Sharpshooter Shorten Ballingeary ace

County senior panellist Liam Shorten was the hero of Ballingeary’s two point victory over Mayfield in the opening round of this Cork Premier IFC tie at Kilmurry on Saturday night.

Shorten who won an All-Ireland junior medal with Cork last year landed 13 points and is likely to have a big influence in the destination of this year’s title.

Ballingeary made the better start against the wind with Shorten hugely influential at full-forward. They had two points after 10 minutes, and it might have been more but for a magnificent save by Mayfield ‘keeper Richard Quaine who denied Micéal Ó Tuama a certain goal a minute earlier.