He plays hurling with his local club Ballygalget and was a member of the Down senior county team from 1993 to 2012.
[1] Clarke's side went into decline following this defeat as Ballygalget lost the next four county championship finals.
[citation needed] The team bounced back in 1997 and a defeat of Portaferry gave Clarke a third county winners' medal at senior level.
Ballycastle McQuillan's provided the opposition on that occasion; however, after a draw and an exciting replay that featured extra-time, Ballygalget were the victors by 1–14 to 1–12.
[2] After a period out of the limelight Ballygalget returned in 2003, with Clarke collecting a sixth county winners' medal.
In 2008, Clarke won his ninth county senior championship winners' medal following an eleven-point win over Portaferry.
He was only fifteen years-old when he captured an Ulster Minor Hurling Championship title in 1989, following a defeat in a replay of Antrim.
That year he won an Ulster Senior Hurling Championship (SHC) title following a 3–14 to 0–19 defeat of Antrim.