Tag Archives: munster championship

Munster Minor Football Championship Round 1 Clare 4-18 Waterford 0-4 CLARE couldn’t have asked for a more ideal or indeed comfortable start to their Munster campaign after bypassing Waterford in style in Wolfe Tones GAA in Shannon on Thursday evening, writes Eoin Brennan. The shot count alone of 45 to 10 in the hosts’ favour told the tale of a sorely one-sided contest that was lit up by inside duo Cathal Talty and Conor Fennell who between them accounted for 4-10 of the home side’s handsome tally. Fennell, a survivor from the minor class of 2021, raided for 3-2 including a brace of first half rebound goals in the space of three minutes that finally lifted Clare to new heights. Up to that point, Clare’s utter dominance wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard as four missed goal opportunities were matched by as many wides to only lead by 0-3 to 0-0 by the 20 minute mark. Fennell had kicked two of …

Following league wins over Dublin and Kilkenny, selector Ken Ralph told Ronan Judge the Clare camp is in a good position ahead of their Munster Championship opener with Waterford on Sunday. CLARE selector Ken Ralph is in upbeat mood as he assesses Clare’s prospects against Waterford in Sunday’s Munster Hurling Championship opener. And the Clarecastle club man says the form among players and management is of a similar vein after Clare closed out their league campaign with high scoring victories over Dublin and Kilkenny. The winning end to what was a sprint of a league came after early defeats to Antrim and Wexford. Ralph says there was never a sense of panic in those early weeks. Rather, management were happy with what they were seeing. Performance levels and effort were going in the right direction. The feeling was the results would follow. “I suppose looking back at the league, we’re happy enough at how things went. You’re never totally happy. …

Clare will be looking to build upon their recent momentum when they face Waterford in the Munster SHC this Sunday at Semple Stadium (throw-in 3.15pm). Munster Championship games are notoriously full blooded and intense with this Sunday’s battle expected to be no different as Clare come up against last year’s All-Ireland finalists. John Conlon will certainly be relishing this weekend’s battle as he looks set to taste Championship action for the first time since 2019, due to a cruciate ligament injury that kept him on the sidelines for Clare’s run to the All-Ireland quarter final in 2020. The Clonlara man believes the injury was a “blessing in disguise” as he was able to rehab other knocks and learn more about looking after his own body. “It was a tough injury. I was over a year out with it. It was a blessing in disguise in ways. It gave me the opportunity to grow and work on other injuries. I did …

Clare 1-23 Tipperary 1-21 THE Clare hurlers scored an incredible, breathtaking win over Tipperary in Semple Stadium on Sunday. Clare didn’t lead until 90 seconds from the end of five minutes of injury time. Tipperary had led 1-21 to 1-20 three minutes into injury time. It was Clare’s first Munster championship win over Tipperary since 2003 and means that next Sunday’s final round game, at home to table topping Limerick, will have a place in the Munster final at stake. If Clare win they will qualify for the final. They currently sit on four points, one behind Limerick, while Cork, who play Waterford next week, are also on four points. Peter Duggan who put over 0-15 in total, 0-13 from frees, was superb while Podge Collins also injected life and pace to the Clare attack. The Cratloe man set up Ian Galvin’s 64th minute goal, seconds after Jake Morris had spurned a goal chance for the home county. Tipperary led …

CILLIAN Brennan has just turned 21 and has a few things on his mind. In the short-term, he is thinking of Kerry and how best to effectively monitor inside forwards like David Clifford, James O’Donoghue and Paul Geaney. Beyond Sunday though, Brennan, who is the younger brother of captain Gary and Shane, is on the hunt for a job. A recent Mary Immaculate College, Limerick graduate in primary teaching, ideally he would like to apply his trade in Clare or at least the mid west region.. “I’m on the lookout for a job at the minute and trying to get the foot in the door and get the face out there. Hopefully, I’ll get somewhere close to home come September,” Brennan told The Clare Champion after training in Caherlohan on Sunday morning. Before that though he will play his second championship game for Clare in what is his début season. He is the first Brennan to play as a back …

Clare 1-23 Limerick 0-14 ON an evening when 13 Clare players contributed to their 12 point winning tally, they qualified for a June 3 Munster semi-final meeting with Kerry in Killarney. Another very impressive statistic is the fact that five Clare substitutes contributed 0-6 from play between them, with Conor Finuncane and Gavin Cooney putting over top class scores. When Kieran Malone goaled, at the second attempt, in the 18th minute, Clare were completely in control, leading 1-6 to 0-1. Limerick looked very poor during that spell but they upped their game for a period, outscoring Clare 0-9 to 0-3 between the goal and half-time. Clare still led by five points, 1-9 to 0-7, at the interval while Limerick kicked two early second half points, with Jamie Lee and Seán McSweeney scoring. It looked as if the game might turn into somewhat of a contest but Clare re-established control and went on a scoring spree. Apart from the substitutes hitting …

CLARE football manager, Colm Collins, has said he cannot understand why clubs took the decision not to play club football or hurling championship games in April, which was designated as a club month by the GAA. Clare was the only Munster county not to play championship in either code, instead opting to play five rounds of league games in football and three in hurling. Speaking at Monday’s Munster championship launch in Bunratty, Collins said he could not comprehend why six of the seven rounds in the Clare football leagues are already played. “Our football leagues are almost over and it’s not May 1 yet. I fail to see where the merit is in that,” he stated. “We have one game of seven in the league left, which is ridiculous. Playing no championship in April was a decision of the clubs. I felt they should have played a round of football and hurling championship in Clare. Clubs decided that. I just …

Clare 3-13 Limerick 2-9 FOR the sixth successive year the Clare minor footballers have beaten Limerick in the Munster championship. The county U/17s won this game in the first half with a blistering display of attacking football. They moved the ball at speed, their control was impressive, as was their tackling, although that deteriorated somewhat in the second half. Clare have now qualified for a Munster semi-final on May 8 while Limerick will be in action again next Wednesday, when they play Tipperary. Clare were in complete control at half-time, leading 2-9 to 0-4. Inside forwards, Shane Meehan and Mark McInerney, were absolutely deadly in that opening half. Meehan’s movement and ball retention was brilliant as was his finishing. The Banner club player put 1-5 on the board in a superb opening half hour of attacking play. He pointed 0-3 from play and the goal was an opportunist one, just before half-time. Limerick goalkeeper, Kevin Walsh, was unlucky to spill …