CLONARD BADMINTON: The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness has arrived and therefore the shuttles are beginning to fly again over the badminton courts. Tuesday, September 7, is the date; 8 p.m. is the time and Scoil Mhuire (Coolcotts) is the venue. Club nights will be the same as last year - Tuesday and Thursday. Adults have the courts to themselves on Tuesdays, while the juvenile members operate from 7.30 until 9 p.m. on Thursdays.

Old acquaintances and new members are welcome to shake a racquet.

WEXFORD TENNIS

The Junior club tennis championships took place from August 4-6, and once again proved to be a great success. There were a huge number of entries and all events ran smoothly throughout the week. There was a great atmosphere around the club for the week, especially on finals day where there were so many close and intense matches which were gripping to watch.

Congratulations to all the winners and runners-up. A big thank you to all who helped out as there is a lot of work in organising these events. I don't have all the names but special thanks to Br?d McCormack and Rachel Geraghty as well as the Junior co-ordinators.

We would also like to thank our very generous sponsor, Dane Tyghe of Dane Tyghe School of Motoring, who provided fantastic prizes for the various competitions. In addition, the Sylvester O'Brien Cups were awarded to two Junior members who demonstrated qualities of enthusiasm, friendliness and co-operation, and who didn't try to nick any sweets from the tuck shop. They were Louise O'Connor and Carl Riordan. The Junior tennis coaching will be starting back with Ashley Wynn on September 4 - all details available on our website (http://www.whbtc.ie).

The annual Jerome Hynes Memorial trophy was held at the club on August 15, and was as usual a great success, with almost 60 players taking part. The winners were the infamous Jenkins cousins, Bjorn and Shane, while the runners-up were the Rossiter father and son combination, which mixed youth, i.e. Walter, with years of tennis experience ably provided by Jim. The weather was fantastic and provided a great opportunity to top up on the tans (you know who you are)! The evening ended with a sumptuous barbeque.

The annual Commodore's prize is due to be played on Sunday, September 5, with an 11 a.m. kick-off. As Miriam Geraghty is commodore this year, and given her incredible generosity, the rumours are already circulating that the first prize could be a two-week all expenses paid holiday in the Seychelles, so get your skates on and get down early to the club.

The 3-Tek club championships will be getting under way from Monday, September 6, with the finals scheduled for Saturday, October 2. Entries can be made online with a closing date of today (Wednesday).

CLAYTARGET SHOOTING

Thursday evening last saw Claytarget Sports Wexford host a 60-target practice shoot. The event was well attended and the weather was ideal.

Stands comprised three in woodcock, one at pond, one at gully, and one at car park. Gully stand proved to be the most difficult with a high curling away target and a fast-climbing inverted teal on report.

Club President and veteran shooter, Michael Kelly, put in a strong performance, scoring well in woodcock. Michael is shooting exceptionally well and has been accompanied lately by his new apprentice and grandson, Neil. It is good to know that the future of shooting is safe in the Kelly household.

Dr. Peter Bacon gave a display of his shooting skills on the car park stand. This stand had a very fast driven target that Peter demolished with spectacular aplomb. No doubt the pheasants at Shelton and Chargot will be in for a rough time this season.

Other shooters performing well included Michael Furlong, M.J. Fortune, 'Bear' O'Leary, Stephen Waters, John Nolan, Richard Downes and Mick Kavanagh.

The date for the Bennett Cup will be announced shortly and promises to be a great event. Please watch this space for more details or contact The Gunshop (05391-22841).

MENAPIANS A.C.

Congratulations to everybody who took part in the Oylegate 10k and half marathon last week. Jason Kehoe had a great victory in the men's 10k and has been steadily improving all season. Jason was followed in closely by Phil Murphy who took second spot and Declan Kelly who took seventh. These athletes are putting in serious effort week in, week out and reaping the rewards of all their hard work.

In the women's event, first home for Menapians was Elaine McMahon, followed in closely by Avril Boland, Helen Sinnott, Siobhán Doyle, Barbara Shortle, Mairéad Shore and Joan O'Brien. This was a great turn-out for Menapians and our long distance squad is growing very strong indeed. There is a long distance session every Sunday at 10 a.m. in the racecourse and 7 p.m. on the track in Rosslare. All members new and old are welcome.

Throws training continues in Kilrane every Saturday at 3 p.m. Contact 0879186544 for more details. Circuit training in the Presentation Secondary school will resume on September 20 also.

PIGEON RACING

The members of Wexford North & South Road Invitation Pigeon Club continued racing last weekend from Dungarvan. This was the ninth young bird race of the season when 17 members entered 400 birds.

The birds were liberated at 10.45 a.m. into a south-west wind with fast flying the order of the day. The lofts of Billy Cullimore from Clonard pulled off another good win to make this his third young bird win of the season. Billy was crowned young bird champion in 2009 and with this win he has to be back on course to retain his title this season.

Second went to Terry Kehoe and son from Newtown Court who had an excellent race as can be seen from the result. With four birds in the top eight, his birds are definitely hitting form at the right time. Third prize went to the ever-consistent Furlong brothers from Maudlintown. The pressure on fanciers and birds will be taken to another level in the weeks ahead with three golden ring races and three national events taking place.

Results: 1, Billy Cullimore, 1,735.828; 2, Terry Kehoe, 1,702.241; 3, Furlong brothers, 1,695.182; 4, Billy Cullimore, 1,687.479; 5, Terry Kehoe, 1,684.610; 6, Terry Kehoe, 1,684.048; 7, Billy Cullimore, 1,682.906; 8, Terry Kehoe, 1,682.362; 9, Billy Cullimore, 1,682.336; 10, Billy Cullimore, 1,681.197; 11, Billy Cullimore, 1,680.060; 12, Billy Cullimore, 1,678.358; 13, Seán Kearney, 1,677.460; 14, Michael Driscoll, 1,673.415; 15, Furlong brothers, 1,671.500.

SHELMALIERS G.A.A.

Continuing on from the enormous success of last year's barbeque, we are pleased to inform you that this year's Shelmalier Monster Autumn Barbeque will take place in the Hollymount Complex on Saturday, September 4.

The tickets are again priced at €15 and they can be purchased from Flanagan's Castlebridge, Freddie's Screen and Hotel Curracloe.

We would also ask you to purchase your ticket as soon as possible as the attendance is limited.

Our Junior hurlers, having the bare 15 players, gave a spirited performance to overcome a physical Rathnure outfit to overturn a half-time deficit of seven points in the B championship.

An early second-half goal from Mick Kelly, together with accurate free-taking by John Redmond, Fergie Parker and Ciarán Walsh, punished the indiscipline of the Rathnure side.

The sides were level at 1-12 apiece when Rathnure's corner-back was dismissed after two yellow cards, and it was Shels all the way after that. Final score: 1-15 to 1-12.

Best for Shels were Craig Potter, James Murphy, Vinny Parker, Ciarán Walsh and Kevin O'Leary.

The Under-21 footballers put in a polished first-half performance to convincingly beat reigning champions St. Martin's in the county semi-final on Wednesday night in Hollymount. With one eye on our all important Senior hurling game on Sunday, a number of players were withdrawn for a well-deserved rest and all five substitutes introduced played their part in fashioning this great win.

St. Martin's refused to lie down and threw everything at the Shels rearguard in an attempt to get back into the game, but with no inch given the Shels lads snuffed out almost every attack and came away with the ball. Final score: 311 to 1-4. Scorers: Brian Tobin and James Gordon (1-2 each), Ciarán O'Shaughnessy (1-0), Conor Byrne (02), Aidan Cash, Stephen Corrigan, André O'Brien, Joe Kelly and Craig McCabe (0-1 each).

The Junior footballers took on Cloughbawn in the B championship in St. Patrick's Park, going down by 3-12 to 19 after a great fightback in the secondhalf against Cloughbawn's first football team. Brian O'Shaughnessy, Niall Kelly, Denis Kelly, Vinny Parker and Graham Lawlor were outstanding in defence.

Shels Senior hurlers' hearts were broken when, leading Cloughbawn by six points with five minutes to go, they conceded two late goals and a free to lose this relegation game by a point.

On the plus side, it was a very strong performance from start to finish and saw Shels returning to the standard they are known for.

The entire team gave their all, with particular strong performances from captain Tommy Barron, Alan Griffith, Brian Malone, Aidan Murphy and Conor Byrne.

There was no winner of last week's lotto jackpot. Numbers drawn were 7, 13, 16, 28.

No match three winner. Next week match three win or share €400.

ST. MARY'S G.A.A.

There was no winner of the lotto jackpot for August 23. The numbers were 4, 7, 14, 28 and bonus 33. We had no match three winner Next week's jackpot is €15,000.

Fixtures: Minor hurling, September 1 v. Clonard at 7.30 p.m. in Tagoat. Under-14 football, September 2 v. Bannow-Ballymitty at 7.30 p.m. in Grantstown.