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Irish Examiner
10-08-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ugwueru scores hat-trick as Munster power past Connacht
Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Championship: Munster 44 Connacht 5 Munster had too much pace and power for a young Connacht team in Cork, as Chisom Ugwueru helped herself to a hat-trick of tries in a runaway 44-5 victory. With Matt Brown back as head coach for the first time since 2021, and Maeve Óg O'Leary taking on the captaincy, Munster comfortably won their only home game in this season's Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Championship. Ava Ryder's 29th-minute try was the sole score for a gallant Connacht, who trailed 22-5 at half-time after Munster debutant Gráinne Burke, Ugwueru (2), and Aoife Corey had all touched down. Ugwueru, the Ennis flyer, took care of the bonus point with a brilliant effort from inside her own half. Vodafone Player of the Match Caitríona Finn pulled the strings at out-half, having a hand in most of Munster's best moments. Connacht, who host Ulster next Saturday, lost Poppy Garvey to a 52nd-minute sin-binning, and Ugwueru and replacement Kate Flannery both scored while she was off. Stephanie Nunan and Brianna Heylmann bookended the second half with well-taken tries. Munster immediately got on the front foot, and it was Chloe Pearse, their ever-influential No. 8, who went close early on to opening the scoring. She was held up under the Connacht posts, with Garvey and Clara Barrett receiving the defensive plaudits. Ailish Quinn, fresh from her Ireland debut at the same venue last week, was sent on early by Connacht for the injured Lesley Ring. Munster threatened to make the breakthrough off a lineout maul, but were pinged for crossing. The hosts got the points that their fast start deserved when young prop Burke drove over in the 10th minute, rewarding a strong series of carries sparked by Eilís Cahill's lineout steal, and a midfield surge from the lively O'Leary. Ireland U20 international Finn missed the conversion, hitting the right hand post, but it was her well-judged kick out of hand that created a quick-fire second try for Munster. The Tipperary youngster found grass near Connacht's 10-metre line, and a favourable bounce saw Ugwueru burst onto the ball, beating two defenders and staying clear of the chasing Siofra Hession to cruise in behind the posts. Finn's left boot made it 12-0. Connacht's back-line finally got a chance to stretch their legs on the 20-minute mark, with the roaming Ryder sweeping across to the left side of the pitch. Munster forced a subsequent error, though, and Finn brought play back towards halfway. There was further frustration for Emer O'Dowd's youngsters, who followed up a scrum penalty with a knock-on from Quinn. Likewise, Munster's execution was slightly off at times, and a mistake by full-back Corey when retrieving a kick gave Connacht an inviting scrum platform. Despite a Burke turnover, Munster could not find touch and they were made to pay. Debutant out-half Hession did really well to spin out of a tackle and float a pass out to Ryder who stepped inside Corey for a textbook finish. Brown's side wrestled back control nearing the interval, upping the intensity and pace of their attack. Finn slipped Corey over from a few metres out, rewarding the big dent her forwards had put in the Connacht defence. Ugwueru, who had been denied by a try-saving tackle from Barrett, was in unstoppable form just two minutes later. The 22-year-old took off down the left touchline from 70 metres out, via Finn's dangled pass, and evaded two tackles for an excellent unconverted score. Connacht's hopes of responding early on the resumption were ruined by a sacked maul. Their defence soon came under further pressure, yet Orla Dixon, the westerners' Player of the Year for 2024/25, lifted them by keeping Finn out in the right corner. Munster kept probing and try number five fell to centre Nunan in the 49th minute. Some lovely interplay between props Cahill and Burke sent their onrushing UL Bohemian club-mate darting over to the right of the posts. Finn converted for a 29-5 scoreline. It got worse for Connacht when Finn deftly collected her own kick and put boot to ball again, drawing a penalty which O'Leary took quickly. Garvey was caught offside and saw yellow, and after a couple of phases, Finn's arcing pass had Ugwueru dotting down out wide. Dixon tried to inspire Connacht once more, yet they were unable to make much headway against a well-organised Munster defence. When the home side came hunting on the hour mark, Orna Moynihan's stop-start run and well-timed pass played in Flannery for the penultimate score. Even though two scrum penalties offered Connacht encouragement, Munster were creating all the opportunities. Ennis starlet Lyndsay Clarke needed a kinder bounce when trying to ground a Flannery kick, and the ball also evaded Moynihan's grasp on the opposite wing. Last year's beaten finalists, who are Dublin bound to face defending champions Leinster in the second round, signed off with a barnstorming seventh score in the 78th minute. Dovetailing well with replacement Flannery, Finn sent Heylmann haring through a gap from over 40 metres out, and the busy flanker outmuscled Barrett and held off Ryder to deservedly get on the scoresheet. MUNSTER: Aoife Corey (UL Bohemian RFC); Lyndsay Clarke (Ennis RFC), Alana McInerney (UL Bohemian RFC), Stephanie Nunan (UL Bohemian RFC), Chisom Ugwueru (UL Bohemian RFC); Caitríona Finn (UL Bohemian RFC), Abbie Salter-Townshend (UL Bohemian RFC); Gráinne Burke (UL Bohemian RFC), Saoirse Crowe (Shannon RFC), Eilís Cahill (UL Bohemian RFC), Aoibhe O'Flynn (UL Bohemian RFC), Claire Bennett (UL Bohemian RFC), Brianna Heylmann (UL Bohemian RFC), Maeve Óg O'Leary (Blackrock College RFC) (capt), Chloe Pearse (UL Bohemian RFC). Replacements: Aoife Fleming (Ballincollig RFC), Ciara McLoughlin (UL Bohemian RFC), Lily Morris (Ballincollig RFC), Jane Clohessy (UL Bohemian RFC), Annakate Cournane (Shannon RFC), Eve Prendergast (Ballincollig RFC), Kate Flannery (UL Bohemian RFC), Orna Moynihan (Ennis RFC). CONNACHT: Clara Barrett (UL Bohemian RFC); Emily Foley (Galwegians RFC), Orla Dixon (Galwegians RFC), Éabha Nic Dhonnacha (UL Bohemian RFC) (capt), Ava Ryder (Blackrock College RFC); Siofra Hession (Creggs RFC), Gráinne Moran (Galwegians RFC); Ella Burns (Tuam/Oughterard RFC/Galwegians RFC), Lily Brady (Westport RFC/UL Bohemian RFC), Megan Collis (Railway Union RFC), Poppy Garvey (Railway Union RFC), Grace Browne Moran (Galwegians RFC), Beibhinn Gleeson (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Lesley Ring (Old Belvedere RFC), Jemima Adams Verling (Creggs RFC). Replacements: Stacy Hanley (Galwegians RFC), Hannah Coen (Creggs RFC), Roisin Maher (Galwegians RFC), Ailish Quinn (Galwegians RFC), Caoilfhionn Conway Morrissey (Ennis RFC), Karly Tierney (Tuam/Oughterard RFC), Sinead O'Brien (Galwegians RFC), Fódhla Ní Bhraonáin (Tuam/Oughterard RFC). Referee: Euan O'Riordan (IRFU)
Irish Examiner
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
No football and hurling hierarchy in Clare, says Ikem Ugwueru
Ikem Ugwueru says the Clare footballers never feel like they are being overshadowed by their hurling counterparts, despite the Banner winning last year's All-Ireland hurling title. Ugwueru, who started the Munster final against Kerry at centre-back, sees the appointment of manager Peter Keane as a sign of their rising status. "We know most of the hurlers too," said Ugwueru. "They're some of our good mates. There'd never be a hierarchy, if you can say it like that. I don't feel like we ever think about the hurlers overshining us. They're in their own battle. We're in our own battle." Clare lost the Munster decider against the Kingdom by 11 points. Ugwueru thought their defence didn't adapt quickly enough to close the space which allowed Kerry score four first half goals. The team felt like they let down Keane against his native county. "But he keeps instilling belief into us," said Ugwueru. "Even after (the Munster final), he's still telling us that it's still down to us that we can achieve anything that we want to achieve. That's the kind of man he is. He will never let a result like that define the year or define him." The Éire Óg Ennis man made his Clare championship debut in 2023. Two years on, partly due to the high turnover of players in the Clare panel, he's one of its more senior members. Pictured are L-R Ikem Ugwueru (Clare), Jemar Hall (Armagh), Mícheál Martin (Cork), David Clifford (Kerry), Cillian McDaid (Galway) and Niall Scully (Dublin) at SuperValu's launch of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan "Football has been going where I've been enjoying it," he said. "It's a challenge every year. You might have a different manager, different group of players. We don't know after this year if the same bunch will be there again. And that's another challenge that I'm looking forward to experiencing. "And also leadership roles as well. This year, after losing the 11 players that we did last year, I'm somewhat of a senior player now that I never would have thought I'd be. It's just embracing that as well. "And also showing the youth that you can come through with your best efforts and you never know where you could go. And that's also why I'm part of the SuperValu campaign as well, just to show lads that are not from Irish backgrounds or that have never played the sport before that you should just give your best effort and you never know where you could go." Ugwueru, the first black man to play football for Clare, has been part of SuperValu's campaign to promote diversity and inclusion in the GAA for the last few years. "I was selling an old pair of boots that I had on Depop and one fella actually texted me; he wasn't even trying to buy the boots," he explained. "He was just texting me to ask for tips about football. Because he didn't know how to contact me but he saw my page on the website and he texted me saying that, 'oh, I saw your ad for SuperValu. You've really inspired me. Do you have any tips for gym, fitness and obviously how to be a good defender?' That meant a lot to me." Reaching the Munster final qualified Clare for the Sam Maguire group stages where they will play Louth, Monaghan and Down. In their two previous attempts, they finished bottom of the group and failed to progress. "We're going to try and change that this year," said Ugwueru. That challenge begins this weekend against Down at Cusack Park, where they won all of their Division 3 games this year. "We take massive pride in playing at home," he said. "Getting those home games, you can't take them for granted. You don't get many of them. "We've won all of our games at home (in the league) and we're planning to continue that. The support that we get from Clare supporters is massive and they do a lot for us behind the scenes. Us playing at home, we do it for them really. "They'll see us on the street, they'll come up and tell us good luck and that we should keep going and that we're doing them proud. Things like that, it stands with us."
The Irish Sun
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘This year can be different' – Clare ace Ikem Ugwueru says Banner won't settle for just showing up in All-Ireland group
Ikem Ugwueru is confident that Clare can make it third time lucky and qualify from their All-Ireland SFC group. 2 Ikem Ugwueru is confident Clare can qualify from their All-Ireland SFC group 2 Clare host Down this weekend in their All-Ireland group opener The beaten Munster finalists have been handed an easier fixture list this year, with three Division 2 teams in their group. They were tossed into a group of death in 2023 with Division 1 sides Donegal and Monaghan, as well as Ulster champions Derry. Last year, Clare were demolished by Ulster heavyweights Donegal and Tyrone in their group and lost out to Cork also. Peter Keane's side will host Down this Sunday in Ennis, a great chance to score a win that could even secure a knock-out place. READ MORE ONN GAA Speaking at the announcement that SuperValu has renewed its sponsorship of the football championship for five seasons, Ugwueru said: "We don't want it to just end after the Munster campaign. "You could have put in a decent performance against Kerry, who are obviously a Division 1 team, and if you play well people give you a pat on the back. "You feel like, okay, you've done your job - that's the season done. But now we still have three more games to play and you have every chance of beating the first team that you're coming up against, or the second team, or the third team. "So it's never over. You could almost say that last year, it was a bit of a shock, that we only lost by five or six or seven to Kerry in the Munster final. But then that good performance was our last one. We didn't win a game after that. Most read in GAA Football "We lost to Cork, and then we lost to Tyrone and Donegal. And that was the year done for us and we didn't feel like we were happy with that. So yeah, we're going to try to change that this year." Clare put 0-21 on the board earlier this month in the Munster final but were still well beaten by the Kingdom. Gardai investigating as GAA fans engage in brawl in shop The game was as good as up inside 10 minutes when Kerry led by 2-4 to 0-1. But Clare won't view Down as their superiors as both teams will compete together in Division 3 next season. And with home advantage the Banner could even be favourites. Powerful wing-back Ugwueru said: "We've won all our league games at home and we're planning to continue that." Ugwueru is loving life under the new rules with more one-v-one opportunities cropping up. He said: "I back myself one-on-one against most people. That's what I enjoy about the new rules." And the Eire Og man, the son of Nigerian parents, is enjoying being a role model in the Clare jersey too. Strength and conditioning coach Ugwueru said: "That's why I'm part of the SuperValu campaign as well, just to show lads that are not from Irish backgrounds, or that have never played the sport before, that you should just give your best effort and you never know where you could go. "There was a funny story actually. I was selling an old pair of boots that I had on Depop and one fella actually texted me. He wasn't even trying to buy the boots. "He was just texting me to ask for tips about football. Because he didn't know how to contact me but he saw my page on the website and texted me saying, "I saw your ad for SuperValu, you've really inspired me. Do you have any tips for gym, fitness and how to be a good defender?' That meant a lot to me." Pictured are Clare's Ikem Ugwueru, at SuperValu's launch of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and showing their support for diversity and inclusion within the GAA. SuperValu has today announced a five-year extension of their partnership with the GAA, marking a 20-year commitment to communities across Ireland and making SuperValu the longest standing sponsor of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
