Padhraig Neilis, Derry, and Ronan Walsh and Oisín Maunsell, Kerry, in Allianz Hurling League Division Two action. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Allianz Hurling League Division Two
Down 3-17 Donegal 0-17
Meath 2-22 Tyrone 2-14
Kerry 5-20 Derry 1-12
Kerry put last week’s disappointing showing in Newbridge behind them as they picked up their first win of the season in relative comfort in Tralee.
Two early points for Richie Mullan gave the injury-depleted Derry men a decent start, but their hope was quickly extinguished as Shane Conway and Rory Mahony took over at midfield and the Kerry attack started to fire.
The Kingdom shot the next nine points in a row, and goals from Séanie Brosnan and Oisín Maunsell effectively killed off Derry before half-time. They each added a second goal after half-time, with Conway also raising a green flag in a tepid 35 minutes.
Meath travelled to Garvaghy and while they won by eight points over Tyrone in the end, the Red Hand County will take plenty of heart from a hugely encouraging first half when they rebounded from the concession of a goal to Nicky Potterton with a major of their own from Kiefer Morgan, and went on to lead by 1-9 to 1-8 at the break.
Tyrone’s dependence on Aidy Kelly frees for scores continues to be their achilles’ heel however, as they registered just 2-2 from open play, 1-1 from the stick of Ciarán Magill.
Meanwhile Evan Fitzgerald (1-3), Potterton (1-2), Jack Regan (0-4 from play) and Cian Rogers (0-2) all scored well for Meath, who looked much better than they did in the first outing against Donegal.
Donegal’s impressive form at this level had been one of the stories of the Allianz League so far and Mickey McCann’s side produced another creditable showing this afternoon in Ballycran, though they came away empty-handed.
First half goals from Chris Egan and Ronan Beatty (two) powered a 3-17 to 0-17 win for the Mourne County, who now have maximum points after three games and the second best scoring difference of any of the 35 counties in the league, behind only Louth.
Allianz Hurling League Division Three
Wicklow 2-19 Armagh 0-16
London 1-19 Cavan 1-10
Mayo 1-12 Sligo 0-13
London are top of the table in Division Three of the Allianz League after they beat Cavan by nine points at McGovern Park, but it was a remarkable turnaround in the game in Ruislip as at half-time, Cavan looked well-set for what would have been an historic win over the Exiles.
A run of seven points in a row in the first half for Cavan, featuring scores from Canice Maher, Liam O’Brien, Thomas Leonard and Mark Moffett, put the Breffni county on the front foot and they briefly led by eight points when O’Brien goaled to make it 1-10 to 0-5.
Seán Glynn settled London with two 65s before half-time and the second half was unrecognisable, with London scoring 1-12 unanswered. David Devine top scored for the home team with 0-8, while Conor McCormack was their goalscorer in stoppage time.
Seánie Germaine got the decisive touch on a scrambled goal in the first minute of the action at the Athletic Grounds to give Wicklow a dream start to their trip to Armagh, but they fell away in the second quarter when Shea Harvey, Charlie McArdle and Danny Magee all looked sharp for the home side.
The Orchard men were full value for their 0-11 to 1-6 lead at the break, but the second half was a completely different story, with Wicklow boosted by strong contributions off the bench from Torna Mulconry and Ronan McMahon.
Germaine’s second goal made it 2-13 to 0-12 after 51 minutes, and the free-scoring attacker ended the game with 2-11 to his credit. Four points from Warren Kavanagh from midfield also played a big role in Wicklow moving into one of the promotion spots.
It was a day of turnarounds in the Division, although the breeze was a huge factor in Mayo coming back from three points down to beat Sligo at Quigabar.
Sligo opened with the first three points, but were rocked by the concession of a goal to Liam Lavin, and Gerard O’Kelly Lynch firing a penalty over the bar would also have haunted the Yeats County, who would have suspected that their 0-10 to 1-4 interval lead wouldn’t be enough.
Sure enough, Mayo opened with the first five points of the second half and they hold on from there, aided by Sligo losing Conor Hanniffy to a red card; though a late flick from Paul O’Leary that came off the post might have been enough to give Sligo a first win of the season, had it been on target.
Allianz Hurling League Division Four
Fermanagh 2-14 Monaghan 0-15
Leitrim 0-17 Longford 1-11
Louth 0-25 Warwickshire 2-7
Louth continue to look a class ahead of the rest in Division Four, and they made it three wins from three with a strong second half showing at Páirc na hÉireann in Birmingham.
Jack Grealish scored one goal directly from a sideline cut and then saw his blocked shot whipped to the Louth net by Kevin Murphy in the first half, after which it was all square at 2-3 to 0-9.
Darren Geoghegan and Conor Murphy scored 0-7 between them in that opening half and 0-13 over the full game, including five from play for Murphy at full-forward. Offaly native Leon Fox also continues to look like a valuable addition to the Wee County cause, as he fired over three second half points in what turned out to be a comfortable win.
Leitrim made the short journey to Glennon Brothers Pearse Park and they made it two wins from two as well, edging out their hosts by three points.
The midfield pairing of Philip Burgess (0-4) and Joe Murray (0-6) were crucial to the Leitrim cause, while Mark McHugh in particular, as well as Kevin Clerkin and Conor Hackett, impressed in the full back line as they held the Longford inside forwards scoreless.
Ronan Courtney hit the net for Longford after 44 minutes to nudge the Leinster county into a one-point lead, but it proved to be short-lived as they added just two points in the half an hour of play that followed.
Fermanagh put themselves back in the promotion chase with the only home win in the division, a five point victory over Monaghan at Brewster Park.
Tom Keenan had a shot that Hugh Byrne failed to handle for Fermanagh’s goal to make it 1-9 to 0-8 at half time, but Monaghan hung in there in the second d half, despite losing Eithan Flynn to a red card 13 minutes after half-time.
Niall Arthur scored his eighth point of the game to leave just two in it going into stoppage time, but it was Fermanagh who got the goal they needed, Jimmy Tormey the scorer for the Erne County.
