Castlegar safe as Mellows do the business in first play-off tie
It proved to be a rewarding weekend for city clubs, Castlegar and Liam Mellows, in the senior hurling relegation play-offs.
Castlegar defeated Kinvara 2-21 to 3-16 to secure their senior status. They lead by 2-8 to 1-9 at half time, with their opening goal coming on 12 minutes from Martin Cullinane for a 1-5 to 0-4 lead.
Their second goal came just before half-time from David O’Gorman to leave them 2-8 to 1-9 ahead, after Kinavara had rallied and lead coming up to the break.
Conor Kavanagh opened the second half scoring with another pointed free but when Enda Concannon, Kevin Brady and Ger Farragher hit points, Castlegar stretched 2-11 to 1-10 in front.
They extended their lead to 2-17 to 1-13 by the 44th minute with Dean Higgins and Ger Farragher both finding the target and despite Whelan and Tom O’Donovan scoring for Kinvara, Castlegar led by 2-18 to 1-14 with 11 minutes remaining.
However they couldn’t shake off Kinvara, and substitute David Huban scored two goals to cut the deficit to two points. Ger Farragher then pointed a Castlegar free but when Dara Smith and Cathal Connolly hit points only the minimum separated the teams at 2-20 to 3-16 with four minutes remaining.
There was to be only one further score that from David O’Gorman as Cashel held on for the win, a victory that secured them their senior status for 2015.
Liam Mellows had a deserved 2-16 to 1-14 victory over Padraig Pearses. They play St.Thomas’s in a crunch match this weekend where a win will see them remain in the senior ranks for 2015.
They led by 1-10 to 0-8 at half time with their opening-half goal coming from Aonghus Callanan on 11 minutes. By the tenth minute of the second half, Liam Mellows led by 1-13 to 0-11. Jack Hastings and Tadhg Haran were on target for the winners with Tomas Flannery and Ronan Bellew replying for Pearses.
In the 49th minute an Adrian Morrissey goal stretched Liam Mellows into a 2-15 to 0-12 lead and they looked on course for a commanding victory despite shooting 13 wides.
Pearses though kept plugging away and in the closing minutes of the game they outscored Liam Mellows by 2-2 to 0-1, but their goals in the 59th and 61st minutes came too late to impact on the result of the game.