Clare Schoolboys/Girls Football received a major boost last week with a highly impressive performance of this years Kennedy Cup Squad in securing a final position of 12th in the prestigious Kennedy Cup,  A very strong and disciplined Clare Squad gained some impressive results against vaunted opponents, tasted the thrill and despair of penalty shoot outs, and witnessed some outstanding individual performances  over six matches at the University of Limerick.

Dundalk  0
Clare  0
The Campaign - began on Monday night when Clare played a highly fancied Dundalk team in group four. This game was the centre piece fixture of the opening day, played on the main Bowl Pitch in UL and an excellent defensive performance from the Clare Squad  set the tone for the week. Dundalk lived up to their pre Tournament reputation as they dominated possession for long spells, but failed to break down a hard working Clare side.  When Dundalk did breach the Clare defences, they were foiled by goalkeeper Nathan Murray, who produce an excellent save in the last five minutes of the game to ensure that Clare secured their opening point in the group.

Cork     0
Clare    0
Tuesday Morning saw Clare face the traditional powerhouse of the Cork Schoolboys League, aided by the wind   Clare produced an excellent first half performance that saw Aaron Murrihy, Kaylan o Louglin and Dylan Casey all denied by the Cork goalkeeper.  The second half of this game saw Clare once again show super organisation, discipline and work rate to limit Cork to  few chances, and so both sides had to settle for a draw . This result meant that everything was still to play for in the final group games .

Clare                        3
North Tipperary     1
Clare  illustrated the strength and abilities of their 20 man squad , in this game as Conor Deasey, Gary Roche, Stefan o Meara, Colin Burke and Sean Kennedy were all in the Starting line up  , as Clare went in search of the victory that would see them guaranteed second place in the group.  Clare once again defended well for the first ten minutes, and then a quick breakaway down the left by Cathal Carrigg saw him cross for Colin Burke to score, to give Clare the lead. Clare dominated after the opening goal, and a superb delivery from a corner by Paddy o Malley , forced an own goal from North Tipperary. North Tipperary pulled a goal back before half time, but this was quickly cancelled out after half time when Eanna Fennell broke from midfield to calmly finish for Clare’s third and decisive goal.  This result put Clare in second place in the Group, as Dundalk beat Cork to top the group.

Kennedy Bowl Quarter Final
Clare       0
Cavan     0
Clare win 4 – 2 on penalties.
As a result of their second placed group finish – Clare faced a very good Cavan side in the Quarter Final of the Kennedy Bowl competition, once again the weather dictated play as Clare defended for long periods in the first half, and goalkeeper Nathan Murray and the defense of Fergal Pyne, Brendan Harkin, Dylan Casey and Shane o Leary excelled in keeping  a clean sheet.  The second half saw Clare dominate and despite good efforts on goal from Brian Corry, Nicholas Tsunmasi and Dylan Casey , Clare could not find the net, and so had to enter a penalty shoot out.  There was high drama, and excitement in the penalty shoot out as , Paddy o Malley, Dylan Casey, Stephen Ward and Nicholas Tsunmasi scored to see Clare advance to the semi final vs Wexford. However it was the spectacular efforts of Clare Goalkeeper Nathan Murray, that was the story of the day as he made saved three spot kicks, including having two saved spot kick

Kennedy Bowl Semi – Final
Clare          1
Wexford    1
Wexford win  4 – 2 on penalties.
Clare produced their best performance of the week in this semi – final vs Wexford, who had recorded a comprehensive 7 – 1 defeat of Clare twelve months earlier in the final of the DD Cremmins Tournament in Tipperary.
Clare started brightly and the pace and power of Nicholas Tsumasi and Brian Corry up front lead to three strikes on goal early in the first half. Clare through Henry Lillis and Conor Deasy in central midfield dominated the first half but went in tied at the break. Midway through the opening half,  came the first of two very questionable refereeing decisions that were to have a major influence on the outcome of the game,  Nicholas Tsumasi flicked the ball past the on rushing Wexford goalkeeper, and was then obstructed by the goalkeeper inside the box,  however the referee  saw it differently and proceeded to give a free kick to the Wexford goalkeeper,  this decision was followed a few minutes  afterwards by an even stranger one ,   Paddy o Malley tangled with the Wexford goalkeeper, and to everyone ‘s amazement  the referee awarded a penalty to Clare, which Dylan Casey scored from to put the Banner boys ahead . 
The second half saw Wexford push forward in search of the equaliser and despite some chances on the break Clare could not find that second goal that would seal their final place, and so despite some more heroic defending from the Clare side, especially in the dying minutes,   the Wexford equaliser arrived in the cruellest fashion, with it literally being the last kick of the game when their centre forward sent an excellent 20 yard strike into the Clare net.
Deflated by the late equaliser, Clare were beaten 4 – 2 in the resultant penalty shoot out.

11th/12th Place Play – Off
Clare    -   0
Wicklow   1
Following the semi final defeat to Wexford, Clare completed their tournament with a narrow defeat to Wicklow. In a typical end of tournament game, chances were limited, but Clare did impress again with Stefan o Meara and Segun Junaid to the fore, however midway through the second half , Wicklow scored from a well worked corner routine and so Clare had to be satisfied with a final placing of 12th.

An indication of the quality of the Clare Squads preparation and performances at this years Kennedy Cup ,could be seen in several significant achievements namely,  in finishing 12th out of 32 Leagues,  Clare’s overall seeding improves  to 2nd for next years tournament.  Clare was also the best performing League in the North Munster Region.
 Clare’s opponents along the way  Dundalk finished 3rd and were only knocked out on penalties by the eventual Kennedy Cup Winners Dublin District Schoolboys League, Wexford won the Kennedy Bowl , and Cork won the Kennedy Shield Competition.
 The quality and versatility of the Clare players ensured that Clare Management Team had a full selection of players available for each of the six matches played, never once losing a player to injury which is a significant achievement during what is a very demanding weeks football.
The Clare Squad received another double boost on Thursday and Friday with Goalkeeper Nathan Murray  selected as  overall  “Player of the Day “ for his penalty shoot out heroics vs Cavan, and then on Friday with news of his selection for the FAI Emerging Talent Programme Squad to participate in the prestigious Hibernia Cup in Dublin in late August. In addition that squad features  nine  other players from Clare’s opponents Dundalk, Cork, Cavan, and Wicklow.
The Clare Squad are now eagerly waiting to be notified of which players have been selected to go forward for the FAI Regional Emerging Talent Programme trials in mid july, based on this years performance.
The Clare Management Team of John o Malley, Shane Keane, Jamie Lynch , assisted by FAI Development Officer Denis Hynes, would like to congratulate the players for their impressive performances and achievements  in this years Kennedy Cup and would also like to acknowledge the large number of supporters that encouraged the Clare Squad in their efforts during the Kennedy Cup.