Roanmore roared into the quarter finals of the Waterford SHC with a 26 point victory over Tallow at Fraher Field (2-30 to 0-10).
Ten different players chipped in with scores from play as the Sky Blues topped Group A. Former Déise hurler Gavin O'Brien led the way again with twelve points (eight frees). That's 23 points in two outings. Paul O'Sullivan (1-4), Conor Ryan (0-4) and Sam Pender (0-3) also shone in attack. Stephen Gough's men could afford to shoot thirteen wides.
Tallow will be in the hat for the preliminary quarter finals. Darah Buckley (0-5) and Tommy Ryan (0-2) battled hard but the Bridesiders suffered their second heavy defeat of the campaign.
Tallow started brightly with early points from Buckey and Ryan but the scoreboard read 1-19 to 0-4 in Roanmore’s favour at the break. 1-11 without reply saw the Sky Blues sprint clear. Their short passing game pulled apart the Tallow defence. Gavin O’Brien belted over eight points (five from frees). On 18 minutes, he let a Billy Nolan pass run through his legs, raced after the ball and split the posts from the stand sideline. Paul O’Sullivan and Conor Ryan rifled over three apiece. Three minutes before the break, a Shane Mackey point attempt broke to Lee Hearne who smashed the ball past Shaun O’Sullivan. Ian Beecher registered Tallow's first point in 19 minutes during added time.
The rout continued in the second period as Ryan got his fourth from play after just 20 seconds. Roanmore's second goal arrived on 48 minutes as Paul O'Sullivan slammed the ball to the top corner after O'Brien supplied him. Sub Callum Carroll and defender Ian Chester added to Tallow's misery.
It was a much tighter affair in Walsh Park as De La Salle snatched second place in Group B with a 1-16 to 0-18 win against Passage. A late Eddie Meaney goal proved the difference between the two teams. There was injury time drama as Passage saw a close range free stopped on the line before Meaney was denied a second green flag at the other end. Both sides will enter the preliminary quarter finals.
