Clonlara reach the summit after 89-year wait

CUSACK PARK, Ennis yesterday saw the completion of as wondrous a hurling rise as can be imagined.

Last year Clonlara leapt out of the Clare intermediate hurling ranks with the intention of stabilising in senior hurling in 2008. Instead they embarked on a whirlwind ride of successes that brought them to yesterday’s senior final against Newmarket-on-Fergus, the club’s first time featuring in the decider since 1919. And in a game that may not have contained sparkling hurling but did produce a gripping contest, Clonlara continued their extraordinary run with a three-point win.

Clonlara overcame the concession of an early Newmarket goal and a second-half spent playing against a stiff breeze, with a plethora of individual standout displays. The half-back pair of Nicky O’Connell and Domhnall O’Donovan gave terrific displays in repelling the Newmarket attacks, while O’Donovan’s twin brother Cormac got through an amount of work at midfield.