Lively Pearses coast home as poor Kiltormer fall again

Padraig Pearses 0-23

Kiltormer 1-5

PADRAIG Pearses, as expected, claimed the remaining quarter-final berth in the senior hurling championship with a comprehensive win over a Kiltormer outfit that, for all intents and purposes, had already folded up the tent on their campaign.

No more with Carnmore in their drubbing at the hands of Liam Mellows the week previous, the premise of the Senior ‘A’ and ‘B’ championships for 2016 would seem to be soundly based because fixtures like these serve very little purpose for either victor or loser.

No doubt, emigration and a contracting population in Kiltormer – a story familiar in most rural GAA heartlands – have contributed to their decline since their All-Ireland club victory in 1992 and in many respects they have been punching above their weight in recent years.

With success in minor and U-21 in the lower grades in the last couple of seasons, hopefully that will reignite the flame that has fuelled Kiltormer hurling. Senior ‘B’ – drawn against Mullagh, Castlegar and Kilnadeema/Leitrim in the play-offs, they have little chance to qualify for ‘A’ – will offer them an excellent opportunity to rebuild a side that can compete.

A number of these young players – including Sean Frehill and Killian Campbell – were involved on Saturday but they will need other youngsters like Iarla Muldoon, Diarmuid Claffey, Jack Kelly and Michael Carroll to possibly make the step up.

At any rate, without David Hayes and Jason Kilkenny (both injured) – and, more importantly, nothing to play for in terms of championship progression – Kiltormer were always going to struggle against a Pearses side winding up for the knockout stages. So, it proved.

By the interval – at which time Pearses led 0-14 to 1-3 – this fixture was over as a contest and it says something of the nature of the fare after the break that only two points were tallied in the opening 17 minutes of the second period. They came from lively Pearses duo James Gelston and Tomas Flannery.

As far as the damage being done, this occurred during the opening 18 minutes of the first half. While man of the match and Pearses wing-back Kerril Hardiman and Kiltormer’s Keith Kilkenny (free) exchanged points early on to give the impression a competitive outing could be in the offing, eight unanswered Pearses points soon put paid to this flight of fancy.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.