Lacklustre Mellows have no answer to greater hunger of Turloughmore

Date Published: 30-Apr-2012

Turloughmore 0-17

Liam Mellows 1-8

Dara Bradley

Liam Mellows were blown away by a hungrier Turloughmore outfit in the opening round of the Galway senior hurling championship at a blustery Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

The ‘city slickers’ were anything but slick, recording 16 wides in total in a disjointed and disappointing display by a side that looked well off the pace of championship fare.

Turloughmore, who didn’t set the world alight either, were, in fairness, far sharper, played the more intelligent hurling, and ultimately wanted the win more than their opponents.

Liam Mellows, worryingly, converted just over a third of their scoring chances, and while you could argue at least they were creating the opportunities, some of the shooting – even allowing for a tricky-to-judge gale – was dreadful, particularly in the second half when they had enough possession to make this a far closer contest.

Jeffrey Lynskey’s charges really were wasteful after the interval with a combination of poor shot-selection and wayward efforts but the other major worry was the defence, which just didn’t perform anywhere near what you’d expect at this level.

They didn’t concede a goal but centre-back John Lee, normally very reliable, was uncharacteristically off-colour on the day; and on several occasions a Mellows’ defender – Lee, John Hughes, and Seán Morrissey were all guilty – coughed up possession cheaply with poor clearances or fumbling, which were punished by Turloughmore.

In short, Mellows looked ring-rusty and were making far too many basic errors, something that will have to be ironed out if they are to avoid the relegation bearpit.

Turloughmore deserved this victory. Micheál Donoghue knows there is room for improvement but he will be pleased that his side hurled with far more heart, energy and passion than their opponents. They really were primed for this tussle.

All bar one player that started in the half-back, midfield, half-forward and full-forward lines got their names on the score sheet, which is encouraging while the gutsy displays of the likes of Brian Holland and Matthew Keating bodes well for the next round.

Turloughmore led by double scores at the break, 0-10 points to 0-5, and it could have been more but for the seven wides they registered in the first-half as both sets of forwards found the windy conditions testing.

Brian Murphy (three frees), Darren O’Shaughnessy, Francis Forde, Gary Burke, Denis Forde, Cian Burke and Matthew Keating all raised white flags for Turloughmore, who capitalised on decent approach play and mistakes in the Mellows’ rearguard while Mellows had to rely on the free-taking skills of Tadgh Haran (0-4) and a point from Shane Minton in what was a tame enough first 30 minutes.

Given how strong the wind was, a five points deficit was certainty not insurmountable but Turloughmore got off to a flier immediately after the restart that drained the life from the expected Mellows comeback.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.