Liam Mellows 3-12
Gort 1-15
Daragh Small reports from Salthill.
FULL-FORWARD ADRIAN Morrissey scored eight points for Liam Mellows as they bridged a 47-year gap to shock Gort in the Galway SHC final at Pearse Stadium in Salthill.
It’s the second year in a row that Gort came up short in the county final having lost to St Thomas’ in 2016.
But Aonghus Callanan and Tadhg Haran scored the first-half goals for Liam Mellows and Conor Kavanagh’s strike pushed them clear before Richie Cummins’ late consolation.
The game was level with one minute of normal time remaining at the end of the first-half, but Liam Mellows scored 1-2 to hold a 2-7 to 0-8 lead at half-time.
Morrissey scored first for Liam Mellows, from a free in the fourth minute, and Jason Grealish levelled proceedings.
Gort went on to hold a 0-6 to 0-4 lead in the 16th minute when Aidan Helebert landed his first free and fourth point of the day.
But a long ball from Jack Hastings was fielded by Callanan and he outmuscled Andy Coen before blasting over the head of Gavin Lally and into the roof of the Gort net.
That gave Liam Mellows a 1-4 to 0-6 advantage, and Gort made amends before Haran struck the second goal in the 31st minute. He also raced in along the left end-line and finished expertly, low past Lally.
A couple of Aiden Helebert frees eased Gort into the second-half and they got the deficit back to just two but Kavanagh struck in the 48th minute.
Michael Mullins was shown a straight red when he was involved off the ball with David Collins and Richie Cummins scored a late goal but Liam Mellows held on.
Scorers for Liam Mellows:Adrian Morrissey 0-8 (0-7f), Tadhg Haran 1-2 (0-2sl), Aonghus Callanan 1-1, Conor Kavanagh 1-0, Ronan Elwood 0-1.Scorers for Gort:
Aidan Helebert 0-10 (0-7f), Richard Cummins 1-0, Greg Lally 0-2 (0-2f), Albert Mullins 0-1, Jason Grealish 0-1, Kaelen Higgins 0-1.
Liam Mellows
1. Kenneth Walsh
4. Cathal Reilly
6. Michael Conneely
3. Sean Morrissey
2. Mark Hughes
5. David Collins
9. Stephen Barrett
7. Jack Hastings
8. Kevin Lee
15. Conor Hynes
13. Tadhg Haran
11. Ronan Elwood
14. Adrian Morrissey
12. Aonghus Callanan
10. Conor Kavanagh
Substitutions:
17. Jack Forde for C Hynes (57′)
19. David Fahy for Callanan (60′)
21. Conor Elwood for Kavanagh (62′).
Gort
1. Gavin Lally
2. Mark McMahon
3. Andy Coen
4. Michael Cummins
5. Patrick Lally
6. Greg Lally
7. Jack Grealish
8. Sylvie Og Linnane
11. Aidan Harte
10. Michael Mullins
13. Aiden Helebert
9. Kaelen Higgins
12. Albert Mullins
14. Richard Cummins
15. Jason Grealish
Substitutions:
18. Niall Forde for M Cummins (4′)
4. M Cummins for N Forde (5′)
19. Jack Commins for A Mullins (49′)
18. N Forde for M Cummins (53′)
17. Paul Killilea for Jason Grealish (55′)
20. Keith Killilea for Helebert (60′)
Referee: Christy Browne
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