Carnmore ........... 6-8
Liam Mellows....... 2-5
The saga of the West Board senior-hurling semi final continued on Sunday, when Carnmore once again faced Liam Mellows at Pearse Stadium. This was the third meeting of the two teams in the semi-final but in comparison with the previous games this second replay produced little good hurling in Sunday's weather conditions.
However, on this occasion Carnmore' made no mistakes and convincingly built up a full time score of 6-8 to Mellows tally of 2-5. Although Carnmore clearly deserved their win they were fortunate to be leading by four points at half time. In the early minutes of the game Mellows lining out without some of their regulars looked a strange combination but did most of the attacking.
But after scrambling in a fifth minute goal they failed to maintain their concentration and at the end became much disorganized up front. At the back Pal Larkin wearing the number three jersey and the halfback line of Mick Lally and Paddy Kearins experienced little trouble in dealing with the Carnmore forwards Although Carnmore's Padraic Fahy found himself with a good supply of the ball the Mellows half forced him to shoot four wides against a strong wind before Carnmore's first score came.
In the eleventh minute Jim Hughes sent in a point bound shot but corner forward Martin Leonard lurking on the goal line got his hurley to it and deflected the ball to the net. Again in the twenty fifth minute Martin Leonard deflected a Padraic Fahy shot to the net. In between he added another goal when again his fine positional sense saw him on hand to score in the sixteenth minute. Carnmore completed their scoring in the twenty sixth minute when Tom Lenihan had a goal.
Leading by 4-0 to 1-4 at the start the second half Carnmore quickly set about consolidating this position and with Padraic Fahy finding more room to work in they added 1-3 within five minutes full forward Tom Lenehan scored the goal and although achieving little else his bulky frame and willingness to go for every ball opened the Mellows defence. Matty Greaney was another hard worker in the full forward line and like Lenehan his weight and height also caused plenty of damage at the back.Greaney scored a twenty second minute goal which really set the seal on Mellows luckless display and left them hopelessly trailing going into the last ten minutes.
But while Carnmore were impressing' with their all round display the Mellows side with the exception of Paddy Ryan up front were having little luck. In a demoralized forward line which saw two goals disallowed in the first half, Gerry Mahoney had a quiet game and the rest of the forward line failed to make' any impression. It was here that all Ted McDonagh and Ryan's good work came to an end and despite seeing their forwards scoring a goal before the end the result was never in doubt.
Best for the winners in a-team that never showed its true form were Padraic Fahy, Matty Cooney, John Long, Mick Greaney, Tom Lenehan, Martin Leonard, and Matty Greaney.Of the losers Jim Bishop, Tom O'Connor, Pat Larkin, Ted McDonagh, Paddy Ryan and Owen Sullivan played best
Scorers:
Mellows: Owen Sullivan and Martin Ryan (1-0) each, Gerry Mahoney (0-4) and Seamus Collins (0-1)
Carnmore: Martin Leonard (3-0), Tom Lenehan (1-0), Matty Greaney (1-1), Padraic Fahy (0-5), Sean Murphy and Mick Hanley (0-1) each.
Teams:
Carnmore: Paddy Walsh, Billy Mc Donnagh, Peter Fahy, Matty Cooney, John Long, John Murphy, Jack Hession, Sean Murphy, Jim Hughes, Mick Hanley, Michael Greaney, Padraic Fahy, Matty Greaney,Tom Lenehan, Martin Leonard.
Liam Mellows: Tom O'Connor, Joe Casey, Pat Larkin, Mick Lally, Jim Bishop; Paddy Kearins, Pat Murphy, Ted McDonagh, Paddy in, Gerry Mahoney. Willy Larkin, Seamus Collins, Martin Ryan, Pat Harrington, Owen Sullivan.