The Carnage Continued ...

Mullingar Shamrocks’ annual start of season fundraiser Last Man Standing got off to an eventful start on Saturday evening with 370 entries starting out with hopes of securing the first prize of €300. The club would like to sincerely thank all those who entered the competition. The Dublin and Kerry match under lights in Croke Park hadn’t even got underway when the tallymen had completed their first check and eliminated 137 entries thanks to Leitrim’s draw away to Derry in the competition’s opening game which reduced the field by a whopping 37%. The Croke Park draw after an enthralling contest meant 23 further entries fell by the wayside and we hadn’t even reached the opening Sunday of the league. Cormac and Sean Óg Hynes and, Conor McKenna were among the notable early casualties, while Marie Burke was left to fly the flag for the Burke clan. Sunday brought more disappointment for the pundits and by the final whistle of the last game 74% of the runners were out with only 95 remaining in contention for the first prize of €300. Five draws on the opening weekend certainly proved costly for and Laois’ last gasp goals in Dr Hyde Park accounted for another crop of early fallers. Club chairman Sean Hynes saw one of his entries come a cropper on Sunday. For older entrants, it was like the year of the Foinavon Grand National.