A first-half hattrick from Leah Kelly led Sligo Ladies comfortably past Kilkenny Ladies by a score of 7-19 to 1-5 in their All Ireland Junior Championship Group A matchup.

An early score by Rachel O’Brien got the game underway and scores from Aife Haran and another from O’Brien gave Sligo an early three-point lead.

Kilkenny responded through a Sarah Smith point but this would be the team from Leinster’s only score of the first half.

Sinead Regan claimed the first goal of the game after eight minutes with a calm finish past Niamh Gillen in the Kilkenny goal.

Leah Kelly sparked into life after Regan’s goal, with the Sligo corner forward ruthlessly grabbing a hattrick of goals between the tenth and seventeenth minutes.

Leah Kelly, Rachel O’Brien and Sarah Reynolds chipped in with a flurry of points before the half time whistle, the scoreline 4-9 to 0-1 in favour of Sligo.

The second half started well for Sligo, but a brilliant save from Gillen from Maeve Casserly’s low shot was one of the highlights of the game.

Kilkenny notched three points in a row after Gillen’s tidy save, with two from Kate Purcell and one from Katie Grace creating momentum for the team in amber and black.

But a misjudged ball at the back allowed the clinical Leah Kelly through on goal to slot home her fourth of the afternoon.

Second-half goals from Leah Duffy and Nicola Brennan rubbed salt in the wound for Kilkenny as the team in white extended their massive advantage.

There was a consolation goal for Kilkenny as Kate Purcell’s looping free-kick deceived everyone to give the Kilkenny fans something to cheer about.

Purcell finished with 1-3 as her free kick was the final action of today’s one-sided affair.

Kilkenny remain rooted to the bottom of Group A after another difficult loss. Sligo claims their first win of the group after losing the previous two games to Down and Limerick.