Month: September 2011

Banner Ladies 1-14 – West Clare Gaels 1-13 at Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg

A FRENZIED finish brought the senior championship to a heightened cresendo as the Banner Ladies hung on to reclaim the ultimate prize in Clare ladies football. Having led by seven points at one stage of the contest, the Banner’s character was severely tested when reduced to 13 players following the sinbinning of Clare Walsh and Niamh Keane that injected new life into defending champions West Clare Gaels’. However, the Ennis based side passed the test with flying colours to defy the numerical disadvantage and deservedly take back the senior crown.

The ultimate difference in the end was Niamh O’Dea who produced a majestic display of strength, pace and accuracy to take the game by the scruff of the neck when needed most. Allied to her impressive haul of 1-7, the county minor captain was tireless in her pursuit of glory and even gave her backline some much needed support and relieve the pressure in a mad-cap last quarter.

It wasn’t the classic of last year’s decider between the same pair and of course, there were major absentees on in both camps but it was still highly entertaining in terms of intensity. In truth however, last year’s encounter was too open for comfort which led to this year’s version being contrastingly over cautious on both sides but perhaps to West Clare Gaels eventual detriment.

Personal markers in all key positions made it a less than enlightening opening half, with Niamh O’Dea being closely watched by Shauna Harvey, Katie Geoghegan being picked up by Louise Woods and Niamh Keane guarded by Deirdre Troy to name but a few. Also Rita Boland was utilised as a sweeper for a large chunk of the game and therefore, it was only when the Banner were reduced to 13 that West Clare Gaels came out of their shell and went for broke.

After an even start, the Banner decisively took the initiative in the 14th minute when O’Dea showed her class to score the opening goal of the game. It stemmed from a Niamh Keane free to Louise Henchy whose ball over the top was expertly caught by county senior team-mate O’Dea despite the attentions of two defenders before cooly slotting the ball to the net.

Despite an immediate Niamh Lardner reply, that major was the catalyst for the Banner to step up a gear with O’Dea, Henchy, Keane and Rebecca Culligan kicking unanswered points to open up a 1-7 to 0-3 advantage by the 23rd minute.

Central to the Gaels’ problems was that in trying to avoid the dominance of Louise Henchy at midfield, the amalgamation repeatedly played their kick-outs to the opposite side, thus unleashing Niamh Keane to return the ball with interest.

The holders did finally regroup before the break however with the experience of Denise Geaney, Brid Troy (2) and semi-final star Niamh Lardner grabbing four unanswered points of their own to reduce the deficit to only three at 1-7 to 0-7.

There were changes aplenty at the break as the Banner introduced two new corner-forwards, Eva O’Dea and Orlaith Lynch, to bolster their attack while the Gaels brought on Ciara Harvey to allow her sister Shauna to push up the field.

The O’Dea sisters opened the scoring with a point apiece to restore the Banner’s five point advantage and it seemed once more that the Banner were about to pull away. However, the West Clare Gaels’ reign as county senior and Munster and All-Ireland intermediate champions meant that they were not about to give up their title without a major fight and with the returning Katie Geoghegan increasingly exerting her influence, they hit back with three points of their own by the 40th minute.

Louise Henchy started and finished a move to stop the rot and extend the lead to three but the Banner were hit with a major blow when Clare Walsh saw yellow and a ten minute sejour on the line for an over-enthusiastic tackle.

Brid Troy converted the free and the crowd could sense that the game was turning in the Gaels direction. Cue the indomitable Niamh O’Dea to wrestle back control, picking up successive kickouts from Emma O’Driscoll to solo up the field and grab two points. The second was simply a joy to watch as she made her way through several tackles in a full length run to inspire her side and she added a third in a row when linking up with Henchy to build up a five point advantage by the 48th minute.

O’Dea’s calming influence appeared to have weathered the storm for her side but nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, Niamh Keane’s dissent saw her join Walsh on the sideline and with positions and tactics flying out the window and the major of play in the Banner half, the Gaels’ storm began to brew for the third time.

A Troy free cut the deifict to four and while Clare Walsh returned to the action, the Gaels got a major boost when Brid Troy picked out the unmarked Maria Kelly to goal in the 57th minute and cut the deficit to only the minimum with three minutes remaining.

The tension could be cut with a knife as every pass was intensely scrutinised and the pressure on both sides intensified. Inevitably it was O’Dea who popped up again to ease the nerves but still their two point lead was a dangerous one. They were also boosted by the sinbinning of West Clare Gaels’ Deirdre Troy which coincided with Niamh Keane’s return for the Banner but there was still a manic final few minutes of injury-time to come.

A throw-in on the Banner’s 20 metre line saw all but West Clare Gaels goalkeeper Megan McGrath decend into the Banner half and in the resulting melee, a last gasp free gave the West Clare Gaels a final opportunity. The Banner packed the goal but they were not to be tested as Katie Geoghegan’s free agonisingly rifled over the crossbar for a point in the 65th minute.

The Banner’s relief turned to unbridled joy as referee Michael Talty blew the final whistle to end this nailbiting decider that saw the Banner rise to the summit once more. The biggest rivalry in Clare ladies football just took another major turn. What will next year bring?

Rhine Rovers 1 – Manus Celtic 2 at Lees Road, Ennis

NEWCOMERS Rhine Rovers and Manus Celtic battled it out, just as they did in last year’s Second Division before Rhine Rovers took top spot as champions. However, it was the Clarecastle side that usurped the honours this time around after a late recovery snatched all three points.

1-0 up for the majority of the tie following Cathal O’Sullivan’s 25th minute effort, Rhine Rovers appeared to be heading towards victory until Manus hit them with two goals in the last three minutes to steal the win.

It was a bitter pill for Rhine to swallow, particularly as it was one of their former players, Jamie Fahy that inflicted the damage. First the substitute cracked a 20 metre free to the net to equalise and only two minutes later, he was pulled down in the box for Simon McDonagh to convert the penalty.

Their close rivalry is set to continue for the coming season, one feels.

Rhine Rovers
Brendan Quinn, Seanie Healy, Martin McInerney, Cillian Dugan, Paul Johnston, Martin Reidy, Mike Daffy, Mark Hanrahan, Johnny O’Brien, Cathal O’Sullivan, Mark McInerney

Subs
Ray O’Halloran,Vinnie O’Mullane

Manus Celtic
Pakie Healy, Ian Considine, Patrick Galbraith, Mark Walsh,Tola Crowe, Simon McDonagh,Aaron Greene, Stephen Geraghty, John Molloy, Mikie Geraghty, Mikey McDonagh

Subs
Jamie Fahy, Darren McDonagh, John Reidy, Aidan McCarthy

Referee
Dave Brosnan

Avenue United B 2 – Corofin Harps 3 at Lees Road, Ennis

THAT Corofin Harps are battlers is a given and it certainly hasn’t taken them long to prove this adage true – the latest display of the never-saydie that famously carried them to back-to-back Clare Cup triumph half a decade ago coming on their maiden voyage in the 2011/12 season.

There may be many changes in personnel from those glory years, but the return of Diarmuid Daly – the midfield dynamo of those Clare Cup wins in 2005 and ’06 – to the Corofin ranks played a huge part in this stirring comeback victory.

It looked bleak for Corofin after the first 15 minutes of this Sunday morning encounter. They trailed by two goals, with Avenue’s second string having hit the ground running with early strikes from Darren O’Meara and Josh Lynch.

However, Harps threw themselves a deadline just before the break when Stephen Keane got the decisive touch in a conjested penalty area to poke the ball home past Nathan Murray in the Avenue goal.

Then in the second half substitue Daly, who played football with Moher Celtic in recent years, made his presence felt on proceedings when grabbing the equaliser 16 minutes in – with another toe-poke doing the needful from ten yards.

With John Keane and Michael Concannon starring in defence and Luke O’Loughlin, who joined the club this season from Avenue’s underage setup, also an influential substitute, the Harps had hteir tails up and completed their recovery after 65 minutes when Damian Ryan drove to the left corner of the net.

Corofin Harps
Fergal Neylon, Brendan Keane, John Keane, Brendan Neylon, Gary Molloy, Michael Concannon, Michael Daly, Damian Ryan, Eamonn Malone, Ian Hassett, Stephen Keane. Subs Dara Shannon, Luke O’Loughlin, Dermot Daly.

Avenue United B
Nathan Murray, Emre, Mick Shiels, David Considine, Dean D’Auria, Niall Slattery, Shane Mangan, Dara Kerins, Darren O’Meara, Josh Lynch.

Man of the Match
John Keane (Corofin Harps) Referee Julian Standford

Turnpike Rovers 4 – Kilrush Rangers 2 at Lees Road, Ennis

AFTER their opening round fixture against Manus Celtic (A) was abandoned by the match referee, Turnpike Rovers returned to winning ways with victory over Kilrush Rangers on Sunday.

Despite the concession of an early goal, Turnpike hit back to lead 2-1 at half time. The Ennis side pushed on after the break, confirming their dominance with two further goals. Centre forward Eric Considine was influential for Pike, scoring one and having a hand in two more goals.

Kilrush will be disappointed to have lost out especially after making such a promising start. They will look to get back on track tomorrow night when they take on Rhine Rovers. It was all Kilrush in the early stages and the visitors were rewarded with a well-taken goal. Terry Herlihy did well to skip around a couple of Turnpike defenders before rolling the ball into the net.

The home side responded in impressive fashion. Eric Considine found the net for the equaliser before Clinton Keane was brought down for a penalty. Dean O’Grady stepped up to convert and give Pike the lead.

Brendan Dobbins extended Rovers’ lead after the break before Robert Carey responded with a penalty for Kilrush.

The game was in the melting pot until Considine set up substitute John Ferns for Pike’s decisive fourth goal.

Turnpike Rovers
Ian Mounsey, Donagh Hassett, Darren Daly,William O’Keefe, Mark Woods, Davy McMahon, Dean O’Grady, Clinton Keane, Brendan Dobbins, Jason Hayes, Eric Considine

Subs
John Ferns

Kilrush
John O’Connor, Cedric McNamara, Martin Danaher,Tony Burke, Patrick Coleman,Terry Herlihy, Robert Carey, Eoin Fitzgerald, Niall Brennan,Trevor Clancy, John Carmody

Avenue United 3 – Ennis Town Rock 3 at Lees Road, Ennis

A HUGELY entertaining and incident filled game saw Avenue United and Ennis Town Rock share the spoils in Lees Road on Sunday.

In a game that had it all, Avenue twice took the lead but were pegged back by Ennis Town Rock, an amalgamation between schoolboy club Ennis Town and junior side Rock Rovers.

The new boys took the lead in the second half through Daryl Eade’s penalty before Mikey Mahony tapped home from close range for a late equalsier. A summary of the action only tells half the drama. It was breathless stuff from first kick to last. Literally.

Avenue took the lead directly from the kick off; last year’s cup champions later missed a penalty while both sides had chances to win it late on. All told a draw was probably the fairest result.

Having blitzed the daylights out of Rock Rovers in their last league meeting, a youthful looking Avenue side were clearly intent on steamrolling their re-named opponents in the early stages. Still the manner in which they took the lead probably exceeded even their expectations.

With the wind at his back, David McCarthy decided to test young Town goalkeeper Sean Kennedy. The midfielder’s shot from the halfway line had enough power and dip to sail straight into the net. 1-0 to Avenue.

With confidence sky-high, Avenue flooded forward to maximise the damage. Town and in particular Kennedy stood tall with the goalie producing one full length save to deny Irish schoolboy international Dylan Casey.

Town weathered the worst of the storm and hit back when the impressive Daryl Eade tapped in from close range after Eoin Glynn’s free kick.

Avenue regained the lead minutes later when a well-worked cross field passing move found Casey in space to bury a powerful shot.

By now Ennis Town Rock had gained a degree of parity with Av- enue in the crucial midfield area. A swift break and cross from the right found Dean Gardiner who buried a right footed half volley past John Healy.

The sides were level 2-2 at half time. There was no let up in the action after the break with Town looking dangerous on the counter attack through the pace of Eade, Gardiner and Glynn. They hit the front on the hour mark when Eade converted from the spot. Avenue, looking very comfortable in possession, patiently probed for gaps in Town’s defence. Kennedy then produced a fine save to keep out an Avenue penalty in the 75th minute.

Avenue were eventually rewarded when Sean Corry’s low centre was turned home by Mahony. Glynn and substitute Adrian Walsh both missed chances to win it for Town late on.

Avenue United
John Healy, Simon Cuddy,Alex, Mattie Nugent, Shane Browne, Dylan Casey, Gary Flynn, Pa Wilson, David McCarthy, Sean Corry, Mikey Mahony

Subs
Alan Roche, David Russell for Brown

Ennis Town Rock
Sean Kennedy, Barry Woods, JasonWhite, Shane Daniels, Ronan Judge, Ethan Considine, Francis Daniels, Ciarán Russell, Daryl Eade, Eoin Glynn, Dean Gardiner

Subs
Richie Neylon for Judge, AdrianWalsh for Considine,

Referee
David McCarthy

THE 32ND Banner MCC Dolmen Rally takes place in Burren Castle Hotel, Lisdoonvarna this Saturday, with motorcyle enthusiasts coming from all four corners of the country. For the uninitiated, the one day extravaganza is a gathering of bikes with a competitive edge featuring food, beverages and live music, including three bands and a DJ, with legendary blues harmonica and guitarist Don Baker the headline act.

However, the main attraction of the day is undoubtedly Stunt Rider Mattie Griffin who ranked as the World’s number five Freestyle Motorcycle Stunt Rider in 2008 and 2009. The Galway native will perform an exhibition of his skills and he welcomes the opportunity to display his talent to a local audience.

“It’s nice to do something relatively local. I’m in England most weekends so it’s nice to do this in Clare. I get a lot of people asking me ‘why don’t you do something on your own home soil?’ and the Dolmen Rally is a great opportunity to do that.”

It’s also an opportunity to boost the growing discipline further in Ireland, however Mattie does insert the caveat that any budding stunt riders need to be dedicated to the craft.

“It has sparked off a huge interest all over Ireland, there is no doubt about it. A lot of guys have gotten into it since and taken it up.

“Not everyone can do it at a high level though. I practise every day. I mean when I go to bed at night, I’m thinking of new tricks or perfecting the tricks that I’m already doing. It does take a lot of practise and dedication as it’s not just something you can pick up straight away. It takes a lot of time and dedication.”

However, the Dolmen Rally also provides some preparation for the World Freestyle Motorcycle Championship in Germany a week later.

“The World Championships are coming up on September 16 and 17. I didn’t compete last year because my bikes weren’t delivered to me on time so I hadn’t got them prepared for competition. I hadn’t even riden the bikes so I had to give it a miss last year but this year I will be giving it my best.

“I’m looking forward to it of course but at the same time, you’d be nervous because there are a lot of good riders out there now and you only get three and a half or four minutes to show your best in front of a panel of five judges. So it’s not as easy going as doing shows shall we say.”

The first stunt show will take place at 6pm, with the first band starting at 9pm. Free camping is available on site but a special hotel room rate can also be accquired by ringing the Banner MCC on 086 3255817.

AS THE football and hurling championships come to their exciting conclusions, September sees the wrapping up of Ireland’s largest summer camp activity – the 2011 Vhi GAA Cúl Camps. This year the Vhi GAA Cúl Camps continued to be a popular choice for primary school children with over 83,000 children taking part around the country and in GAA units in Britain, North America and New York. Hurling heroes visited camps across their respective counties passing on the skills and training techniques, with Bernard Brogan, Michael Murphy, Anthony Daly and Eoin Kelly just some of the 35 Vhi GAA Cúl Camps Ambassadors on hand to give tips, skills and training advice to the young players attending the camps.

Anthony Daly, Dublin Hurling Manager commented, “The Vhi GAA Cúl Camps are an annual event now for so many children. The unique atmosphere in the camps means children have the opportunity to learn GAA skills in a non competitive fun environment. For primary school children this is undoubtely the best way to learn and it’s great to be a part of it every year.

In total 2011 saw 1060 Vhi GAA Cúl Camps taking place across the country with coaching and mentoring provided by hundreds of GAA coaches, players and volunteers.

CURRACH racing has long been popular in west Clare and Doonbeg Rowing Club has firmly put the area on the map in recent weeks.

The club has just won the Clare league for the second year in succession. Kieran Browne (19) and brothers Alan (24) and Eoin (22) Honan were successful in each of their races during the year, to secure the title.

They won seven events to secure the cup. There is still one event outstanding – in Kilkee at the start of October – but they have secured enough points in advance of this, to win outright. They will be officially crowned champions at the final race.

They have been busy during the year in their chosen sport. They competed in the All-Ireland championships in Doonbeg in August, in which they finished in third place. The trio were joined in their currach by Eamon Enright from Clarecastle, when they finished third in the Naomh Óg event in Cork in March.

This was the third year that Kieran, Alan and Eoin were involved in currach racing. They secured a number of second places in their first year and were thrilled to win last year and again this year.

According to Kieran’s father David, it all goes down to dedication and training. “They train on Tuesday and Thursday nights. They train themselves. They are very dedicated,” he said.

They are well supported by their club colleagues. Currach racing is hugely popular in Doonbeg and there are around 30 members in the club.

David said there are hopes for further progress over the coming years.

“The club is going well. If you put in the work, you get the results. The aim is to win the All-Ireland. In the next year or two, they will be there or thereabouts,” he said.

Kieran is delighted with his success and is hopeful of further accolades in the future, having been introduced to the sport by his brother Damien.

“My brother was doing it a couple of years ago. They coaxed me along,” he said.

They plan to take part in the Galway league next year and are looking forward to the challenge. “We are hoping to take part in Galway. The boats will be different, racing boats. Ours are fishing boats. They will be faster boats,” said Kieran.

THE RECENT 60×30 All-Ireland adult semi-finals were succesful for all three Clare doubles pairs in action, albeit with the help of a pair of walkovers.

In the Ruby Masters Doubles, John Kirby and Jimmy Walsh received a bye when Mayo’s John Kenny and Tom Derrig pulled out due to an injury to Kenny. In Ladies Junior Doubles, Ashling Fitzgerald and Edel O’Grady got a walkover from Mayo’s Stephanie Coleman and Mary Duffy.

The one Banner County pair to play their semi-final were Pat Donellan and Stephen McInerney in the Golden Masters and they had a comprehensive win in Tuamgraney when they defeated Galway’s Willie Corc- oran and Mike Shaughnessy, 21-16, 21-12.

Both Masters Doubles pairs will play their All-Ireland finals on Saturday September 24 in St. Coman’s, Roscommon at 3pm. Donellan and McInerney will play Cavan’s Dermot Dolan and Andy Clarke while the Ruby Doubles pairing will be in opposition against Pat Ryan and Michael O’Brien of Dublin. On the same bill, Ashling Fitzgerald plays the Ladies Junior Singles decider against Westmeath’s Aoife McCarthy.

Before then, the Banner County will be well represented in the first round of adult All-Ireland finals to be played this coming weekend when four Clare players play All-Ireland deciders. On Sunday in Ballina, John Kirby will play Dermot Howard (Kildare) and Pat Donellan faces Kilkenny man Eamn Purcell. The action starts at the Tipperary venue at 1pm. Ashling Fitzgerald and Edel O’Grady travel to St. Coman’s, Roscommon on the same day to take on Aoife McCarthy and Niamh Egan (Westmeath) in the Junior Ladies Doubles final (1.00pm).

Meanwhile, this weekend also sees the All-Ireland 60×30 Juvenile finals taking place and Clare have a strong interest here too. Clooney’s Fergal Coughlan plays the Boys Under 14 Singles final against Daniel Curry from Wicklow while Fergal’s sister Natasha, along with Michelle Nihill (also Clooney) take on Mary Buggy and Catherine Foley of Kilkenny in Girls Under 15 Doubles. Both finals are in Cashel this Saturday with a starting time of 11.30am.

CLARE Motor Club are delighted to announce The Auburn Lodge Hotel, Gort Road, Ennis, as the title sponsor of the 2011 Clare Stages Rally. Clerk of the Course Dermot Kelleher said, “The Clare Motor Club are delighted with the continued support of The Auburn Lodge Hotel, for a third consecutive year. The Club would also like to thank the Special Stage Sponsors, Service Area Sponsor and the programme advertisers for their support. The event will bring a vital boost to the local economy and this would not be possible without their support”.

The rally takes place on the weekend of September 17 and 18. and is a counting round of The Dunlop National Rally Championship and The Top Part West Coast Rally Championship which will see some of the top cars and drivers in action on the stages around Ennis.

The organising team is offering competitors a very compact event featuring three very competitive stages which will be repeated three times. Together with the service park and scrutiny all within walking distance of the hotel, the event should prove to be as successful as last year’s rally.

Event regulations are available to download at the club’s website www. claremotorclub.com.

With five victories from as many events, Tim McNulty and co-driver, Paul Kiely (Subaru WRC) are on the cusp of clinching the Dunlop National Rally Championship in clare. The Auburn Lodge Hotel Clare Rally offers them the first of three title winning events to claim the Vard Memorial Trophy. Tim was also the winner of last year’s Clare Stages Rally and he also won it back on 2007.

It’s a unique season insofar as McNulty can become the first driver to win both the Dunlop series and the Irish Tarmac Championship in the same season, currently, he also leads the ITC prior to the final event, the Cork 20 International Rally.

With a resounding victory in last weekend’s Galway Summer Rally, the Meath ace reached the 100 points mark in the Dunlop series where competitors can count their best seven scores from the ten rounds. Should McNulty claim another maximum score in Clare and provided Kevin Barrett garners less than 18 points, McNulty can claim the title in Ennis, just like Welsh ace, Melvyn Evans did twelve months ago.

Meanwhile, Monaghan’s Sam Moffett, who is actually second overall in the Dunlop series, can also edge closer to the Motorsport Safety Team award for the top overall Group N driver with Robert Barrable (Skoda Fabia S2000) and Shane Maguire (Subaru) his nearest rivals.

Meanwhile, the rally.ie award for the top two-wheel drive competitor is shaping up for an exciting finish with Frank Kelly (Ford Escort), Washington James (Darrian) along with Sam Smyth, Wesley Patterson and John McQuaid (Ford Escorts) all in the hunt for the crown.