City men go to town and hand hapless Carnmore a thrashing

 Liam Mellows 7-26

Carnmore 0-10

Tommy Devane at Kenny Park

This group A clash of the Senior Hurling championship proved to be a one-sided affair as the city men showed no mercy to Carnmore in Kenny Park Athenry on Saturday afternoon.

Mellows needed the prize of two points on offer but also required a favour from their arch rivals Castlegar who did battle with Tommy Larkins in Loughrea at the same throw in time.

Having done their own homework on a young struggling Carnmore outfit, it was all eyes on social media awaiting the full time score from Loughrea. The message eventually arrived that Castlegar had dealt with Tommy Larkins and confirmation of Mellows advancement to the quarter-final stages was warmly greeted.

It was another disappointing defeat for Seamus Qualter and his squad who now have the task of regrouping for the next phase of their year and securing Senior A status for 2016.

For Liam Mellows, all eyes will be on next weekend’s quarter-inal draw and whoever is pitted against Conor O’Donovan’s side will certainly be in for a right good battle. On Saturday’s evidence it may be hard to judge just where the city men lie in terms of progressing, but one could only admire the clinical finishing on display that saw 10 different players on the scoresheet.

The winners tore into Carnmore in the opening stages and led by 1-2 to no score after only three minutes. Jack Hasting’s wonderful goal after only 60 seconds set the tone for what was about to unravel in Kenny Park.

Kevin Killilea was just about keeping his side in contention from placed balls, but by the midway point Mellows had stretched their lead to 1-9 to 3 points.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.