Claremorris relegation concerns deepen after heavy defeat to Ballina Town

Mayo Super League 

Ballina Town 7
McKee 15, Cawley 34, 73, 83, Melvin 44, D Gorman 54, T Tighe 65

Claremorris 2

Maloney 3, Morley 88

In Beleek

A Jamie Cawley hat-trick underlined Ballina Town’s dominance of this game, and if they were sharper, they might have registered double figures against a struggling Claremorris side, who sit at the bottom of the table and look to be in deep trouble.

When Simon Butler and Mark Maloney combined to put Claremorris in front after three minutes, there was a fleeting moment when an upset looked a possibility. Dylan McKee extinguished that, however, when he got on the end of Conor Gorman’s cross. Cawley got his first just after the half hour, after taking numerous touches in the box, before firing past Keith Saunders, as the Claremorris defence stood off him.

Stephen Melvin went forward for a corner just before the break and headed in unchallenged to send the teams in 3-1.

Danny Gorman added a fourth when he pounced on the rebound of Donagh Crowne’s effort. Tiernan Tighe came off the bench to send a perfectly weighted lob to the net from distance and Cawley added two more towards the end, before James Morley got a fine consolation goal for Claremorris.

Ballina Town face Castlebar Celtic on Sunday next in the Westaro Cup Final – a tough challenge. Claremorris face relegation if they don’t start to find points somewhere in their eight remaining league games – possibly an even tougher challenge.

A minute’s silence was observed at the match, for Ballinrobe goalkeeper, Umar Shafiq who died in a car accident in Pakistan.

Match report, reaction and images in Tuesday’s Mayo News Sport.