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ROCK Rovers’ FAI campaign ended at the first round on Sunday when they went down to a narrow defeat to Kerry side Camp United.

Tommy Farrell’s wickedly curled free kick, three minutes into first- half extra-time sealed the win for Camp after the game ended at I-1.

After a poor start Rock improved with Brian Fitzpatrick equalising af- ter John O’Driscoll had given Camp an early lead.

Rock enjoyed some good moments

in the second-half but failed to create enough clear-cut chances.

Extra-time then proved disastrous for Rock. Farrell curled home what proved to be the winning goal and after using all three substitutes, the Ennis side were forced to play out the remainder of the game with 10 men after captain Daryl Eade was forced OSM ZIHem-mONsOmNOlevas

Rock substitutes Dean Gardiner and Marty McLoughlin combined to create Rock’s best opportunity to draw level in extra-time.

Gardiner’s delivery caused panic in

the Camp area but the ball popped up suddenly, striking McLoughlin’s out- stretched leg and flying over the bar.

That was as close as Rock came as Camp held out to book an all-Kerry second round meeting with Killorg- thee

Despite the almost four hour jour- ney from west Kerry to Ennis, Camp showed no signs of rustiness as they dominated the early stages.

Spraying the ball around confident- ly, Camp looked dangerous particu- larly through the impressive Theo O’Shea.

However, the manner in which the visitors took the lead owed as much to Rock’s sloppy defending as it did to Camp’s incisive football.

O’Shea’s low delivery was missed by Francis Daniels and John O’Driscoll was on hand to toe poke home from close range.

The goal spurred Rock into playing their best football of the game. Gary Walsh, who impressed throughout, offered good width in the right while the trio of Ashley Glynn, Daryl Eade and Roan Eade gave Rock a foot- hold in midfield. The home side went close through Glynn’s header before equalising midway through the half. Ronan Arthur lifted the ball into the path of Fitzpatrick who took his time before drilling the ball low past Gearoid O’Shea.

Fitzpatrick and Woods were promi- nent in the early stages of the second half as Rock looked for the crucial second goal. However, Camp stood firm and looked the side most likely to score a winner late on with Theo O’Shea and substitute James Scanlon causing havoc out wide. The goal arrived with Camp captain Tommy Farrell curling home the winner.

A FORENSIC accountant is set to examine 5,000 documents served on an east Clare man who is facing VAT related offences on amounts totalling over €1.5 million.

At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, Derek Floyd (36) of 21 Lower Main Street, Tulla appeared on 24 charg- es relating to alleged VAT offences on amounts totalling €1.55 million between March 2001 and January mauler

The case was returned from trial to the circuit court from Killaloe Dis- trict Court earlier this month.

In court yesterday, counsel for the State, Stephen Coughlan BL said that the case could require a special judge and asked Judge Carroll Moran to set aside three weeks for the case.

Counsel for Mr Floyd, Pat Whyms BL said that over 5,000 documents were served on his client and he re- quested that the legal aid certificate be extended to cover a forensic ac- countant to examine the documenta- none

Mr Whyms said that the sums in- volved are significant. The case was taken over the alleged non-payment of taxes and he requested that the legal aid cert to also cover a second counsel.

Judge Carroll Moran granted both applications.

Mr Floyd is facing 12 charges of knowingly claiming repayments in VAT totalling €678,857 which to his knowledge he was not entitled to contrary to Section 1078 of the Taxes Consolidation Act on a period from April 1, 2001 to January 7, 2004.

Two of the 12 charges relate to in- dividual repayments in VAT claimed by Mr Floyd of €156,136 on Septem- ber 9, 2002 and a second payment of € 133,506 on June 27, 2003.

He is also facing an additional 12 charges concerning his alleged fail- ure to remit VAT payments to the Collector General totalling €880,913 between May 2001 and November 2003.

Judge Moran adjourned the case to the next call over of the circuit court and Mr Floyd remains on bail.

BRIDGE Celtic progressed to the next round of the Munster Junior Cup after a 3-1 victory over local ri- vals Shannon Olympic.

It was always going to be difficult for the Shannon men considering they were missing Six or seven reg- ular starters but it was an ideal op- portunity to use the cup to give some of the squad players good match practice. They will certainly have gained much need experience after this loss.

The first-half was a very even af- fair with both sides creating chances. Both goalies were under severe pres- Sure as teams continued to press and attack. The first goal came after 30 minutes. Suprisingly it was Olym- pic who edged in front with a well taken goal by striker John Keogh.

This goal in many ways led to their downfall and for two main reasons. Firstly, it encouraged them to sit back a little bit more and they were never going to keep the Bridge out for the remaining 60 minutes.

Secondly, this initial goal _ re- PMU MYA OU ECeeXoIUCLO ME A eCoME-NE-Dm00 MM OLo)0 MB NO MEN Ele Bridge players’ heads. This was the wake up call they needed to kick them into action and that is exactly what they did in the second-half.

The Bridge pushed on and seized control of the game and it was inevi- table they would equalise.

Their goal came after 55 minutes from a dangerous 1n swinging corner kick. Kevin McEvoy flicked it on to striker Paul McEvoy who finished the move off expertly. A fantastic strike which turned the game on its head.

From here on in the Shannon men

died. They had been hoping to hold on but that plan had to be scrapped. What will really annoy them is the manner they went on to lose this game. They were under pressure from some good build up play but it was two basic goalkeeping errors that allowed the Bridge to get their second and third goals.

The first of these came after 70 minutes when O’Connor in the Shan- non goal spilt a well hit strike and Ger O’Riordan was first to react and blasted the ball into the net. This tap in gave them the lead.

Five minutes later and O’Connor must have been feeling a sense of déja vu when he once again let a shot out of his grasp. This time it was Ger O’Connell, the man who replaced O’Riordan, to get on the end of this goalkeeping error. He too cooly placed the ball into the net and ended

the game scoring with this effort. Shannon tried and tried and did cre- ate one or two half chances but they could not get back into the game. It was too late. The damage had been done and they were eliminated from the cup at the first round.

First sight the focus of short story competition

WITH Lifford A rooted firmly to the foot of the Premier Division table, a huge performance was on the cards to restore some much needed confi- dence.

Lifford are normally associated with being in contention for the title, however, this year they are in a Se- rious rough patch and have not cap- tured a single point from their open- ing four league games.

Limerick side Askeaton were fully aware of this ahead of their journey to Cassidy Park and looked to capi- talise on a dodgy defence that has been breached an astonishing 13 times in those four outings.

The first-half was a dull and weary affair with neither team creating any real opportunities. Mike O’Connell found himself with space down the left flank for Askeaton on more than one occasion but was unable to de- liver an end product.

In the first 45 minutes Lifford failed to test Danny Fitzgerald in the Askeaton goal and it looked as though the visitors from Limerick would leave victorious with Lifford playing some stagnant football.

Lifford should have grabbed a goal just before the break when Scott Hennessy made a clever run down the left touchline and crossed to TJ Abisomo, who failed to connect with a ball that should really have been planted in the back of the net.

This encounter was an intense phys- ical battle and its effects were shown throughout the match with Stephen O’Halloran having to limp off at the beginning of the second-half.

Lifford began to string together a few passes and were able to exert some pressure on the Askeaton de- fence that had previously remained untested.

Roberto Pinto was a handful for the centre-backs all afternoon and he came close to giving Lifford the lead with a free kick that was fired just over the crossbar.

Pinto was deployed as Lifford’s target man with Abisomo living off the breaking ball he created. Ten minutes into the second-half, Scott Hennessy delivered a floating free kick from central midfield which was glanced across goal by Pinto and headed home with real conviction by Abisomo, who made amends for ear- lier misses.

The game began to open up from here, with Hennessy able to carve up

the opposing defence with intelligent passes and good execution from set plays. It only took five minutes for Lifford to double their advantage with Hennessy spraying the ball out to the right wing for Ryan Boyle to chase, the latter then beat two play- ers and fizzed the ball across the goal mouth but was unable to get the touch it deserved.

Liam Meaney was still able to col- lect the ball and cross to the near post where Pinto was unmarked and never in doubt of missing from that range.

Moments later Boyle again found himself with space down the right for Lifford and was darting towards

the box until he was brought down by Robert Whelan who in turn was booked for his troubles.

Hennessy once again delivered a killer ball which was volleyed past the despairing Danny Fitzgerald by Gary McNaboe. At this stage of the match Lifford held a firm grip over proceedings and were display- ing some fine football until Mike O’Connell finished superbly with a well placed header past Mike Heath on the counter attack for the away team.

Twenty minutes were still on the clock and Askeaton were given a glimmer of hope by O’Connell’s

goal, but a huge task was still at hand if they were to overturn a two goal deficit.

Lifford began to look more limited on the ball as the second-half drew on, but Askeaton could not find a way past Heath who pulled of a fine save from a deflected shot.

On the stroke of the 90th minute, Mike Fitzgibbon played a through ball over the Lifford back four for striker Ray Foley to chase but Ha- mad Kuku was able to sweep back and clear the ball for a corner.

Left-back Brian Corrigan, who had been solid all afternoon, dispatched the corner towards the back post where Dave Kenwick was lurking unmarked and nodded home for the visitors. Five minutes of injury-time were announced and panic was en- graved on all the home sides’ faces as the Limerick team heaped men deep into Lifford territory in a vain search of an equaliser that wasn’t to come.

At the sound of the final whistle Lifford were able to draw a sigh of relief and hopefully build on this hard fought win.

Treaty poses threat to the economy

A PERFORMANCE built on hard work, commitment and some ex- cellent score-taking saw Kilmaley crowned Minor A champions in Cu- sack Park on Saturday evening.

With match favourites Sixmilebri- dge two points ahead and in the as- cendancy, Kilmaley were forced to dig deep in the final quarter to claim the club’s third ever Minor A title.

After struggling to create oppor- tunities in a tense second-half, Kil- maley rattled off four unanswered points to storm into the lead.

Pre-match favourites Sixmilebri- dge were left to rue eight-second half wides as they suffered their second straight loss in the minor A decider after last year’s defeat to Inagh/Kil- namona.

Yet while the Bridge’s errant shoot- ing was a factor, just as important was the tenacity of Kilmaley’s defending, exemplified best by the performances of Colin McGuane at centre back and Niall McGuane at corner back.

Dara Keane was Kilmaley’s top scorer on the day with nine points. The corner forward stepped up to the plate when his side really needed it during a nervy final quarter.

There was plenty too to admire about the Bridge with the perform- ances of Shane Golden, Pa Sheehan, Timmy Crowe and Seadhna Morey catching the eye.

It all made for an engrossing 60 minutes of hurling in Cusack Park.

The first half whizzed by in a blur of quality scores and urgent tackling from both sides.

Kilmaley got off to a great start with points from a Dara Keane free and a great strike from Killian Mc- Namara.

The Bridge settled into their stride and hit the front through points from Pa Sheehan, Shane Golden and two

superb strikes from Timmy Crowe.

Keane, Kilmaley’s liveliest pres- ence in attack, shot three points on the trot between the 19th and 25th minute, to nudge Kilmaley O-7 0-5 ahead at half time.

As Pa Sheehan and _ Cathal O’Connor gained the edge around midfield The Bridge wrestled back control of the game after the break.

Sheehan slotted over a free before a point from Jamie O’Gorman tied the game in the 34th minute.

By now the Bridge were well on top and their superiority was underlined with Shane Golden striking over two points to put them 0-9 0-7 ahead.

It should have been more but the Bridge were having problems hitting the target.

If the first-half had showcased scor- ing prowess then the second half was a testament to the virtues of hook- ing, blocking and closing down. But despite their resilience in defence, things weren’t quite happening for Kilmaley further up the field.

All that changed in the 46th minute when Keane converted a free for Kilmaley’s first point of the second half. Just a point separated the teams and Kilmaley, buoyed on by a large and very vocal bunch of supporters, lifted their performance.

Keane picked of a point from a dif- ficult angle before Michael O’Neill landed an inspirational point from the left touchline to send his side into the lead.

There was greater vigour about Kilmaley’s forward play now and the scores kept coming. Enda Finnucane signed his name to the scoresheet with a huge effort and Keane con- verted a free to leave Kilmaley 0-12 Q-9 ahead. With five minutes left, Sheehan struck over a monster free from halfway.

As the Bridge poured forward, Kil- maley’s backs defended like their

lives depended on it. O’Neill’s injury time clearance eventually lifted the siege as Ger Hickey’s full time whis- tle sparked huge celebration among Kilmaley’s players and supporters.

Sixmilebridge will be disappointed but having tasted success at under 12, under 14 and under 21, already this season and with finals at under 15 and under 16 still to come, the club’s status as the dominant force in Clare underage hurling remains intact.

Saturday, however, belonged to this season’s deserving minor A champi- ons Kilmaley.

US swings behind Europe

WHITEGATE deservedly assumed the role of championship favourites after winning out in the battle of the heavyweights in Tulla on Saturday. After meeting twice already this year in the Clare Cup, both sides were well accustomed to one another and that familiarity was exploited by Whitegate who seemed to have more homework done on their opponents.

This was supposed to be Eire Og’s year. They were determined to bounce back to where they believe they belong, competing in the senior championship however these desires will have to be put on hold for an- other year at least as it is now the men from east Clare who, barring a Shock, look to be the team who will be competing for the title.

Eire Og started the brightest and rushed into an early four point lead after six minutes. Danny Russell from two frees secured a point and a goal to give the Townies the perfect SIE a

However, Whitegate soon settled with some placed balls of their own. George Waterstone with two frees and two 65s levelled the game after 13 minutes. The comeback was un- derway. It took another five minutes for the first score from play. Davy O’ Halloran finally brought an end to the personal duel that was beginning to develop between both sides’ free takers with a fine point. Two more points from Fergus Flynn and a well taken over the shoulder effort by Ni- all Daly completed Eire Og’s scoring for the first -half.

However, with ten minutes of the half still remaining, Whitegate turned the screw in what was to

prove a decisive match winning pe- riod of dominance. Despite the fact that Eire Og still had a significant amount of possession, they could not convert this control into scores whereas Whitegate took their chanc- es. Waterstone added to his tally this time from play, John O’Brien added his name to the scoreboard and of course two inspirational points from impressive midfielder Ian Fahy all resulted in Whitegate leading on a score of 0-10 to 1-4 at the break. The second-half commenced like the first with Waterstone and Russell exchanging points. From the inten-

sity illustrated by both teams, it was inevitable this game would go down to the wire. Forty minutes gone and Whitegate suffered their first big blow. Waterstone had to be replaced due to injury. This could have been disastrous but Whitegate kept fight- ing and his loss was absorbed by the extra effort given by all his other team mates. Suprisingly it wasn’t the last we saw of him either. When the pressure really was on, he returned with a few minutes remaining, even managing to convert another °65 in the 58th minute.

Waterstone cannot take all the

credit though as the scoring was well distributed in the closing period of the second-half. Michael O’Brien, Stephen Malone and even goalie An- drew Fahy with a monster free from inside his own half added points for his team.

Two other factors were key to MWA TTR ere eekcean bbe oplmp keel Lae D hop Firstly two Eire Og 20 metre frees were stopped. Russell with the first attempt and Barry Nugent with the second were both prevented as the Townies desperately pushed for the goal they required to have any chance of winning.

The second factor was the perform- ance of man of the match Tommy Holland. His duty for the day was to man-mark Nugent and try to neu- tralise his effect on the game. That is exactly what he did as Nugent’s influ- ence was kept to a minimum by the former county senior panelist.

For the final minutes, Eire Og huffed and puffed but they could not prevent an impressive Whitegate from progressing into the semi-final after aQ-19 to 1-11 win. By many, this was billed as the real county final for 09, well if that is the case Whitegate won’t have long more to be declared champions officially.

SHARON Shannon made a musical return to her old school in Ennis last week when she performed alongside students at Colaiste Muire.

The Ruan born accordionist was joined on the day by Minster for Ed- ucation and Science, Batt O’ Keefe

The purpose of their visit was to mark Shannon’s donation of a CD of traditional music and songbook, which the department will distribute to every school.

Colaiste Muire’s traditional musi- cians played for the invited guests and afterwards, Shannon joined the students on stage for a short concert.

Last Monday saw Shannon’s im- mense contribution to Irish music honoured with a civic reception host- ed by Clare County Council.

“A Civic Reception is the highest accolade at the disposal of Clare County Council for any individual, group or organisation and one that is – for Sharon Shannon – thoroughly deserved,’ stated the Mayor of Clare Councillor Tony Mulcahy. ;

Addressing those gathered at Aras Contae and Chlair in Ennis, the May- or said, “By demonstrating her most wonderful talent as an accordionist, Sharon has brought great acclaim to the Irish traditional music scene, County Clare and those who have had the pleasure of working with her down through the years. Sharon’s versatility as a musician 1s one of her most outstanding traits and is widely recognised by the global music in- dustry.”

Shannon, who began her record- ing career in 1989, is best known for her collaborations with some of the biggest names in the Irish and glo- bal music industry, including Bono,

Sinead O’Connor, Jackson Browne, John Prine, Steve Earle, Mark Knop- fler, The RTE Concert Orchestra, The Chieftains, The Waterboys, Wil- lie Nelson, Nigel Kennedy, Alisson Krauss and Shane MacGowan.

Her self-titled 1991 album remains the best selling album of traditional Irish music ever released while she

became the youngest person ever to win the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Meteor Awards. Sharon Shannon has played festi- vals all over Europe including Wo- mad and Glastonbury in 2009, and has recently completed a sell-out UK tour and Irish nationwide tour with guests including Shane MacGowan,

Mundy and Dessie O’ Halloran. Her new album Saints And Scoun- drels was released last Friday.