Category: Sport

LAST WEEKEND saw Clare host the Munster Juvenile Handball Championships and it was a case of glory all the way as the county scooped no less than nine provincial titles at the Tulla and O’Callaghan’s Mills complexes.

Final – RESULTS 2011
Saturday March 12th: OCallaghan’s Mills @12 Noon. G12S: Ella Donnealn [Clare] bt Diane ONeill [Cork] 15-0, 15-1 B12S:Tiernan Agnew[Clare] bt Darragh Moynihan [Cork] 15-3, 15-5 B15D: Jacob Loughnane/Ciaran Cooney [Clare] bt Timmy Dunne/Aidan Kerins [Cork] 15-3, 15-2 B16S: Colin Crehan [Clare] bt Ryan Harkin [Cork] 21-17, 21-2 Saturday March 12th:Tulla @12 Noon. G14D: Clodagh Nash/Doireann Murphy [Clare] bt Katie Hayes/Lauren Mc Gregor [Waterford] 15-9, 15-1 B13D: Jack Hayes/Shane Hunt [Clare] bt Risteard Duggan/ Evan Murphy [Limerick] 0-15, 15-11, 15-13 G16S:Alice Akers [Clare] bt Aoife Landers [Waterford] 21-20, 6-21, 11-10 B14S: Brian Fahy [Clare] bt Shane Flynn [Cork] 15-2, 15-8 B16D: Niall Bolton/Colin Corbett [Clare] bt Daniel Relihan/Michael Hedigan [Cork] 21-17, 21-8

IT was hard to find a pulse in Cusack Park on Saturday afternoon such was futility of this exercise from London’s point of view, but Clare couldn’t let lack of enthusiasm for this fixture come between them and the bread and butter of two league points.

So it was that Clare moved through the gears, very slowly and sluggishly during the first 35 minutes before really pressing on the accelerator in the second half that made this largely forgettable encounter a tale of two halves for Micheál McDermott’s charges.

“Our first half performance was very poor and we had a good chat with the lads at half-time about what had gone wrong,” admitted McDermott afterwards.

“London dropped an extra man back in defence and we just weren’t clever enough to cope with that. When we pumped long ball in they were mopping it up.

“In the second half if they stayed with that formation we were going to run at them from deep, but they went 15 on 15,” he added.

But that’s where it all went wrong for London – the damage limitation they’d employed in the first half as corner-forward Austin Concannon dropped back between the full-back and half-back lines had at least made them competitive, but 15 on 15 fast turned things into something of an embarrassment as a six-point halftime deficit mushroomed to 21 points by the end.

“Our second half performance was a lot better,” said McDermott, “and I was very pleased with the goals that we worked because they came from moves that we had been working on in training.

“Gary Brennan coming out to midfield in the second half really helped us. He got a good goal in the first half from full-forward but for the first 15 minutes of the second half with him at midfield we dominated the area and we drove on and got some great scores from it.

“It was important to get a win under our belts before moving on the last four games of the campaign. Starting with Roscommon next weekend we know what we have to do.

“Every game is a big game from now on. Every game is a must win game if we want promotion to Division Three for next year.

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.

‘SHOOTING FISH in a barrell’ and ‘cakewalk’ were just some of the phrases that could be heard exiting Cusack Park on Sunday as Clare had a 31 point victory over Down. What Ger O’Loughlin and his backroom team of Danny Chaplin, Liam Doyle and Fiach O’Loughlin actually learned from this bloodless affair was debatable but considering their last league performance in Clare headquarters against Limerick, manager O’Loughlin was content to take the points ahead of tougher tests in the coming weeks.

“We started poor again. It took us ten or fifteen minutes to get into the game but once we found our feet, we were ok. The opposition was poor and then the two sendings off probably made a bit of a farce of the game really but in saying that, we’ll take it. We needed to get a good score and the confidence was there today for the lads. We had some good displays today but as I say, the opposition wasn’t great today so it was hard to read into what we will learn out of it. It’s two more points on the board anyway.”

His opposite number, Down manager Gerard Monan was full of chat this time last year when travelling to Clare for their opening league tie but he wasn’t as forthcoming this time around, preferring to stay silent, possibly due to the two sendings off that essentially wrecked any hopes of keeping the game competitive according to O’Loughlin.

“The second sending off killed the game. I think they lost a lot of heart after that as well and after 15 minutes of the second half, the game was over and there was no shape to it. But that’s not our fault so we will take our win and hopefully we’ll keep improving. We have Kerry in two weeks, then Laois and Carlow so for those three matches, we will have to be at the top of our game. It’s in our own hands so hopefully we can keep improving.”

“All the lads go back to the clubs for the Under 21 championship on Thursday and Sunday, and we have a challenge match on Thursday against Cork without the Under 21’s so it gives a chance to other lads and we will possibly have another game on Sunday against Dublin so we will see how that goes.”

And just before the Clarecastle native exited the field for warmer environs, he gave one last summary of the 5-22 to 0-06 scoreline.

“I thought we got some good scores but perhaps at times we had too much room and we might not learn a whole lot out of it. We just have to take the positives out of it and there were plenty of positives.”

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”.

CLARE tourism is set to benefit on the double from a major golf competition to be staged in the county over a six-month period that will showcase what the county has to offer to golfers around the country.

The Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge is set to attract a big nationwide entry bringing in much sought after golf tourism, while proceeds of the event will also be used to finance a marketing campaign to be formulated for the county for the 2012 season.

In the only competition of its kind in Ireland golfers must play at least five of Clare’s ten golf courses between April and September, after which the top ranking teams will compete in a final to be held at the Greg Norman designed links course in Doonbeg on October 25.

Other participating courses include Lahinch, Dromoland, Ennis, Woodstock, Shannon, Spanish Point, Kilrush, Kilkee and East Clare.

Joe Russell, Chair of the Clare Tourism Forum and General Manager at Doonbeg Golf Club said, “The 2011 Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge offers golfers the unique opportunity to play all ten Clare golf courses, including two of the world’s top 100 ranked courses. This initiative will help secure the continuation of the successful and effective marketing and promotional activities carried out by the Clare Tourism Forum.”

Clare Tourism Forum marketing executive Maureen Cleary commented: “It was wonderful to have had so many golf clubs throughout Clare and surrounding counties represented in the inaugural event in 2010. The standard of golfing also was high and contributed to what has been a hugely successful first year for the Challenge. We hope that this year’s event will once again generate funds that will be injected into much needed marketing and promotional activities during 2012”.

“The Clare Tourism Forum is very grateful to the participating golf clubs, without whose support this event would not be possible,” she added.

The 2010 Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge winning team included team leader Des O’Brien (Kilrush GC), Sean McGuirk (Limerick GC), Bill Hanley (Charleville GC) and Brendan O’Keeffe (Ballykisteen GC), who won the final with a score of 88 points.

Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge entries may be made online at www. clare.ie/golf.

CLARE BOXERS made considerable progress in the Irish Youths and Ladies Championships in the National Stadium in Dublin last weekend with last year’s silver medallist Lee Sherlock showing particularly good form edging closer to his quest for gold in the 54 Kilo division.

The ladies have been particularly prominent with Kilfenora’s Caoilinn McCormack and Ennis representative Sally Carrig winning their semi-finals in spectacular fashion on Saturday and with reigning champions Antoinette Keane 63 Kg and Kayleigh McCormack 57 Kg already through to the semi-finals, the prospects of gold looks good.

Caoilinn McCormack stopped Ulster Champion Sharon Kelly in the third round of her semi-final, having led 8-2 after the second round, and Sally Carrig in her first year of Championship boxing also won inside the distance against another Ulster champ Kayleigh MacAuley from Derry. Sally nailed her oppo- nent with a big right hook at the end of the first round forcing a standing count and kept up the sustained pressure from the bell in the second for a great inside the distance victory.

Lee Sherlock has been showing good form this season, and he came through to the semi-finals on Friday with a good win over last year’s champion Paudge McDonagh from the St Francis Club in Limerick. The Ennis southpaw displaying all of his defensive skills limited his onrushing opponent to a single point over the three rounds while scoring nicely with his lightning right jab for victory. \ His semi-final opponent, Patrick Bradley from the Errigal club in Derry was easily the toughest of his opponents to date, and their battle for gold or silver was a cliff hanger with fortunes fluctuating, and the tenacious Sherlock holding out for victory. Bradley led by a single point coming out for the third and final round and he clung to the tenuous lead right up to the final seconds when nailed him with a perfect right hook to the chin to bring the score to parity and force a double countback on the computer for a score of 4-1 to the Ennis fighter. His Ennis clubmate Wayne Danagher was not so lucky however in his quarter final; having led all the way in his 70 Kg battle with Sean Collins from the Smithfield Club in Dublin’s inner city he was caught with a left hook with just ten seconds remaining and lost the initiative, losing out 11-10 in the end.

And so, with the ladies stealing the limelight, all five will battle for glory on Friday and Saturday next, and hopes are high for a brace of titles. Sherlock’s opponent in the 54 Kg final will be Dubliner Jamie Stokes from the Mulhuddart club, and both fighters are waxing lyrical about their prospects of victory in this prestigious final.

Ennis coaches and mentors Tommy Lyons and Sean Carrig were proactive in the judging and refereeing of these championships and will again be in action come next weekend. EnnisTournament 2nd March 2011.

Boy 1 36 Kg JimMcDonagh (Ennis) Bt Timmy Casey (OLOL) 42 Kg Conor Doyle Bt Alan O’Donnell 48 Kg Luke Carmody lost to Martin Mongan 65 Kg Caimin Doyle lost to Danny Harty Boy 2 42 Kg Diarmuid O’Gorman lost to Paddy Keenan 52 Kg Brian McDonagh Bt Terry Harris 57 Kg Ml Galbraith lost to Muiris Mongan Boy 4 57 Kg Simon McDonagh Bt Geoff Mulqueen 63 Kg James Galbraith lost to Ed O’Donoghue Youth 2 75 Kg Martin Keenan Bt Ben McNamara Heavyweight Mark Fitzgerald drewwith Ml P. Mongan

THERE WERE mixed fortunes for Clare’s clubs at last Sunday’s Cycling Pursuits Cup in Broadford, County Limerick. Promoter Liam Collins laid out a tough circuit with 150 metres of climbing reaching 11 per cent gradient in parts. This ensured plenty of suffering for the 150 competitors as the field got whittled down on each successive lap.

The highlight was in the A3 race, after Blarney’s Owen Cummins had soloed to victory, Damien Roche of West Clare surged through the bunch to take the sprint and an impressive second place. Dolmen CC’s Gary McDonald also grabbed a top ten spot.

In the A1/A2 race, West Clare’s Jarlath Hassett and Mike Storan were well placed at the bell but Liam Ryan (St Finbarr’s CC) and Cathal McCarthy (The Edge CC) escaped on the final lap and were not hauled back. Hassett was in the mix for the sprint, taking fourth on the line with Storan ten seconds back.

In their first year of racing, Burren CC are showing impressive form with Robert Hawes and Anthony O’Halloran taking fifth and ninth respectively in the A4 category. Gro u p 1 Doonbeg 1-8 St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 0-6 Shannon Gaels 0-10 St Joseph’s Miltown 0-06 Kilrush Shamrocks 2-8 Liscannor 0-6 Kilmilhil v Kilmurry-Ibrickane (postponed) Gro u p 2 Cooraclare 4-7 Clondegad 0-7 Lissycasey v St Breckan’s (postponed) O’Curry’s v St Senan’s Kilkee (postponed) Ennistymon a bye

CLARE FM were one of the recipients at The Camogie Association Media Awards at Croke Park on Saturday night, with Clare FM’s Sports Editor Kevin McGillicuddy picking up the award for Best Local Radio. President of the Camogie Association Joan O’Flynn, Group Head of RTÉ Sport, Ryle Nugent, and Lily Dunne, wife of the late Mick Dunne, presented the awards to eight recipients who were acknowledged for their outstanding work promoting and publicising camogie.

In her address, President Joan O’Flynn emphasised the importance of highlighting those who are promoting the game.

“The Camogie Association and RTÉ Mick Dunne Memorial Awards are an important event on the camogie calendar each year. The awards are hugely important in recognising the enormous contribution that regional and national press and association members make to the promotion of our game. Tonight, we honour the outstanding work of those who are here to receive awards and acknowledge the fantastic work they do to further boost the profile of camogie. On this night, the eve of our All-Ireland club finals, the Camogie Association is delighted to celebrate the achievements of those, who work so tirelessly off the pitch publicising, all of the action on it.”

Clare Camogie Chairperson Orla Considine expressed her delight in this recognition of Clare FM for their coverage of Camogie in the county, whilst adding that Clare were to the fore in the publicity they receive from local media. The full list of winners were: Clare FM(Local Radio); the Offaly Express (Provincial Newspaper); Dublin Camogie Board (Website):Armagh County Camogie Board (Match Programme); Barbara Ryan (PROof theYear); Caroline Quinn (Photograph of theYear);“I Gotta Feeling” by Dean Goodison; (PublishedWork) Irish Examiner (National Coverage of Camogie). Cla r e v Cor k @ Fr Mur phy Memor ia l Pa r k, Newma r ket -on-Fer gus, Sunday 1pm

AS THIS year’s Munster Adult 40×20 Championships come to a close, there was more success for the Tuamgraney pair of Niall Malone & Diarmaid Nash when they won the Munster Intermediate Doubles Final in Cappagh on Wednesday last, beating Cork brothers Niall & Brendan Fleming 21-18, 21-15. The Clare duo are now due to play the Connacht champions this coming weekend in the All-Ireland semi-final. A time and date is yet to be confirmed and a clash will have to be avoided with Niall Malone’s All-Ireland Senior Singles Championship clash with Cavan kingpin Paul Brady (currently scheduled for this Saturday in Kingscourt at 2pm). Nash meanwhile, having already secured the Munster Senior title, will be expected to make it a hat-trick of provincial wins when he takes on Brendan Fleming in tonight’s Intermediate Singles decider (Ballydesmond, 8pm).

Aisling Fitzgerald (Tuamgraney) was also successful, winning her Munster Ladies Junior B Singles Final in Galbally on Saturday when she beat Laura Keevers 21-9, 21-6. Coughlan brothers Fergal and Ger were in the Masters A Doubles Final also in Galbally but went down to Cork pair Stephen Palmer and Kevin Buckley.

As mentioned, the Munster championships are now coming to a close and focus shifts to the All-Ireland semi-finals which take place over two weekends (March 12/13 and April 2/3). As well as Nash’s Senior win, Clare have already secured seven Munster titles; Ladies Junior B Singles (Aisling Fitzgerald), Ladies Junior B Doubles (Sarah Loughnane & Paula Loughane), Golden Masters B Singles (John Cawley), Golden Masters B Doubles (John Cawley & Teddy O’Hanlon), Glden Masters A Singles (Pat Donellan), Golden Masters A Doubles (Pat Donellan & Mike Kelly) and Intermediate Doubles (Diarmaid Nash & Niall Malone). The two outstanding finals up for grabs are tonight’s Intermediate Singles Final and an all-Clare (and all-Tulla) Junior Singles Final between Cathal Hannon and Aidan Lynch which was postoned due to an injury to Lynch and may yet be played before All-Ireland semi-final date.

While All-Ireland semi-final fixtures are yet to be confirmed at time of writing, the following grades involving Banner County players are scheduled for this coming weekend; Golden Masters Singles (A and B), Ladies Junior B Singles (all Connacht venues) and Intermediate Doubles (Munster venue).

A host of Clare’s rising handball stars were in action over the weekend as the Munster Juvenile Championship semi-finals were played at a number of venues. Clare are through to Boys Munster Finals at Boys Under 12 Singles (Tiernan Agnew), U-12 Doubles (Gary Cooney, Owen Shanahan), U-13 Doubles (Jack Hayes, Shane Hunt), U-14 Singles (Brian Fahy), U-14 Doubles (Fergal Couhlan, Jamie Keane), U-15 Doubles (Jacob Loughnane, Ciaran Cooney), U-16 Singles (Colin Crehan) and Girls Munster Finals at U-12 Singles (Ella Donellan), U-14 Doubles (Clodagh Nash, Doireann Murphy), U-15 Doubles (Natasha Coughlan, Michelle Nihill) and U-16 Singles (Alice Akers). In U-17 Doubles, Hannah O’Brien and Aine McInerney have a bye through to the All-Ireland semi-final.

On the local scene finally, the last of this year’s Adult County League Finals was won by Clarecastle when they defeated Shannon 96-79 in the Division 3 decider in Clooney on Friday. The winning team was John Sweeney (Capt.), Jeff Coughlan, Pakie Healy, Michael Casey, Martin Sweeney and Adam Healy.