Waterford SHC Round 1 in brief

Ballygunner 5-23 Dungarvan 0-15
A sharp dose of reality for Brian Flannery and his young Dungarvan outfit as Ballygunner ran riot in the first ever championship match held at Carriganore. The hard work was done in the opening half with a hat trick by JJ Hutchinson giving Niall O’Donnell’s charges at 3-11 to 0-8 lead at the break. The Gunners piled on the misery in the second half with further green flags raised by Stephen Power and Naoise Waldron. JJ Hutchinson finished with a tally of 3-4 matched by Pauric Mahony who struck 0-13. Dungarvan’s Cormac Curran remarkably finished the game as top scorer with 0-14 to his name by close of play.

De La Salle 2-24 Stradbally 1-8
A stroll in the Walsh Park sunshine for the 2010 county champions here against a Stradbally side that struggled with the pace all afternoon. The tone was set early on with Jake Dillon’s goal helping De La Salle to a 1-13 to 0-3 interval advantage. Michael Walsh drilled home a second half penalty for Stradbally but it was only a temporary respite. John Mullane, who returned to action after his honeymoon, provided De La Salle’s second goal and put the icing on a facile win.

Mount Sion 3-12 Roanmore 1-7
Sion were given some nervy moments in this city clash before finally overcoming Roanmore in the second part of Saturday’s Walsh Park double header. The sides were level at 1-5 apiece as the first half closed but Jimmy Meaney’s side upped the ante in the second period to emerge 11 point victors. Sean Ryan, Stephen Roche and Tony Browne all found the net for Sion. Roanmore’s cause wasn’t helped by two red cards in the second half and the absence of Gavin O’Brien due to injury.

Lismore 3-13 Fourmilewater 2-11
The score line is no reflection of the battle Lismore endured to collect points at Fraher Field on Saturday evening. From the throw in Fourmile’ adopted a physical approach and piled the pressure on their fancied opponents. Rory Rice was positioned at full back to monitor Dan Shanahan and it proved a shrewd move. Fourmile’ held a 0-9 to 0-6 lead at half time with Shane Walsh and Seamus Lawlor firing two points each. The bookies favourites responded in the second half with Maurice Shanahan driving home two goals in two minutes. The first arrived from a 21 metre free but the second was a magnificent solo effort. Fourmile’ replied with a two goal burst of their own with Thomas O’Gorman and Craig Guiry netting on 51 and 53 minutes respectively.
As the game entered the closing stages and the sides level Brendan Landers somehow denied Shane Walsh a goal from point blank range. Lismore pushed on with Maurice Shanahan (who finished with 2-6), Paudie Prendergast and Dan Shanahan all landing points before a late goal from Terence Walsh.

Passage 3-13 Tallow 2-15
Passage were forced to line out without their All Star defender Noel Connors for this clash with Tallow minus the services of Paul O’Brien. In an entertaining game Passage edged it with Eoin Kelly’s contribution of 2-8 the crucial difference. The Eastern outfit raced into a 3-7 to 0-9 half time lead. Kelly struck for two goals, the first from a penalty, with Thomas Connors adding the other green flag. Tallow fought back with goals from a Thomas Ryan free and Mark O’Brien to reduce the arrears to a point. They couldn’t get their noses in front with Eoin Kelly’s frees guiding Passage to victory.

Ballyduff Upper 4-12 Abbeyside 0-13
In the final game of the weekend Ballyduff Upper got their campaign off to an ideal start at Fraher Field. Three first half goals from Shane Kearney between the tenth and 16th minute eased the Reds into a 3-7 to 0-5 interval lead. Stephen Molumphy created Kearney’s fourth goal on 34 minutes to end the tie as a contest. Adrian Power kept Abbeyside at bay with an exhibition of shot stopping in the second half. Abbeyside’s challenge was badly hindered by the absence of Richie Foley.