Emphatic victory for the senior lads in Ballyhaunis today.
Charlestown Sarsfields made it three wins on the bounce in Division 1 B of The Welcome Inn Senior League when they recorded a commanding 3-15 to 1-7 victory over Ballyhaunis in round 7 of the league played in Ballyhaunis recently. The Sarsfields have racked up some big scores of late with their scoring difference off the charts as they have accumulated a total of 10-45 in their last three victories with this latest triumph keeping the pressure on table toppers Aghamore who hold a three point lead over the Sarsfields in the league table with four rounds left to play.
The Sarsfields were never in any danger save for the opening ten minutes when they found themselves 1-2 to 0-2 in arrears with the goal they conceded a defensive lapse which gave the home side a fillip ahead of what turned out to be a tough afternoon for the Haunis. The Sarsfields stunned at the soft nature of the goal they coughed up stirred themselves and hit six points on the trot to ease to the front with Colm Maye, Gareth O`Donnell, Martin Mulvaney, Jack Reilly and Paul Mulligan all very much to the fore in the scoring stakes. The Sarsfields were firmly in control with the half time score of 0-9 to 1-3 in their favour a good response to their rather sluggish start.
In the second half the Sarsfields really hit the turbo button with a superb Gareth O`Donnell goal the catalyst for what was to come. He created and finished a fine flowing move and this opened the floodgates with Maye who helped himself to 2-10 of the final scoreline getting in on the act with aplomb as he flashed two unstoppable shots to the net to take the game firmly away from an indisciplined and bedraggled home side who had no answer to the power, pace and movement of the Sarsfields once they found their fluency and hit top gear. It was a very complete team performance from the Sarsfields with all sectors of the field complementing each other nicely . The defence was solid and uncompromising when necessary with the McLoughlin brothers, Patrick Walsh and Kevin Deignan averting any danger with some resourceful defending. The midfield duo of Gareth O`Donnell and Sean Lenehan lorded matters with O`Donnell in particular continuing to grow in stature as he controlled the tempo and flow of the play with some hard running, and clever distribution. In attack while Colm Maye takes the honours with his surgical like precision finishing, the likes of Jack Reilly, Paul Mulligan, and the tireless Aidan Higgins worked slavishly throughout to provide Maye with the platform and quick possession he thrives on and this was the day when all parts of his game came together to devastating effect. It was good to see young Kenneth Brennan making his debut in goals at the tender age of 18 and following in the footsteps of his dad Thomas who was the Sarsfields number one back in the early 1990`s. Kenneth had a solid game and hopefully he will build on this and have a long and fruitful career keeping goal for the Sarsfields in the years ahead. The Sarsfields are in rude health at the moment and look a shoe-in for promotion if they can maintain the fantastic scoring run they are on at present.
