Wins for Kildimo-Pallaskenry and St Kieran's in Limerick SFC opening round

KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY and St Kieran's recorded victories in their opening round fixtures in the Irish Wire Products Limerick senior football championship on Saturday evening.

In Clarina, Kildimo-Pallaskenry couldn't have got their championship off to a better start as the West Limerick men overcame city opponents Claughaun with 14 points to spare, 3-15 to 1-07 in Group 1.

It was a much tighter affair in another Group 1 fixture at Mungret as St Kieran's edged out Oola by a single point in a hard fought contest, 1-5 to 1-4.

Backed by a strong breeze, first half goals from the lively Darragh Deegan and Peter Nash boosted Kildimo-Pallaskenry into an impressive 15 point lead - 2-12 to 0-3 - at half-time before Claughaun narrowed the losing margin by one in the second half. 

It what was a difficult evening for Claughaun, the Childers' Road side never got going and it took until the 23rd minute to register their first point from play. 

From here on in, with the exception of a purple patch late in the second half during which Claughaun scored 1-2 without response after a late Ryan Kelly goal for Kildimo-Pallaskenry, it was the men in blue and white who dominated the game in all departments. 

In fact, when Kelly raised the green flag with three minutes, Kildimo-Pallaskenry were 19 points in front with the result beyond any doubt at this stage. 

It will just the start Kildimo-Pallaskenry would have looked for after been drawn in such a difficult group, while Claughaun will have to quickly regroup ahead of a tough Round 2 game against Fr Casey's. 

Meanwhile, at Mungret, scores were much more difficult to come by. St Kieran's led their opponents 1-3 to 0-3 at the end of a low scoring opening half, thanks to a goal from Anthony Mullins. 

County senior league winners Kieran’s looked in control in the second half, but a late penalty by Oola’s Jack Downey left them only one point behind.

However, St Kieran's managed to hold on to their slim advantage and get their campaign off to a winning start.

SCORERS: Kildimo-Pallaskenry: Darragh Deegan 1-4; Peter Nash 1-3 (two frees); Cathal Downes 0-3; Ryan Kelly 1-0; Dylan Corrigan, Darren O'Connell 0-2 each; Tony McCarthy 0-1. Claughaun: Tadhg Bennett 0-5 (three frees); Rory Ward 1-0; Jamie McGarry, Eoin Murphy (one free) 0-1 each.

SCORERS: St Kieran’s: Alan Daly 0-2 (both frees), Anthony Mullins 1-0, Adam Lacey 0-1 (free), John Hayes 0-1 ( free), Dylan Moloney 0-1. Oola: Jack Downey 1-1 (0-1 free), Mikie O’Brien 0-2, Tommy Hayes 0-1.