Month: April 2011

Clare 0-20 – Wicklow 1-17 at Aughrim Park, Wicklow

THAT Clare saved best to last is reflected in the score on the board that when broken down looks mightily impressive.

Fifteen of the points came from play in as free-flowing a performance produced under Micheál McDermott’s watch as manager, but it could have still been the same old story of going home empty handed from a game that they dominated for long stretches, yet failed to apply the killer punch they needed to secure the two points.

All because they let Wicklow off the hook when Leighton Glynn got a slip on the defence and stroked home an equalising goal two minutes into injury time.

It was rough justice on Clare to have the win snatched from them in the final seconds, rougher justice still on keeper Joe Hayes, because but for his heroics right throughout the game this could have been another chastening National League experience for Clare.

He came to his side’s rescue on no less than four occasions when Wicklow carved open the Clare defence and created goal chances – he was the human shield that kept the citadel intact for so long and in a way inspired those outside him to produced their best display of the year.

If Hayes was the cog in goal, Gary Brennan was the lynchpin further afield as he showcased once more that midfield is his natural hinterland – whatever about his abilities as a full-forward target man, the engine room is where he has to be for Clare going forward.

And it was Brennan who got Clare off to a flier with a point inside 30 seconds, while they added three more from Cathal O’Connor, Ger Quinlan, making his first start of the season and David Tubridy to lead by 0-4 to no score inside 15 minutes.

Wicklow did hit back with points from Tony Hannon and Austin O’Malley, but Clare drove forward and points by Conor Ryan, Kevin Hartnett and a David Tubridy sideline effort had them 0-7 to 0-5 clear by the 25th minute. Another spurt before half time yield points for Graham Kelly, Gary Brennan, Alan Clohessy and David Tubridy to give Clare a 0-11 to 0-7 interval lead, but not for the first time they were thankful to Joe Hayes in goal as he foiled Dean Odlum with a point blank save in injury time to ensure Clare had a four-point cushion. David Tubridy extended that lead to five soon after the resumption, only for Wicklow to hit back with points from Seanie Furlong (2) and Austin O’Malley, but Clare’s resolve against he wind saw them hit points through Gary Brennan, Gordon Kelly and Michael Foran to lead by 0-15 to 013 by the 55th minute. Brennan’s continued hegemony in midfield ensured a steady of scores didn’t dry up, with Graham Kelly, Alan Clohessy (2), Brennan and David Tubridy making sure that Wicklow were kept at bay despite the scoring efforts of Austin O’Malley and Tony Hannon. Wicklow had got it back the bare minimum, but points Clare looked to have secured their fourth win of the campaign when David Tubridy hit his seventh as the game edged into injury time. However, Leighton Glynn had other ideas with his last gasp effort that left both sides happy with their efforts at the end.

Wicklow
J Flynn; C Hyland,A Byrne, P Higgins; P Dalton, B McGrath, DHayden; J Stafford, R Finn;T Hannon (0-3),A O’Malley (0-4), DSiney; DOdlum(0-1), S Furlong (0-8), L Glynn 1-1).

Subs
S Kavanagh for DSiney (half-time), P Burke for DOdlum(half-time), MMcLoughlin for C Hyland (51 mins)

Clare
Joe Hayes (9) Barry Duggan (6), Laurence Healy (7), MarkTubridy (7), Kevin Hartnett (7) (0-1), Gordon Kelly (7) (0-1), Martin McMahon (7), Niall Browne (7), Gary Brennan (9) (0-4), Graham Kelly (8) (0-2), DavidTubridy (8) (0-5, 1f), Cathal O’Connor (7) (0-1), Conor Ryan (7) (0-1), Ger Quinlan (7) (0-1),Alan Clohessy (8) (0-3).

Subs
John Hayes (8) for B Duggan (half time), Michael Foran (7) (0-1) for C Ryan (40 mins).

Referee
K O’Brien (Tipperary).

THERE seems to be no stopping Clare’s juvenile handball players as they captured yet another title at the weekend, adding to the previous weekends tally of five titles.

Last out for Clare last weekend saw Aine McInerney and Hannah O’Brien take on a formidable Kilkenny pairing in the under 17 girls doubles in Goresbridge, Kilkenny.

The Clare girls were going in as underdogs but were quietly hoping to emulate their Clare comrades in Alice Akers and Stacey Wright who captured this same title twelve months previous.

Kilkenny started the strongest and forced their way into a 6-0 lead, but the clare girls were resilient and battled back to draw level.

It was a nip and tuck affair with points and hands exchanging on a regular basis. Kilkenny went in to serve for the first game with two hands at 20-18, but the Clare duo fought back to regain the service advantage and clinch a very close first game. What now originally seemed a mountain to climb now seemed to be a great possibility.

And the Clare girls were not to dis- appoint as they started the second game as they finished the first and gained a blistering 12-0 lead.

The finishing line was in their sights and while the Kilkenny girls tried to rally back, it was Clare who took the game and the title to make it an historic 40×20 season for Clare juvenile handball.

Clare juvenile handball is now by far the strongest in Ireland and this is evident by the number of All-Ireland Titles that Clare have won this year – an incredible six out of a possible 15 which makes the county the envy of every other centre in the country.

At local level, the Clare county B doubles get under way this week in all divisions and clubs have been notified of fixtures.

THE CLARE Minor Footballers head to Pairc Uí Rinn on Wednesday evening in their first game as they look to overcome last year’s AllIreland finalists Cork in the quarter final of the Munster Minor Championship.

Clare will look to make a mark on this years Minor Championship and hope to set the trend for Clare football this year as they try to overcome Cork.

A task the Clare Seniors also face in the Munster quarter-final in little under six weeks. The Clare People caught up with Minor Manager Michael Neylon ahead of tomorrow nights game.

Michael says he is happy with the current form and that things have been looking good for his side over the past few weeks.

“We’ve had a full turnout for the last month or so with lads coming into good form from a winter gym programme” he said.

Everyone is available for selection and injury free after the weekends under 21 hurling championship where five players were involved.

This side first got together when they took part in a Munster under 17 tournament last November where they played four competitive games winning the Shield Final against Waterford.

“That was the first time lads would have met, then they were given a gym programme which they worked away on until we started training as a county panel there in March. We’ve had five or six weeks together now and we’ve played Kerry, Galway and Kildare in challenge games” he said.

There are several players from last year’s panel that Clare will be looking to ahead of tomorrow nights game including; Darren Sexton, Niall Hickey and Adrian Murrihy from Kilmurry-Ibrickane, Ennistymon’s Oisin Vaughan, Wolfe Tones Craig O’Brien, Jarlaith Colleran from Doora/Barefield and Stan Lineen from Kilmihil. Stan’s clubmate Martin O’Leary will also be hoping to bring his recent form with St Flannan’s college into this game tomorrow night.

Michael Neylon is joined on the managment panel by Ennis man Noel Normoyle, Morris Reidy from Miltown and Lee O’Donoghue from Kildysart.

They met on Monday night for a light session ahead of Wednesday’s game where the team was also named. They face a tough task of reaching the semi-final stages but he believes his side have what it takes.

Clare
Darren Sexton (Kilmurry-Ibrickane), Conor Gavin (Clondegad), Craig O’Brien (WolfeTones), Oisin Vaughan (Ennistymon), Jarlath Colleran (Doora/ Barefield), Stan Lineen (Kilmihil), Darragh Bolton (Kilrush),Alan O’Neill (Doora/Barefield), Darragh McDonagh (Miltown), Eoin Cleary (Miltown), Conor Cleary (Miltown),Adrian Murrihy (KilmurryIbrickane), Martin O’Leary (Kilmihil), Niall Hickey (Kilmurry Ibrickane), Jamie Malone (Corofin).

Ballyea 0-14 – St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 1-8 at The Éire Óg Grounds, Ennis

ST JOSEPH’S Doora-Barefield saw red on the double during the game when the sendings off of both Niall Hassett and Shane O’Connor and saw it the same colour again after the ball game was over when a flurry of people vented their spleen at referee Kevin Walsh

But it was Ballyea who saw the promised land of a county final for the second time in three years as they withstood a late surge by the men from The Parish to book a final berth against O’Callaghan’s Mills.

Ballyea were the better team, but St Joseph’s weren’t slow in letting it be known that they had their grievances with Kevin Walsh after they received six yellow cards and two red ones over the course of the hour.

Niall Hassett was marched in the 41st minute after a challenge on Ca- thal Doohan, but by that stage the game was already slipping from St Josephs’ grasp as Ballyea cranked up their performance considerably in the early exchanges of the second half.

In the first 20 minutes of the half they restricted St Joseph’s to just two points, while adding seven of their own to move into a commanding 013 to 0-7 by the 50th minute as they closed in on a final berth.

The first half had been an even affair, with points from Niall Deloughery, Ian Lyons and Cathal Duggan helping St Joseph’s into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead inside ten minutes.

However, as in previous games in the campaign Tony Kelly prodigious scoring talents helped Ballyea play their way into the game.

The Clare minor captain landed two frees by the 15th minute and then hit one from play after good work from Paudge McMahon.

Further points from Paul Flanagan and Niall Deasy in response to a booming point from distance by Alan O’Neill helped Ballyea into a 0-6 to 0-4 lead before an injury time effort from Ian Lyons left only the minimum between the sides.

Jarlath Colleran’s equalising point a minute into the second half hinted at a battle to the death, but it was as good as it got for St Joseph’s for much of the half.

Seven points in a row from Ballyea decided this contest – Martin O’Leary, Niall Deasy (2) and Tony Kelly (4) were all on the mark.

A 58th minute goal scrambled to the net by Cathal Duggan after a long free from Alan O’Neill briefly put the game back in the melting pot, but when St Joseph’s had their claims for a 21-yard free ignored a few minutes later, their cause was lost.

Ballyea
Shane Harkin, Cormac Ryan, Jack Browne, Eanna McInerney, James Murphy, Gearóíd O’Connell, David Sheehan, Paul Flanagan (0-1),Tony Kelly (0-9, 6f), Niall Deasy (0-3), James Murphy, Cathal Doohan, Martin O’Leary (0-1), Paudge McMahon, Declan Keane.

Subs
Niall Griffin for Doohan, Eoghan Donnellan for McMahon.

St Joseph’s Doora- Barefield
Michael Rosengrave, Darragh Murphy, Stephen Collins, Killian Griffey, Niall Hassett,Alan O’Neill (01), Eamon Clohessy, Leo Duggan, Jarlath Colleran (0-1), Ian Lyons (0-1), Niall Deloughery (0-1), Aaron Landy, Barry Mullane, Shane O’Connor (0-2, 2f), Cathal Duggan (1-2).

Subs
Stephen Barron for Griffey, Donal O’Halloran for Mullane.

Man of the Match
Tony Kelly (Ballyea)

Sixmilebridge 1-17 – Inagh/Kilnamona 2-12 at Clarecastle

SIXMILEBRIDGE HAVE reached the under 21 A final for the third year in a row after seeing off a strong Inagh/Kilnamona side in Clarecastle on Saturday.

Sixmilebridge managed to finished strong in this close encounter thanks to a Declan Morey goal on 46 minutes which edged them in front but there was never more then a puck of a ball between these sides for the best part of the game.

It was clear early on that ill discipline would prove costly for both teams as Inagh/Kilnamona’s Niall Arthur and Sixmilebridge’s Jamie Shanahan were both on form as they battled it out from placed balls.

Points from Shane Golden and Pa Sheehan aided the sharpshooting of Shanahan for Sixmilbridge but it was Arthur’s goal 12 minutes in that was the difference at half time. He had tried for another goal from a 21 yard free soon after but his shot was stopped and cleared. After playing with a strong breeze, his side looked in control, and led Sixmilebridge, 1-8 to 0-9.

A few positional switches at the break brought Sixmilebridge back into the game with scores from Seadna Morey and Sam O’Sullivan. Then when Jamie Shanahan found Declan Morey in front of goal he buried it into the net to give his side a three point lead and the boost they needed.

Seadhna Morey and Shanahan added two more as Sixmilebridge then went five ahead going into injury time. A Sean McConigley goal is all Inagh/Kilnamona could manage in the closing stages as Sixmilebridge claimed a final spot winning on a two point margin, 1-17 to 2-12.

Sixmilebridge will now face Cratloe in this year’s under 21 Championship Final and they will be looking to rectify last year’s final defeat to Eire Og as they go in search of a second title in three years.