Cork lose Deane as Galway win easily

JOE DEANE will miss Cork’s NHL opener after he hobbled out of this highly competitive challenge with Galway at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday.

Galway 2-11 Cork 1-8

The Killeagh man suffered a badly sprained ankle and is expected to be out of action for up to three weeks.

Already without Setanta Ó hAilpín and Alan Browne, the loss of Deane will cause huge selection headaches in the full forward line for the Cork mentors.

But at least there wereas some positives for Cork from Saturday with John Browne back after a two-year absence and Mark Prendergast having a good outing at left corner back.

The Cork attack struggled throughout and never threatened a goal against a very solid Galway defence in which Seamus Cloonan, David Collins and Tony Óg Regan were particularly impressive.

An error by goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack, when his shot was blocked down into the net by John O’Loughlin, had Galway in front after 10 minutes. But the home side were level at the end of the opening quarter with a succession of points.

Galway showed their superior fitness with a delightful second goal when Ollie Fahy finished a three man move for a 2-2 to 0-4 half-time lead.

The Cork forward line continued to struggle after the break while Galway’s Mark Kerins, Rory Gantley and Kevin Broderick picked off points to stretch their lead to six, (2-8 to 0-8) at the end of the third quarter.

Brendan Lombard and Michael Byrne narrowed the gap with points before John Gardiner converted a late penalty following a foul on Seanie McGrath. But a fitter Galway held out for an easy win.

Scorers: Galway: R. Gantley 0-5 (0-4 frees); O. Fahy 1-2; K. Broderick 0-3; B. O’Loughlin 1-0; M. Kerins 0-1. Cork: J. Deane 0-3 (0-2 frees); J. Gardiner 1-0 (penalty); M. Byrne 0-2; S. McGrath, J. O’Callaghan, B. Lombard 0-1 each.

GALWAY: L. O’Donoghue; D. Joyce, S. Clonan, D. Collins; D. Hardiman, T. Óg Regan, F. Moore; D. Tierney, F. Healy; R. Gantley, M. Kerins, K. Broderoick; J. O’Loughlin, D. Forde, O. Fahy. Subs. Used: John Conroy, Declan O’Brien, Alan Kerins, Aidan Cullinane.

CORK: D. Ó Cusack; J. Browne, D. O’Sullivan, M. Prendergast; G. Callanan, R. Curran, V. Hurley; P. Tierney, M. O’Connell; N. McCarthy, M. Byrne, J. O’Callaghan; S. McGrath, J. Deane, B. Lombard; Subs used: Tom Kenny, Sean Óg Ó hAilpín, Aidan Fitzpatrick, Kevin Hartnett, John Gardiner.

Referee: D. Copps (Charleville).

Limerick 4-12 Clare 1-15

LIMERICK continued their preparations for the new season with a deserved victory over Clare in a hurling challenge at the Gaelic Grounds.

Sean McMahon had an early point for the visitors but within minutes Donie Ryan raised a green flag at the other end and a second goal from Pat Tobin had Limerick ahead 2-6 to 0-9 at the interval with McMahon and Alan Markham having scored most of the Clare points. James O’Brien rattled in the third goal on 37 minutes. Sean Moroney scored Clare’s only goal before Andrew O’Shaughnessy struck from a free, leaving no way back for Clare.

Scorers: Limerick: P. Tobin 1-3, D. Ryan, J. O'Brien and A. O'Shaughnessy 1-1 each, J P Sheehan and P. Russell 0-2 each, T J Ryan, M. McKenna 0-1 each. Clare: A. Markham 0-6, S. McMahon 0-4, C. Crowe 0-3, S Moroney 1-0, D McMahon, G. Reddan 0-1 each.

LIMERICK: J Cahill; S McDonagh, M O'Brien, B. Carroll; D. O'Grady, T Ryan, M Foley; C. Carey, P. O'Reilly; D. Ryan, J O'Brien, P. Russell; A O'Shaughnessy, J P Sheehan, P Tobin.

CLARE: G. O'Connell; D McNamara, B. Quinn, H. Hayes; P. Vaughan, S McMahon, S. Moroney; B. Duggan, J Reddan; D McMahon, S. McKeown, A Markham; B. Murphy, C. Crowe, J Moroney.

Referee: M O'Connor, Limerick.