow Corofin to snatch victory. Ver idct : Cor ofin Ha r ps Avenue Unit ed A V Ma nus Celt ic B @ Lee’s Road, Sunday 2. 30pm THE REWARD for Third Division giantkillers Manus Celtic B for beating a Hermitage side 33 places above them is to play defending Premier Division and cup champions Avenue Utd who are only 32 places above the Clarecastle side. If the formula worked once, it could conceivably work again but the odds are certainly stacked against Manus Celtic as Avenue appear to be hitting form at just the right time to possibly hone in on another double. Ver dict : Avenue Ut d

Kilkenny League 3 – Clare League 2 at Deridum Park, Kilkenny

IT was a real case of what might have been for Clare on Sunday afternoon when they just came up short in this national semi-final. With it the hopes of bridging a 40-year gap to when Clare last contested the final in this grade were dashed.

Mike Moloney’s side were undone after an heroic performance that saw them come back from the concession of two goals inside the first 18 minutes to draw level by half-time only to be undone by Kilkenny hero Ross King who settled the tie with his third goal in the 75th minute.

The winner came at a time when Clare had the better of the exchanges after rocking the hosts with a stunning comeback in the first half thanks to goal from Darragh Corry and Ruairi Norrby.

Kilkenny had started this game with a bang, netting as early as the sixth minute when a long ball into the Clare area wasn’t dealt with by the defence, which allowed Ross King head the ball home.

From there things got worse for Clare, albeit they had an early goal chance when Niall Whelan played a long ball over the top into the path of the pacey Ruairi Norrby, only for the Lifford man to be flagged off-side when through on goal.

Then on 18 minutes Sean Maguire tumbled over in the area and was awarded a penalty that Ross King slammed past Ciaran MacMathúna in the Clare goal. It looked bleak for Clare, very bleak, but from there they summoned a brilliant recovery to tee up a second half when everything was to play for.

The early lifeline came on 26 minutes when Jack Walsh’s in-swinging corner from the right was brilliantly met by Darragh Corry who directed the ball home past the hapless Greg Cummins.

Suddenly Clare were transformed, gaining a real grip on things in the middle of the park with Niall Whelan, Darragh Corry and Alan Roche to the fore, while Ruairi Norrby looked dangerous down the left flank.

Indeed, it was Norrby who put the game back in the melting pot when facing up to a free just outside the penalty area in the 40th minute after Darragh Corry was fouled, thumping his shot through the wall into the bottom corner of the net for the equaliser.

Clare were transformed; Kilkenny were on the back-foot, but the goal that would have completed a remarkable recovery never came.

Alan Roche had a half chance early in the second half when he ran onto a ball on the edge of the square but his effort flashed over the bar.

Thereafter things tightened considerably, with both defences on top, while the midfield exchanges became something of a war of attrition, with little room to manoeuvre, until the game’s two most impressive performers conjured up the goal that broke Clare hearts.

Sean Maguire had been a thorn in Clare’s side all day in the middle of the park threaded a ball through to Ross King on the right side, from there the schoolboy international used his strength to shrug off a challenge before driving to the net.

Clare were still not without hope, but by this stage the energy they’d expended in getting back into the game after their horror start began to wane on what was a soft pitch.

They did win two free-kicks on the edge of the area, but unlike the first half when Kilkenny’s wall was penetrated by Ruairi Norrby’s blistering shot, it held firm on both occasions and Clare’s chance was lost.

Clare
Ciaran MacMathúna (EnnisTown), Jack Walsh (Avenue United), Paraic O’Malley (Tulla United), Colin Smyth (Avenue Unitd), Darren Murphy (Bridge United), Niall Whelan (Tulla United), Darragh Corry (Tulla United),Alan Rochie (Avenue United), Darragh Sexton (Avenue Unitd), Eoin Fitzgerald (Avenue United), Ruairi Norrby (Lifford).

Subs
Mark Roche (Avenue United) for Norrby, Dara Fitzgerald (Bridge United) for Alan Roche,TomMcKeown (Tulla United) for Murphy.

Kilkenny
Greg Cummins, BarryWhelan,Andy Hickey, Rob Skehan, SamJohnston, Lee Delaney, ChrisValentine, Declan McQuillan, Sean Maguire, Ross King, Conor Gorey.

Man of the Match
Ross King (Kilkenny League)

ONE man, one idea.

That’s what comes to the mind of many of the late Howard Flannery’s old friends when remembering his great crusade – his unique twin-track approach when it came to getting his vision up and running.

One part of it was to get people out running; the other to create a clinic in Ennis for people with special needs. One man, with one idea that came to pass in quite a remarkable way.

You have the clinic in Barefield; you have scores of people out running – cycling and walking too. All beating to the Clare Crusaders drum, early in the morning, late at night, any time.

And, in honour of this achievement, Crusaders present and past, not to mind hundreds of other runners and walkers, will gather on Easter Monday for the inaugural Ennis 10 – Howard Flannery Memorial.

“It’s a 10k and a 10m,” says Frank Landy, one of the chief organisers, “and its for everyone, from runners to walkers. When a group of us got together last October we said to ourselves, why not run a race to remember Howard by and run it every year.

“What better way to remember this remarkable man than by organising a good race, raising a few bob for char ity, letting people have a good bit of craic. That encapsulates Howard Flannery in a nut-shell. We’ll get more of Howard’s spirit between 10am and 12.30pm on Easter Monday than you would running ten or 15 marathons,” adds Landy.

“We have had a core group of people involved. Myself, Frank Cassidy, Tom Gleeson and Paddy Flannery. There wouldn’t be a Clare Crusaders clinic without Howard Flannery. People wouldn’t be out running but for Howard. People who would never have dreamt of doing marathons have marathons run. It has changed the life of the runners, the cyclists and the walkers. The Clare Crusaders are a community on to themselves,” continues Landy.

The Ennis 10 – Howard Flannery Memorial will start and finish opposite Ennis CBS, taking a route out by Roslevan, the 10m will pass the Clare Crusaders clinic at the five mile stage while 10k runners/walkers will take a shorter route back to Ennis.

“We’re promoting it as a big community event,” says Landy. “It’s not that people have lost their community spirit, but it’s that people haven’t been given the opportunity to show their support for the community and show their support for the clinic.

“We will have everybody from sandwich makers to people giving out water. It’s a huge operation and it will remind everyone what Howard set up and how far we’ve got.”

THE INAUGURAL Ennis Duathlon was held on Sunday in Lees Road. The course started with a 3k trail run through the adjacent forest followed by a 14k cycle in windy conditions and finished with another run through the forest.

The short course meant a fast race and the first run was finished in under nine minutes by Mike Yelverton quickly followed by Con Doherty and Ennis Tri Club’s own Patrick Quinn. The first three females home were Derval Devaney, Andree Walkin and Maebh Hurst (below).

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the organisation and running of the event, the athletes, Jane and her physios, DJ yl, Dr. Martin Fitzgerald, Clare Red Cross, Clare County Council and the Gardai.

Ennis Triathlon Club would also like to thank the generous sponsors for this event: Tooling & Engineering Distributors, Kuehne & Nagle, HAAS Group, Seoidin, Tierney’s Cycles, The Bike Shop, Top Bike, Physiozone, Excel Zone, Carrie’s Cakes, O’Connor’s Bakery, Clare Sprint Water, Fergus Credit Union, Turnpike Fruit & Veg, Brian McCarthy Contractors, Sports AI, Base2Race, Dr John McCarthy. Results: 1 MikeYelverton 0:40:44 2 Con Doherty 0:41:37 3 patrick quinn 0:42:29 4 StephenTeeling Lynch 0:43:52 5 Chris Mintern 0:43:55 6 Conor Rooney 0:44:16 7 JUDE MCENTEE 0:44:19 8 Stephen Rooney 0:46:06 9 Shane Geary 0:46:23 10 Aaron O’Brien 0:46:47 11 James Skehan 0:47:02 12 paul horan 0:47:11 13 DAVIDBREW 0:47:16 14 Derval Devaney 0:47:20 15 Ian O’ Halloran 0:47:43 16 Paul Flannery 0:47:57 17 AndreeWalkin 0:48:06 18 Peter Fitzgerald 0:48:07 19 Colin McGann 0:48:47 20 Paul McMahon 0:49:03 21 ColmDaly 0:49:09 22 Cormac Murphy 0:49:15 23 John Cahill 0:49:22 24 Anthony Boyle 0:49:25 25 James Reddan 0:49:49 26 Eddie McMahon 0:49:59 27 Clyde Gaffney 0:50:07 28 Padraic Quinn 0:50:22 29 LiamKennedy 0:50:49 30 Albert Quigley 0:51:04