Carnacon open their county championship account with hard-earned win

WEATHER conditions were woeful, but Charlestown and Carnacon kept the crowd entertained in Fr O'Hara Park on Sunday morning when they clashed in the opening round of the Mayo Senior Championship.

Carnacon emerged victorious on a 2-5 to 0-6 scoreline on the perfect surface, but they were put to the pin of their collar by Sinéad Halligan's resilient home side. Charlestown were backed by the wind in the opening half and took a long time to get going. Chelsea Doherty got them off the mark after 20 minutes, but by that time Erina Flannery and Amy Dowling had opened Carnacon's account.

Charlestown found their feet in the closing minutes of the half and points from Leah O'Grady and Nicole McLoughlin left the home women a point clear at the break, 0-4 to 0-3.

However, Carnacon began the second half explosively with a goal from Louise Dowling and a point courtesy of Hannah Prendergast. That put the guests three clear, but with weather conditions worsening, both sides found scores very hard to come by.

They threw everything at one another for the rest of the game and only two points separated the sides going into injury-time before another Louise Dowling goal sealed the win for Danny O'Toole's women.

A full match report and after-match reaction will be carried in Tuesday's Mayo News.