Players in Irish barony once defeated competitor (4-3)

I believe the answer is:

also-ran

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'competitor' is the definition.
(I know that also-ran is a type of contestant)

I can't explain the remainder of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for also-ran that I've seen before include "Non-winner in race" , "One of the losers" , "Non-winning horse" , "Unplaced racehorse" , "Contestant losing by a large margin" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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