Forde fires Clarinbridge top

TWO Eoin Forde goals in the space of a minute in the first-half paved the way for All-Ireland club champions Clarinbridge to move top of their group in the Galway SHC.

With the wind at their backs, Clarinbridge had cruised into a four-point lead before Forde’s brace gave them a 2-8 to 0-5 lead over St Thomas at the break.

St Thomas, with Galway senior David Burke to the fore, briefly came back to within striking distance of the champions with five points in-a-row in the second-half, but Clarinbridge easily held out for a 2-12 to 0-13 victory.

Castlegar will have to manufacture a victory against Clarinbridge in their final group match to avoid a relegation play-off, after falling to a 0-15 to 0-10 defeat to Sarsfields in Ballinasloe yesterday.

The introduction of Ger Farragher failed to ignite Castlegar and he could only add two frees to their tally.

Kerrill Wade was in fine form for Sarsfields, scoring five points, while a stellar opening half from centre-forward Sean Kelly put the ultimate winners 0-8 to 0-6 ahead at half-time.

The wins for Sarsfields and Clarinbridge means they join St Thomas on four points at the top of the table, but Thomas have played all four of their games.

Last year’s losing finalists, Loughrea, claimed their second win of the competition, a 1-12 to 0-12 victory over Craughwell in Ballinasloe on Saturday.

Losing their unbeaten record in this year’s championship will not upset Craughwell too much as they have already qualified for the quarter-finals. However, they will have to wait until next week to see if they have claimed top spot.

A first-half goal from Johnny Maher proved the difference for Loughrea, who will need a big win over Beagh if they are to repeat last year’s performance.

Two goals in the first quarter from Ollie Fahy and Richie Cummins paved the way for Mattie Murphy’s Gort to claim victory over Beagh in Kinvara last night. Despite their early setback Beagh just trailed their neighbours by 2-5 to 0-7 at half-time, but Gort outscored their opponents by seven points in the second-half.

Ten pointed frees from Gerry Quinn helped the 2009 runners-up to the 2-16 to 0-11 win and similar haul against Kinvara next week should see them into the knockout stages.