Category: Sport

Broadford 2-15 – Smith O’Brien’s 1-14 at Shannon

BROADFORD’S first competitive victory of the season kept their championship hopes alive while also alleviating the threat of relegation worries in the process on Saturday evening. After nine winless Clare Cup ties, Broadford seemed to have saved their best for championship fare but while they lost a game that arguably they should have won against Clonlara, this time they dug out the result despite a strong second half fightback from Smith O’Brien’s that threatened to usurp the points.

Broadford didn’t make it easy for themselves despite taking the game to their opponents against the breeze when building up an impressive 2-8 to 0-7 half-time advantage. The difference in that first half was the finishing from both sides, with Broadford’s two goal haul from Mark Moloney in stark constrast to Smith O’Brien’s wastefulness in front of Cian O’Brien’s goal, with the shotstopper producing at least four meaningful saves.

Micheál Ryan was by far Smith O’Brien’s most encouraging performer but he had to carry the majority of the scoring responsibilities on his young shoulders as opposed to Broadford’s more balanced attacking unit that saw Paurig Taylor, Declan Teefy, Aonghus O’Brien, Niall Moloney, Mark Moloney and Padraig Hickey to the fore for much of the opening period.

Moloney’s two strikes in particular in the final nine minutes of the half were both assisted by O’Brien, with the first carried by momentum over the line after an initial save by goalkeeper Jonathan Hayes while the second in the 28th minute was as a result of good positioning from the lively forward.

And after Hickey and Teefy extended Broadford’s advantage to nine inside two minutes of the restart, it seemed like game over for the Killaloe based side. However, Smith O’Brien’s somehow found an extra gear and aside from a very dubious Niall Moloney point that even confounded the umpires, Smith O’Brien’s would hit 1-7 in the next 17 minutes to gain parity.

Kevin Walsh, Willie Neary and inevitably Micheál Ryan, who began the fightback in earnest with a 43rd minute 20 metre free to the net, saw Smith O’Brien’s take the reins but just as it seemed that their momentum would carry them over the line, Broadford crucially stopped the rot.

A Padraig Hickey 50th minute free halted the freefall, substitute Kieran O’Connell added another three minutes later and while the Smith O’Brien’s support thought that they had replied with a goal in the 56th minute, Kevin Walsh’s shot had actu- ally hit the sidenetting.

Wiping their brow from that scare, another Hickey free and an excellent Craig Chaplin lineball finished the job for Broadford who will have to build on this victory by taking the scalp of Doora/Barefield in the next round if they are to really compete for a much needed quarter-final spot.

A PROPOSAL to run a separate cup competition for B teams has been roundly rejected by Clare clubs.

Citing poor attendance at last year’s cup final between Avenue United A and Bridge United B (the second successive final meeting between the pair), the Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) executive argued that the Clare cup should be run as club competition with a separate cup competition for B teams.

At last Monday’s AGM, secretary Oliver Fitzpatrick explained that the decision to put forward the motion was based on the poor attendance at last season’s final.

Fitzpatrick told the meeting that the executive did not intend to “disrespect” the achievements of B teams who have enjoyed successful cup runs in recent seasons.

In the past five years alone three B teams – Avenue United B (2006), Lifford B (2009) and Bridge United B (2010 & 2011) – have all contested Clare Cup finals.

Figures contained in the annual accounts showed that the CDSL took in € 2410 in gate receipts in 2011. This represented a drop of € 2130 on the figure for 2010. Treasurer Michael McInerney said the shortfall was due to the low cup final attendance.

He added, “It was very poor, well down on the 2010 crowd”.

However clubs strongly rejected calls for a separate cup competition.

Chairman of Bridge United, Finbar Toomey, whose club’s B team has contested the past two Clare Cup finals, criticised the motion.

He said, “We’re totally against it. It discriminates against B teams”.

Toomey warned that if the motion was passed, his club would consider “pulling our A team out of the cup”.

Mark Moloney of Hermitage FC said the proposal would “knock the romance off the Cup”.

Ennis Town Rock delegate, Kevin Keenan questioned if the poor attendance had anything to do with the cup final clashing with the television coverage of the Heineken cup, which was played the same day.

Mikey Whyte of Bridge United said the league should consider making the Clare Cup a double header with either the FAI or Munster Clare area finals played before it.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the winners of the Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) fair play award provoked a few wry chuckles at the league’s annual general meeting on Monday night of last week.

“Now lads this isn’t a fix”, remarked league registrar Leo Murphy with a smile as he told club delegates that Treaty Celtic had won the Fair Play accolade for the 2010/11 season.

Murphy’s assurances were jokingly dismissed by delegates as bursts of laughter and cries of “fix” filled the McCarthy room at the West County Hotel.

Surely the clubs had little reason to be skeptical. After all Treaty Celtic are a team comprised of Gardaí based in Limerick and Clare, making them perhaps the team most likely to win a prize for staying on the right side of the law. In their debut season, Celtic finished in mid-table the third division.

Meanwhile, Murphy also reminded clubs of new procedures for the payment of team affiliation fees.

He said clubs must pay € 400 at the start of August while a further pay- ment of € 400 must be made by November.

Details were also announced of a new method of registering players. Murphy told the meeting that players can now be registered by email.

He said this would allow clubs to register new players at short notice prior to games. He explained that forms would only be accepted by the league registrar or secretary.

In his annual report, Murphy also urged clubs to return cheques for affiliation fees by registered post.

At last week’s Clare District Soccer League AGM, Donie Garrihy from Burren Utd was elected the new Chairman of the CDSL. Garrihy won after earning an overall majority in the first count over former Chairmen Jim Madden and Frank Healy.

Paul Tuohy the outgoing Chairman of the CDSL was elected Vice-Chairman with a comprehensive victory over Frank Healy. Michael Lydon was returned as Fixtures Secretary again with victory over Frank Healy. Frank Gormley from Turnpike Rovers was elected the new CDSL Child Protection Officer. Tom Nestor from Sporting Ennistymon and Padraig McCullough were elected onto committee positions. All other officers were returned unopposed – Oliver Fitzpatrick (secretary); Michael McInerney (treasurer); Gerry Scanlon (PRO); Jim Madden (FAI delegate); Tomas Leahy (MFA Delegate); Leo Murphy (registrar);

Clonlara 2-21 – Corofin 0-15 at Clonlara

ALL the permutations and connotations envisaged before the game were quickly put to bed as Clonlara got down to the serious business of honing in on their third semi-final in four years.

That remarkable record was made all the more impressive by the fact that they did so without the services of county seniors Darach Honan and Domhnall O’Donovan due to injury and county minors Colm Galvin and Cathal O’Connell, an absentee list that would have crippled most sides.

As expected, with their lives on the line Corofin threw everything at their opponents for 40 minutes and despite defeat and subsequent relegation, they can take some tangable positives out of Friday’s game ahead of the recommencement of the championship this weekend.

However, in terms of the result, there was always only going to be one winner as the difference on the night in relation to movement, speed of thought and decision making emphasised that this was, after all, a senior versus intermediate clash.

The home side couldn’t have asked for a better start either after first half dynamo Tommy Lynch gathered a Corofin puck-out and played it to Donal Madden who in turn picked out the unmarked John Conlon behind the last line to find the net within three minutes.

That settling score added to points from the constantly overlapping Nicky O’Connell, James Hastings and Conlon put the 2009 champions 1-3 to 0-1 in front by the seventh minute. Corofin’s resistence predominatly came by way of Stephen Heagney who grabbed the visitors first four points and was their most impressive performer on the night.

Madden had a 20 metre free stopped by goalkeeper Patrick Burke while Corofin corner-back Darren Malone was another to shine as Corofin found their feet and only trailed by 1-7 to 0-6 at the interval.

Clonlara upped their performance a gear on the restart and with John Conlon beginning to dominate, his three points along with singles from Barry Moloney and Tommy Lynch saw them stretch their advantage to six by the 40th minute as Corofin could only reply with three Stephen Heaney points.

However, it was Cormac O’Donovan’s 41st minute goal that ultimately put the result beyond doubt as essentially, Corofin failed to sufficiently threaten Ger O’Connell’s goal for the hour. It was a goal fitting of winning any game as the ball was worked from back to front, moving through Ger O’Connell to John Conlon who made a great catch and lay off to the overlapping O’Donovan who still had a lot of work to do before dispatching to the roof of the net.

After that, it was simply a matter of how much the winning margin would be as both sides emptied the bench and the game became far more fragmented. Two eyecatching points from Neilie Ryan were the highlight of the final quarter as Clonlara comfortably booked their last four place against either Crusheen or Inagh/Kilnamona and just as importantly greased the wheels ahead of their championship reintroduction.

Crusheen 0-15 – Inagh/Kilnamona 0-15 at Clarecastle

THE CROWN of county champions is one that is hard earned as can be witnessed from their latest recovery to almost snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Six points down as late as the 36th minute, Crusheen had to dig very deep in order to get themselves back into contention but their county championship winning experience earned them a third tilt at making the last four.

Inagh/Kilnamona for their part while encouraged by their overall display, will be disappointed to have let this glorious opportunity to get one over the county champions pass them by. They were unquestionably the hungrier and more efficient side for the opening two-thirds of the game but when it was needed most, they simply didn’t have enough leadership or guile to close out the win.

In the end, it was Crusheen’s substitute pairing of Paddy Vaughan and David Forde that gave them the final push to almost reverse Inagh/Kilnamona’s hard work. Between them, they had a hand in Crusheen’s last six points, scoring two apiece themselves in the late rally that saw them take an unlikely lead by the hour mark only for Ger Arthur to converted a pressurised free deep into injury time to share the spoils.

Before that, Crusheen had only led once and that in the tenth minute when Fergus Kennedy added to Ciaran O’Doherty’s accurate free a minute earlier to take a 0-2 to 0-1 lead.

However, once Cathal Lafferty levelled with a superb long range point and Ger Arthur put them ahead in the 18th minute, Inagh/Kilnamona simply grew in confidence on their way to hitting six unanswered points and take a 0-7 to 0-2 half-time lead. It was no more than they deserved either as they seemed to pick up every breaking ball while at the back, Der- mot Lynch was having the game of his life in the full-back line.

In fact, Crusheen were fortunate that they were only five points behind at that stage because they had goalkeeper Donal Tuohy to thank for keeping them in the game when smothering Tomás Kelly’s shot from close range midway through the half.

That advantage was extended to six after only nine seconds of the restart when Shane Griffin opened his account and with full-forward Dermot Gannon roaming deep for possession, it was a margin they held until the 36th minute.

Indiscipline cost Inagh/Kilnamona dearly however as Crusheen chipped away at the deficit, scoring five out of the next six points, with three of those coming from placed balls to trim it to two. Inagh/Kilnamona responded through a Niall Arthur free and one from substitute Conor Tierney to give their side some breathing space but it was Crusheen’s two substitutes that would make the decisive difference in the run-in. Forde was fouled for Paddy Vaughan to convert while the county senior captain would turn supplier for the next three inbetween replies for Tierney and Ger Arthur at 0-14 to 0-12 by the 54th minute.

A good passing move involving Cian Dillon and Tony Meaney set up David Forde for his first point a minute later while Vaughan equalised with a solo score from his own puck-out in the 59th minute. And with Inagh/Kilnamona on the backfoot, Forde actually put Crusheen in front for the first time in 50 minutes on the hour mark.

After putting so much into the game, Inagh/Kilnamona scarcely deserved to lose and sure enough they were given one final opportunity when Ger Arthur won a free on the left touchline about 50 metres from goal. And despite the weight of the club’s fortunes on his shoulders, the former county senior held his nerve to dissect the posts and hand his side another crack at the county champions.

Crusheen
Donal Tuohy, John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon,Alan Brigdale, Ciaran O’Doherty (0-1f), Cian Dillon, Shaun Dillon, Fergus Kennedy (0-1),Tony Meaney, Jamie Fitzgibbon (0-1), Joe Meaney (0-6f), Gearoid O’Donnell, Paddy Meaney (0-1), Gerry O’Grady (0-1), Conor O’Donnell Subs David Forde (0-2) for C. O’Donnell (HT), PaddyVaughan (0-2 1f) for G. O’Donnell (40 mins)

Inagh/ Kilnamona
Patrick Kelly,Thomas McConigley, Brian Glynn, Dermot Lynch, Ronan O’Looney (0-1), Cathal Lafferty (0-1), Milo Keane, Brian Foudy, Paul O’Looney, EoinVaughan (0-1), Niall Arthur (0-3 2f), Shane Griffin (0-1), Ger Arthur (0-5 3f), Dermot Gannon,Tomás Kelly (0-1) Subs Conor Tierney (0-2) for Vaughan (38 mins), ColmPilkington for P. O’Looney (44 mins), Gary Lafferty for Gannon (45 mins)

Man of the Match
Dermot Lynch (Inagh/Kilnamona)

Referee
Ambrose Heagney (Corofin)

Limerick 2-19 – Clare 1-15 at Cusack Park, Ennis

CLARE’S championship hopes evaporated into the summer sun as neighbours Limerick exacted full revenge for the previous two penultimate stage clashes on Tuesday.

In capturing their third victory of the year in Cusack Park, the Shannonsiders proved that this was no sunshine display either as without key players Graeme Mulcahy and James O’Brien, they were full value for their seven point victory.

It was, in physical terms, men against boys for much of the game as a powerful Limerick side had Clare in trouble in most areas of the field, with Clare finishing the game with a third of the side stemming from last year’s minor winning outfit.

With Limerick so dominant in the middle third, especially in the air, it is disappointing that Clare didn’t reconsider their decision to play as a straight 15 and perhaps opt for a go-for-broke Cratloe formation from early on. Essentially that would consist of putting county seniors Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath inside as a two man full-forward line in order to create space for them to prosper and bring out the naturally roving Padraic Collins around the centre to boost the supply line. It may or may not have reaped the rewards to get Clare out of trouble but in light of how Clare’s challenge eventually petered out, at least it would have been worth a punt.

Instead, Clare were on the backfoot from Michael Ryan’s goal after only 80 seconds after a routine delivery was allowed to bypass Clare’s last line. It was the settling influence that Limerick craved and allowed them to brush off a Podge Collins reply and hit the next four points through Seanie O’Brien (2), Shane Dowling and Ryan to open up a 1-4 to 0-1 advantage by the tenth minute.

Fortunately for the home side, Limerick didn’t have it all their own way over the hour as Clare produced two significant rallies but on each occasion could only get to within two points of the winners.

The first started in the 13th minute with a purple patch of four unanswered points through Conor McGrath (2), Clare’s most impressive player on the night Tony Kelly and Cathal McInerney. There was a brief stalemate when a goal for either side could have made the difference but Kevin Downes shot for goal was ex- cellently blocked by Paul Flanagan while a Fergus Kennedy shot for a point at the other end only a minute later dropped short and was nervously spilled by goalkeeper Aaron Murphy for a ’65 that McGrath converted.

Still, once Limerick steadied the ship and reaffirmed their control around the middle, they restored a comfortable advantage by the break with five unanswered points to kill off Clare’s first half challenge at 1-10 to 0-06.

The home side rang the changes at the break, bringing on Davy O’Halloran and Aidan Lynch and it did have an immediate effect as the Éire Óg man pointed with his first touch. Still, it was Cathal McInerney’s 34th minute goal that lifted Cusack Park after good spade work by clubmate McGrath and when Clare minor captain Kelly grabbed another point immediately afterwards to cut the deficit to two, you could sense a mutiny.

It never happened though as Limerick were still the predominant ball winners from puck-outs in which three of their next five points stemmed and while Clare kept to within striking distance through Kelly, O’Halloran and McGrath, the killer blow came in the 51st minute with Limerick’s second goal. It arrived after a Cathal McNamara free dropped inside the square and after Patrick O’Connor gathered and moved along the endline, he lost possession that his marker Downes gladly took advantage off to bat past goalkeeper Kevin Brennan.

With that, the lights effectively went out on Clare’s challenge, despite being awarded a late penalty that saw Conor McGrath’s effort saved. There was an obvious tinge of sadness for the home side at the final whistle as it was the end of a memorable era at Under 21 grade. Not only because their hopes of a fourth successive final appearance had vanished into the ether but also down to the fact that with it went the management team of John Minogue, Cyril Lyons, Alan Dunne and Sean O’Halloran who brought such resplendency to Clare hurling when it needed it most.

Limerick
Aaron Murphy (Hospital/Herbertstown) (7), Alan Dempsey (Na Piarsaigh) (7), Patrick Begley

(Mungret) (8), Steve O’Reilly (Ballybrown) (7), Cathal McNamara (Doon) (7), Cian Hayes (Kildimo) (8),Thomas O’Callaghan (Monagea) (6), Conor Allis (Croom) (7) (0-3 1f, 2’65’s), Sean O’Brien (Patrickswell) (7) (0-2), Shane Dowling (Na Piarsaigh) (8) (0-4 2f), Declan Hannon (Adare) (8) (0-1), Niall Kennedy (Granagh/ Ballingarry) (7) (0-1), Michael Ryan (Murroe/ Boher) (8) (1-2), Kevin Downes (Na Piarsaigh) (8) (1-4),WilliamGriffin (Adare) (6) (0-1)

Subs
Brian Cleary (Knockainey) (6) for O’Callaghan (41 mins), Mark Carmody (Patrickswell) (6) (0-1) for Griffin (44 mins), Barry O’Connor (Kildimo) for McNamara (59 mins), Sean Madden (Ahane) for Ryan (60 mins),Timmy Fleming (Feohanagh/Castlemahon) for Downes (62 mins)

Clare
Kevin Brennan (Éire Óg) (7), Diarmaid Nash (Scariff) (7), Patrick O’Connor (Tubber) (7), Paul Flanagan (Ballyea) (6), Cillian Ryan (Ruan) (6), Cathal Chaplin (Broadford) (6), Stephen O’Halloran (Clarecastle) (7), Conor Ryan (Cratloe) (6), LiamMarkham(Cratloe) (7) (0-2), Cathal McInerney (Cratloe) (7) (1-1), Shane Golden (Sixmilebridge) (6),Tony Kelly (Ballyea) (8) (0-3), Padraic Collins (Cratloe) (6) (0-1), Conor McGrath (Cratloe) (7) (0-5 3f, 1’65), Fergus Kennedy (Crusheen) (6)

Subs
Aidan Lynch (Ruan) (6) for Ryan (HT), David O’Halloran (Éire Óg) (8) (0-3) for Kennedy (HT), John Fennessy (Sixmilebridge) (6) for Golden (41 mins)

Man of the Match
Kevin Downes (Limerick)

Referee
ColmLyons (Cork)

Tippeary 3-13 – Clare 1-6 At St Brendan’s Park, Birr

LAST year Clare were unlucky losers against Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final and watched enviously as the Jackies marched on to All-Ireland glory; this year it was a case of the nightmare of the 2008 All-Ireland final revisited as they were ambushed by Tipperary.

And, Clare’s meltdown from AllIreland senior contenders to be being dumped out of the championship race was every bit as comprehensive as the final scoreline suggests – they were outclassed in all departments by a rampant Tipperary side who were full value for the 13-point victory.

Where did it all go wrong?

Everywhere is the curt answer, as early dominance in the possession stakes, but a failure to take a nubmer of gilt edged scoring chances was subsequently punished in clinical mannner by a ruthless Tipperary side that had this Qualifier in the bag by half-time as they led by 1-9 to 0-4.

That was bad, but it only got worse on the turnover as the Premier County’s rampage continued – they played within themselves to out-score David O’Brien’s shell-shocked charges by 2-4 to 1-2 to inflict what can only be looked on as a hammer blow to the ladies game in Clare.

And, it would have been much worse but for the first half heroics of Emma O’Driscoll in goal. Twice she foiled Máiréad Morrissey from point blank range with brilliant saves before her goal was finally breached by Tricia Hickey in the 27th minutes.

Up until that point, Clare were still in this game, even though they were mal-functioning badly. They had opened the scoring through Niamh Keane in the first minute, while a great point by Louise Henchy in the sixth minute had them 0-2 to 0-1 ahead.

However, as Clare’s wides mounted in the half, all they could muster before the break was two Louise Henchy frees as Tipperary upped their intensity and ripped through Clare at pace and grabbed this game by the scruff.

After Ailish Considine and Mairéad Morrissey spurned gilt-edged goal chances before the tenth minute, points by Tricia Hickey (2) and Gillian O’Brien which were responded to by two Henchy frees left Tipperary 0-5 to 0-4 ahead by the 20th minute.

Things looked very different at half-time though, with Hickey’s goal, which she followed with a point and two points form Máiread Morrissey eased them into an eight point lead.

And, Clare’s nightmare got worse when Morrissey blasted home a goal a minute after the resumption. Eimear Considine hit hit back with a Clare goal two minutes later, but it was damage limitation stuff for most of that second half as Tipperary kept their composure to win as they pleased.

Morrissey’s second goal after 40 minutes stretched the lead into double figures and in the closing 20 minutes added to that as Clare’s challenge petered out – the rich promise they had shown in that game against Dublin in Banagher last year and in the Division 3 final against Fermanagh in Parnell Park ebbing away with every passing minute.

This was a disaster. Pure and simple.

And, mysteriously there was no Niamh O’Dea on the Clare team.

Clare
Emma O’Driscoll (The Banner), Claire Hester (Fergus Rovers), Sinead Eustace (Coolmeen), Laurie Ryan (The Banner), LouiseWoods (The Banner), Róisín McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Carmel Considine (Liscannor), Eimear O’Connor (Coolmeen), Louise Henchy (The Banner) (0-4, 3f), Colette Corry (Shannon Gaels), Niamh Keane (The Banner) (0-1), Marie Considine (Liscannor), Eimear Considine (Kilmihil) (1-0), Naomi Carroll (The Banner),Ailish Considine (Kilmhil) (0-1).

Subs
Sarah Bohannon (Shannon Gaels) for Corry, Fiona Lafferty (St Joseph’s Miltown) for Carroll, Carole O’Leary (Newmarket-on-Fergus) for Woods, Lorraine Kelly (Fergus Rovers) for Eustace, Naomi Caroll for Ailish Considine.

Tipperary
Nora Noonan,Treasa McGrath, Carmel Condon, Claire Carroll, Siobhan Condon, Samantha Lambert, Barbara Ryan, Gennifer Grant, Sile Carew, Gillian O’Brien, Mairead Morrissey (1-8, 7f), Siobhan Costello,Aine Staunton,Tricia Hickey, Caitriona Walsh.

Player of the Match
Mairéad Morrissey (Tipperary)

Referee
KeithTighe (Dublin)

Meelick 1-5 – Coolmeen 0-8 at Clareabbey, Clarecastle

COMPELLING viewing if not always because of the quality of the football but mainly due to the incident packed nature of this decider.

It was a strangely ill tempered affair dogged by an explosive undercurrant with eight cards shown, one of those red for Coolmeen corner-back Kevin McMahon that sometimes took from the undoubted potential of two sides that would also fancy themselves to be in the shake up come the business end of the Junior A Championship.

And while Coolmeen were always chasing the game and never headed their opponents, a draw was arguably the fairest result for the sides’ endeavours over the hour.

With a strong breeze blowing towards Ennis, Meelick had the advantage in the first half and while they did score 1-3 without reply, there is no doubt that they could have been out of sight by the interval.

Unbeaten Coolmeen were surprisingly slow to settle into the game, needlessly kicking away and coughing up too much possession but took great heart from the fact that they were only five points in arrears by half-time after Kieran Neenan had finally opened their account in a rare attack in the 34th minute of the first half.

Instead, county senior Kevin Harnett and Patrick Finucane pulled the strings for the south east Clare side with the former scoring his side’s opening two scores by the fourth minute. However, their prolifiacy in front of goal halted their further progress until Darragh Quinn fed Brian O’Neill to score the only goal of the game in the 11th minute.

There should have been a second for Meelick seven minutes later when first a Gary Moloney shot was deflected by Dermot McMahon off the post while only seconds later, Paul Flannery’s penalty was excellently stopped by goalkeeper Pa McMahon.

That save should have inspired Coolmeen but instead in the 20th minute, an off-the-ball incident saw Kevin McMahon sent to the line while Meelick’s Niall Mullen was yellow carded.

There were only two more scores before the break however, with Harnett converting another free while Kieran Neenan gave Coolmeen a much needed lift with an injury time opener at 1-3 to 0-1.

With the wind now at their backs, Coolmeen were a much improved side on the restart, even though it took them seven minutes to open the scoring when a Sean McMahon lineball broke to Kieran Neenan who might have scored a goal but struck his shot just over the crossbar.

It was the beginning of Coolmeen’s best period of the game as they simply owned the ball for the next ten minutes, with Meelick unable to win their own kick-outs. A further four unanswered points followed to level up the game by the 47th minute, with county senior Cathal O’Connor finally finding his range with three points, the highlight of which came from the right sideline in the 41st minute.

It appeared as if Coolmeen’s momentum would see them take the game from that juncture but somehow Meelick found another gear and two settling frees from Harnett put them clear once more by the 50th minute.

Up stepped Kevin Val McMahon to save the day for Coolmeen, first striking a free from distance and then deep into injury time he collected a pass from Brian Markham to gain parity for the final time. Further skirmishes, and talk of Coolmeen’s 15th man for a brief period of the second half, at the final whistle only heightened the ante ahead of the much anticipated replay.

Meelick
Gerry Markham, Peter Reidy, Sean Cooney, Mickey Kelly, Eanna Mulvihill, Niall Mullen, Brian Barrett, Stephen Hayes, Kevin Harnett (0-5 4f), Darragh Quinn, Patrick Finucane,WilliamO’Shaughnessy, Paul Flannery, Brian O’Neill (1-0), Gary Moloney

Subs
Jamie O’Sullivan for Flannery (HT), Michael Russell for O’Shaughnessy (56 mins)

Coolmeen
Pa McMahon, Noel McMahon, Kevin (Val) McMahon (0-2 1f), Kevin McMahon, Michael Kirrane, Noel Meaney, Brian Markham, Cathal O’Connor (0-3 1f, 1’45), Sean McMahon, Martin McMahon, David Neenan, Dermot McMahon, Enda Haugh, Donal Houlihan, Kieran Neenan (0-3)

Subs
Joe Corry for M. McMahon (15 mins), Martin McMahon for N. McMahon (41 mins), Kevin Corry for K. Neenan (49 mins), Shane McMahon for Sean McMahon (58 mins)

Man of the Match
Kevin Harnett (Meelick)

Referee
Flan O’Reilly (Cratloe)

THE ATHLETICS Assocation of Ireland Pentathlon for athletes from U/14’s to U/19’s also the All-Ireland B Championships and the Senior Mens Decathlon which was held in Tullamore and Clare athlete Rachel Clancy St Johns was in action in the girls U/15’s Pentathlon and she captured a bronze medal for the second year in a row with Deirbhile Ryan taking the gold.

Ronan Barry Marian taking gold in the Boys U/15’s 100metres with a time of (12 . 85secs) and a silver in the High Jump with a leap of (1 . 35m) in the All-Ireland Juvenile B’s. Championships.

Rachel Clancy St Johns competing in the girls U/15’s and taking on five events and a field of ten athletes in this final which started at 11 . 00am in the morning where she finished very well in the 80metres Hurdles with a time of (15 . 28secs) she had a leap of (4 . 44metres) in the Long Jump which was well above her previous best, a fine throw of (7 . 45metres) in the Shot Putt, on the afternoon she once again produced another fine performance in the High Jump with a leap of (1 . 51metres) and with one event remaining she was in the top three going into her final event the 800metres and what a performance over two laps and finishing third with a time of (2mins 48 . 36secs) and she captured the bronze medal with a total of (2385pts) the gold going to a Clare athlete and running with Nenagh A. C. on (2790pts).

Results:
U/ 14’s Pentathlon. 9 Cliodhna Blake St Johns =(2185pts)

Girls U/ 15’s Pentathlon.
Rachel Clancy St Johns =(2385pts).

U/ 16’s Pentathlon.
6 Nollaigh Blake St Johns =(1761pts) THE ATHLETICS Assocation of Ireland Decatathlon for Senior athletes which was held at Tullamore and one Clare man David Courtney Ennis Track was in action and had to settle for fourth position and his first track event was the 110metres hurdles with a time of (21 . 75secs) the Shot Putt with a fine throw of (8 . 73metres) in the High Jump with a leap of (1 . 38metres) Discus (28 . 91m) Pole Vault (2 . 60m) Javelin (37 . 87m), 100m (13 . 34secs) 400m (62 . 51secs) 1500m (5mins . 52 . 33secs) and he finished 4th on (3092pts).