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Irish Examiner
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Clare left hanging on as Tipp kick-start their championship
Tipperary 4-18 Clare 2-21 Sixteen climbers got Clare to the summit last July. Seventeen, at a push. Clare got a tickle from Cork's 'we have two for every position' assertion. Clare had the bare minimum and the bare minimum were majestic. Efficiency of the few won out over excessivity. That's all fine and dandy so long as each of the 16 climbers stay on the mountain. Clare's bare minimum has been massively eroded in recent weeks. The consequent lifting of the bonnet has been revealing, both for this championship and championships to follow. They don't have two for every position. Not even close. Beyond their 16, 17 climbers, the quality is wanting, particularly at the back. John Conlon was a late withdrawal. Daithí Lohan was drafted in, Cian Galvin moving from right half-back to the centre. Conlon's absence meant Clare took to the field for the defining fixture of their Liam MacCarthy defence without half the defence that won them Liam. Of the half still standing, it was clear to anyone in the 20,685-sellout paying attention that Conor Leen wasn't moving freely in the warm-up. After John McGrath left him for dust on 17 minutes, Brian Lohan removed a fourth starter from his All-Ireland winning defence. Few counties are equipped to cope with such losses. Clare are not among them. You'd have to question why Leen was put out there in the first instance. You'd have to question what corrective action was taken by the sideline to stem the never-ending flow of goal openings and green flags in the opening 25 minutes. If management knew the answers weren't sitting behind them, a seventh body should surely have been plonked in front of a full-back line flailing helplessly. While enterprising in their approach play, Tipp's forward movement and passing wasn't anything particularly extraordinary. Clare, quite simply, were a shambles at the back. The injured Conor Cleary was never so lamented. For goal one, Alan Tynan breezed around Cian Galvin before offloading to John McGrath. For goal two, Jason Forde got around and got goal-side of Leen before offloading to Andrew Ormond. Goal three, as mentioned, saw McGrath burn off Leen with ease before evading Peter Duggan. And goal four was David McInerney losing possession, followed by Robert Doyle's groundstroke to create a three-on-two overlap that ended with Ormond's second. 4-4 to 0-6 after 23 minutes. Almost a mirror image of Tipp's 3-7 to 0-7 lead 22 minutes into the 2023 Munster championship meeting at the same venue. The plaudits and praise are shortly coming for Tipp. There's a need, though, to thoroughly dissect Clare's almost extinguished title defence. Theirs is the worst defence of Liam MacCarthy since the Clare class of 2014 also went for two defeats and one draw in their opening three games the summer after scaling the summit. Shane O'Donnell's return on 44 minutes could not save them. Tony Kelly's return and 1-1 from the placed-ball could not save them. Forward teammate Aidan McCarthy was not present to join the rescue effort. As snapped by the Clare Champion, he lined out for Inagh-Kilnamona in a League fixture earlier in the day. Injury-enforced absences were sufficient without other factors reducing available personnel. What's left of the All-Ireland champions lies in intensive care. Their machine could be turned off by this Sunday evening. There are few permutations that will keep them alive and elevate them from the foot of the Munster table to third. One is Cork overturning Limerick in the latter's backyard and then Clare doing the same when they travel to the Gaelic Grounds on the closing Sunday of action. They also need their conquerors here to beat Waterford and for Waterford to lose again to Cork. All that gets Clare to three points, level with Limerick, but progressing on a superior head-to-head. A long shot. A very, very long shot. In the five-year history of the Munster round-robin, three points has never been sufficient to advance. To Tipp. A first Munster championship win in 748 days. A first Munster triumph in 10 outings. Four goals in 23 minutes. A 12-point lead after 27 minutes. The concession of only two points from play in the same period. The eradication of that 12-point lead. Only five points hit in the 29 minutes after half-time. Systemic fouling to try and stem flags of greater colour. And then, against the wind, a closing 12 minutes of character and creativity and colossal rearguard action. An Eoghan Connolly intercept. A John McGrath lead point. Peter Duggan stopped and swallowed. Darragh Stakelum fouled. John McGrath fouled. A Jason Forde free. Ian Galvin leaving the sliotar behind him as the goal came into view. Oisín O'Donoghue fouled. Eoghan Connolly converted. A Seán Kenneally point in the blinding sun. A winning four-in-a-row. Jake Morris, standing on his own endline, with the relieving clearance as Clare chased an equalising goal on 74 minutes. Better Waterford this weekend and Tipp's rebuild will not again be packed away in mid-May. They came to the home of the champions and gave their own championship a pulse. Scorers for Tipperary: J McGrath (2-3); J Forde (0-8, 0-6 frees, 0-1 '65); A Ormond (2-1); E Connolly (0-3, 0-2 frees); J Morris (0-2); S Kenneally (0-1). Scorers for Clare: M Rodgers (1-13, 0-13 frees); T Kelly (1-1, 1-0 pen, 0-1 free); S Rynne (0-3); R Taylor (0-2); C Malone, P Duggan (0-1 each). TIPPERARY: R Shelly; M Breen, B O'Mara, E Connolly; R Maher, C Morgan, R Doyle; S O'Farrell, A Tynan; C Stakelum, A Ormond, N McGrath; J Forde, J McGrath, J Morris. SUBS: O O'Donoghue for C Stakelum (47); S Kennedy for Maher (55-59, temporary); W Connors for N McGrath (58); S Kennedy for O'Farrell (62); D Stakelum for Tynan (63); S Kenneally for Forde (66). CLARE: E Quilligan; Darragh Lohan, A Hogan, C Leen; Daithí Lohan, C Galvin, D McInerney; R Taylor, C Malone; T Kelly, D Reidy, P Duggan; S Rynne, M Rodgers, S Meehan. SUBS: Rory Hayes for Leen (20); S O'Donnell for Mehan (44); D Fitzgerald for Rynne (59); I Galvin for Reidy (63); J Conlon for Daithí Lohan (68). REFEREE: J Owens (Wexford).
Irish Examiner
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'We're so sick of it at this stage' - Kerry All-Ireland winner Niamh Leen on skorts debate
Kerry camogie stalwart Niamh Leen fully supports the action taken by the Dublin and Kilkenny players last weekend on the wearing of skorts and is behind the drive by the GPA and the players to get rid of them. 'We've wanted to get rid of the skorts for years," she insists. "They're so uncomfortable. The fit of them, the design of them, everything about them. I don't understand why players aren't being listened to.' All-Ireland winner Leen is centre-back on the intermediate team that will face Cork in the Munster Final on Sunday week. She led her club Clanmaurice to back-to-back All-Ireland Intermediate titles in 2023 and 2024. Her sister Anne Marie also plays with Kerry and Clanmaurice, while father John is a former treasurer of Kerry Camogie County Board. But Niamh believes strongly that county boards are just not listening to their players. "It goes to Congress to change every year and you've delegates of county boards going up, and they're clearly not listening to players, because 83% of players voted to get rid of the skorts (or allow choice), yet it didn't show that at Congress. "The players are talking to their county boards and they're going against them. It's really maddening. The people who are having a say and having a vote on this don't have to go out and put on the skort and go and play. We're so sick of it at this stage. "I feel like we're constantly fighting a losing battle. Fair play to Kilkenny and Dublin, we were kind of waiting to see what they would do, because I feel it's the senior teams that really need to push this. "It has gained serious media traction and I think the only way forward now to create change is pushing it.' Read More Camogie Association propose 2026 solution to skorts protest Leen explains that playing camogie in a short skort poses problems for girls and says photos taken are often unflattering. "I'm a tall girl and I spend the majority of the game pulling the skort down,' she explains. 'They're really uncomfortable. They're constantly rising up the minute you start running. And like that you're bent over, you're falling over, and you're sometimes on display and that's really embarrassing. "There's photos after online and the cheeks of your arse are basically on display. If that was in anything else there would be war." The sterling defender believes it is essential to move with the times. "I know the president of the Camogie Association wrote to us and said they're looking into alternative skorts from across the globe, but at this stage they just need to get rid of them. I know there's the element of tradition and all that, but things change, move on, move with the times. "I wouldn't go on a night out wearing something as short as the skort. It's as simple as that, yet I'm being asked to go and run around a field in it for 60 minutes. "We went to a challenge game there on Sunday and not one girl wore a skort for the challenge game. No girl ever comes to training in a skort, and I know that's not just us. Our club or our county or whatever. it would be unanimous across the country.' Leen believes that skorts are turning young girls away from the game. 'We are losing girls playing between the ages of 12 and 16, because girls are uncomfortable, they're new to getting periods. There is that embarrassment element. "The LGFA are moving with the times, they made sure that every team is wearing either black or navy shorts. The rugby has moved with it, but camogie is still here. "We're green skorts. There's teams that wear white skorts, that's really difficult for girls. It's just so infuriating, because it feels like nobody is listening." Leen praises the GPA's efforts. 'Because of all the media coverage now I do think they have to look and be like, 'look, the girls clearly aren't happy'.' 'I just don't even understand why they're trying to fight this. Will they not just let us wear shorts? A lot of us play football as well, so literally the only time we have to wear skorts is when we're going out playing official camogie games. "It's just so maddening.'
CBS News
11-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
Colorado Jews begin Passover celebration this weekend
Saturday night marks the start of the Passover holiday, which is celebrated over eight days. Tens of thousands of Colorado families will remember the story of the Jews' Exodus from slavery in Egypt. Preschoolers at the JCC Denver danced and sang on Friday as they were treated to a play telling the story of the Exodus. "In a world where choices have been waning, it's really important that we celebrate Passover and remember that once we were slaves in Egypt and now the Jewish people are free. But it's important for all people to be free," said Stephanie Leen, Judaic Specialist at the JCC Denver's Early Learning School. This weekend families will hold Passover Seders, which are meals of thanksgiving and re-dedication to the idea of liberation. "There are people all over the world who do not have their freedoms. They don't have their freedom to choose what they want to do, they don't have their freedom to choose where they want to go, nor do they have the freedom to choose if they want to stay. So this message is really important this year on Passover," added Leen. On the Passover holiday, Jews eat matzah -- which is flat, unleavened bread, symbolizing the importance of liberation and a time when there was no time to let bread rise.
