The first White’s Cross team illustrated in this opening round clash that they have lost none of the hunger that saw them win last year’s competition, with this comprehensive defeat of St. Michaels at Ballinlough. However the team will be the first to acknowledge that much stiffer challenges lie ahead, as a poor Michaels outfit appeared content to take the backdoor route. The scorers in chief in this win were berthed in the full forward line. Full-forward Conor Kelleher opened the scoring with an early point, and added two further points in the first half, but it was the men either side of him who did the damage over the hour. Bryan O’ Sullivan kicked some delightful scores in his five point haul, while Edwin Buckley notched up two goals and three points.
Elsewhere John O’ Connell, Eoin Murnane and John Drummy performed well in the central positions, and John Meade and Sean Gorman can also look back on their performances with satisfaction.
We now by-pass Round Two of the competition, where the ‘back-door’ series of games take place, and the remaining teams are put into the hat for the following round of ties.