The senior hurlers got off to the right start in the championship with the right start in this match, a game that Carrig led from start to finish.

Carrigtwohill played with the aid of the breeze and with their backs to Church Road in the first half.  Seconds after the throw-in, Seán de Búrca gained possession and directed his clearance to Tomás Hogan, who angled the ball into the path of Seán Walsh; Walsh cut in and goaled from close range inside thirty seconds.  Liam O’Sullivan raised the game’s first white flag from in front of the posts after good work by Cian O’Riordan.  Séan Walsh pointed from the wing after another good pass from Ciano.  Pádraic Hogan notched his first score from the left hand side wing to make it 1-03 to no score after 12 minutes.  Mallow scored three points (two frees) in as many minutes to close the gap to a goal on 16 minutes.  Liam Gosnell struck a lovely over-the-shoulder effort between the posts from 60m on the wing and O’Riordan doubled his tally from distance.  Jay Horgan’s diagonal ball fed James Mulcahy who obliged with a good strike from the wing to increase the lead back to six points (1-06 to 0-03) on 18 minutes.  Mallow converted three more frees with Seán Walsh scoring Carrig’s first point from a placed ball on 25 minutes.  Daniel Murnane landed a long range effort from the middle of the field over the bar and Walsh doubled his free tally to make it 1-09 to 0-06 at the break.

Three Seán Walsh frees increased the Carrigtwohill lead to nine points by the 37th minute.  Gozzy played a good ball across to James Mul who offloaded to Pádraic Hogan and Bobs cut through to fire the ball over the bar.  Séan Walsh scored two points from the wing in the space of a minute to make the score 1-15 to 0-06 midway through the half.  Mallow converted another free before Cian O’Riordan notched his second score after good workrate by Brendan Twomey in the lead-up.  Liam Gosnell scored Carrig’s second goal after goalward efforts from Seán Walsh and Liam O’Sullivan were repelled by the Mallow rearguard.  Pádraic Hogan struck his third point with another fine effort and Mallow responded: 2-17 to 0-08 with ten minutes remaining.  Cillian Barry cut in off the wing and struck from the stick over the bar.  Mallow exchanged scores with Seán Walsh before rattling the Carrig net with a well-struck 20m free.  Liam Sull doubled his tally with a neat strike on the turn after good direct hurling by Bobs and Gozzy.  Mallow won a penalty in the 60th minute.  Shane Devlin could do nothing to stop another well-executed blasted shot to the roof of the net.

The panel of players, management and backroom team deserve a lot of credit for making a good start to the championship and getting two vital points from this game.  Frank Flannery and his selectors will not be happy with the late concession of two goals and they will be looking for further improvement in next weekend’s Round 2 game against Cloyne.  It is only a six day turnaround, with the game throwing in next Saturday, 12th August at 3pm in Killeagh.

Carrigtwohill Team: Shane Devlin; Pat O’Sullivan, Seán de Búrca, Aaron Walsh Barry; Brendan Twomey, Jay Horgan, Daniel Murnane (0-1); Jamie McCarthy, Pádraic Hogan (0-3); Cian O’Riordan (0-2), Liam Gosnell (1-1), Tomás Hogan; Seán Walsh (1-9; 0-5f), Liam O’Sullivan (0-2), James Mulcahy (0-1). Subs Used: Cillian Barry (0-1).

Management: Frank Flannery (manager), Niall Kidney, Michael Boland, Niall McCarthy, Clive Cremen.

Referee: Paddy O'Sullivan (Bishopstown).