Dylan Hyland of Offaly in action against Evan Lyons of Sligo during the Allianz Football League Division 3 match between Offaly and Sligo at Glenisk O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Offaly. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
Allianz Football League Division Three
DIVISION THREE RESULTS
KILDARE 2-24 (2-3-18) FERMANAGH 1-12 (1-1-10)
LEITRIM P/P LAOIS P/P
ANTRIM 1-9 (1-1-7) CLARE 1-6 (1-0-6)
OFFALY 1-17 (1-0-17) SLIGO 0-13 (0-1-11)
Mickey Harte’s first competitive game on the sideline for Offaly yielded a stirring success for the Faithful County this afternoon, as his troops kept a profligate Sligo side scoreless for 23 minutes of the second half in Glenisk O’Connor Park.
Offaly had the better of the opening quarter too, with Keith O’Neill firing over some excellent points against the breeze. However Sligo’s superior power in the middle became a factor, and they found the target through Patrick O’Connor, Alan McLoughlin and Alan Reilly to lead by 0-9 to 0-7 at the interval.
The Yeats County had 15 wides altogether, nine in the first half and another handful in the third quarter when Offaly effectively clinched the game, scoring 1-6 in succession. Teenager Cillian Bourke came off the bench to offer a physical target up front and that variation in the attack helped open up lanes for Cathal Flynn and Cormac Egan to make excellent runs from deep. Rúairí McNamee was the goalscorer for Offaly, who will now travel to Portlaoise next Sunday in high spirits.
It was home wins across the card this weekend in the three games that took place, and the worst of the conditions were in Corrigan Park in Belfast, where Antrim overcame Clare by 1-9 to 1-6.
Conor Hand shot an early point and then hit an unorthodox two-pointer that bounced over the crossbar, with Paddy McBride setting up Fionn Nagle for a goal that crowned a whirlwind start.
Clare got a break of their own when Ciarán Downes’ shot for a point dropped short and into the net in the swirling breeze, but that failed to ignite their attack, that struggled throughout.
Conor Stewart, Ryan Murray and McBride all found the target as Antrim led by six at the break, a lead that was halved by the 50th minute.
McBride’s free that punished Clare’s ‘three men up’ infringement was followed by a fine Conor Stewart point to settle their nerves however and they just about saw out their win.
New Kildare manager Brian Flanagan will be delighted with his first competitive outing at the helm of his native county, as the Lily Whites exploded out of the blocks and then never looked back against Fermanagh at Cedral St. Conleth’s Park last night.
Mick O’Grady and Declan McCusker traded the first two points of the evening but Kildare took over from there, firing seven in a row with six different scorers, then bouncing back from Conor Love’s point with three in a row from Ryan Sinkey, Niall Kelly and Darragh Kirwan.
Darragh McGurn raised the first orange flag of the night as Fermanagh undid some of the damage in the lead up to half-time, and there was just five between the sides when Ross Bogue pointed after 42 minutes, and again when Shane McGullion made it 0-18 to 1-10 with a little over 20 minutes remaining.
Kildare moved through the gears in the final quarter however, striking goals from Kirwan and Sinkey, two-pointers from Alex Beirne and David Hyland, and restricting Fermanagh to just two Daragh McGurn points in the last 27 minutes of play.
