Kildare's Senior Hurlers showed why they are currently the team to beat in the Christy Ring Cup this year, disposing of Mayo with ease to keep their unbeaten record intact whilst setting themselves up for a semi final place in the Tier Two Championship in the process. Mayo's cause however wasn't helped by an injury crisis leading up to the game, which saw captain Derek Walsh, Pierse Higgins, Paul Broderick, James Hogan and Kenny Robinson all failing to make the starting list due to an assortment of injuries. However, Kildare were in sparkling form throughout, displaying superior strength and skill in every department of the field and will be close to honours at the end of the year on current form.

Kildare's opening half dominance was evident from the off and points from Billy White, Mattie Dowd and Colm Buggy within the opening five minutes laid down a marker. Mayo's reply was almost immediate as Kevin Healy got on the end of a Brian Delaney through ball, to catch on the edge of the Kildare square and bury to the net to bring Mayo back level. Kildare free-taker Mattie Dowd showed his accuracy between the 11th and 18th minutes as he converted three points from free's in succession, before Adrian Freeman registered Mayo's first point from a free in the 20th minute. Kildare's superiority in attack was beginning to become more and more evident and points from Andy Quinn and Dowd (2) again were complimented by a Joe Dempsey goal, as he netted from close range after connecting perfectly from a high dropping ball. Mayo hauled themselves back into contention however in the 35th minute when a Keith Higgins penalty, after Stephen Broderick was hauled down in the square, was hammered to the Kildare net to give Mayo a lifeline. Kildare's response was immediate as from the next attack, full forward Ritchie Coyle took on his man and buried to the back of Stephen Leneghans net to leave Kildare well in command at 2-9 to 2-2 at the interval.

The opening stages of the second half saw Mayo start a mini-revival that lead to Mayo converting a further 2-2 in the opening fifteen minutes. The points came from Freeman again and Keith Higgins (free), while the goals came from Stephen Broderick and substitute Andrew Howard. The pick of these goals came in the 44th minute when Broderick received a through ball at the end of a Keith Higgins run, and without handling, dispatched the sliotar to the Kildare net with ease. Sadly, Higgins' converted free in the 50th minute of the game was to be Mayo's last score, as the Western challenge totally wilted in the final quarter of the game. After coming to within a point of the Lilywhite's (2-11 to 4-4), further crack's began to appear in the Mayo rearguard, resulting in Kildare going on to convert a further 2-6 without reply. Substitute's Adrian McAndrew (2) and Tony Murphy showed Kildare's strength and depth as they opened their accounts while Mattie Dowd (2) and David Harney racked up the points late on. Dowd rounded off a fine day's performance in the 64th minutes with a clinical goal from 20 metre's out, while Joe Dempsey repeated his feat in the opening half as he again doubled on an incoming ball to the net to leave Mayo shattered.

Mayo's ambitions of finishing in the top two of their section in this competition have now been dashed and now the focus of attention has turned to relegation survival. Mayo face Kerry (home) and Wicklow (away) in the coming weeks knowing that a result in either of these games may rescue the season. However, Mayo have been dealt another hammer blow with the news of dual star Keith Higgins picking up a serious elbow injury on football duty with his club in the Intermediate championship.

The problems are beginning to mount for Gerry Spellman and his crew. Let's hope he can pull a few rabbit's out of the hat in the coming weeks.

Mayo: Stephan Leneghan (Tooreen); Stephen Coyne (Tooreen), Paddy Barrett (Belmullet), Shane Morley (Tooreen); Paul Lynch (Ballyhaunis), John Duffy (Ballina), Ger Whyte (Castlebar); Con Ryan (Westport), Stephen Broderick (1-0) (Westport); Brian Delaney (Tooreen), Kevin Healy (1-0) (Ballina), Derek McConn (Ballyhaunis); Paul Reape (Ballina), Keith Higgins (1-2) (Ballyhaunis), Adrian Freeman (0-2) (Tooreen). Subs: Andrew Howard (1-0) (Belmullet), Dermot Kelly (Westport).

Kildare: J. Dunney; S. Crowe, D. Moloney, P. Reidy; A. Flaherty, D. Harney (0-1), R. Hoban; J. Brennan (0-1), C. Buggy (0-1); M. Dowd (1-9,7f), A. Quinn (0-1), J. Dempsey (2-0); B. White (0-1), R. Coyle (2-0), T. Carew. Subs: A. McAndrew (0-2), T. Murphy (0-1).