Down senior hurling team manager Ronan Sheehan. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Allianz Hurling League Division Two
Kerry 1-20 Meath 0-20
Kildare 3-21 Donegal 1-15
Down 9-26 Tyrone 0-13
Down and Kildare still look destined for the Allianz Division Two hurling league final after they racked up big wins over the weekend, while Kerry’s inconsistency proved to be Meath’s downfall in Tralee.
The Kingdom were stung by last weekend’s loss in Letterkenny and Pádraig Boyle was at the forefront of their backlash, hitting 1-10 over the 70 minutes.
His first half goal was a touch fortuitous and Meath looked sharper up front with James Regan and Mikey Cole picking off some good scores, but Kerry found another gear after half-time, aided by Luke Crowley picking off two fine points after coming off the bench.
Kildare didn’t waste any time in crushing Donegal’s positive momentum, hitting their Ulster opponents for 2-3 inside the opening nine minutes at Cedral St. Conleth’s Park.
Darragh Melville and Gerry Keegan struck two goals in two minutes, with James Dolan adding a third later in the half when he was first to react to the rebound from Liam White’s save of a Jack Sheridan shot.
Kildare eased off the gas after accumulating a 15-point half-time lead and a Ronan McDermott goal as well as some good Liam McKinney points meant that Donegal had something positive to focus on in advance of their final game of the campaign, a potential relegation decider against Derry.
Down were even more comfortable against Tyrone at Ballycran, hitting their provincial rivals for nine goals to cement the two counties’ spots at the top and bottom of the table respectively.
Pearse Óg McCrickard (2-10), Donal Hughes (2-2), Chris Egan (1-2) and Tim Prenter (2-2) did most of the damage up front for the Mourne men.
Allianz Hurling League Division Three
Mayo 3-25 Roscommon 1-12
Sligo 1-19 Armagh 3-15
Cavan 2-20 Wicklow 1-18
Cavan gave their own survival chances a massive boost and simultaneously dealt Wicklow a hammer blow to their promotion aspirations at Kingspan Breffni, turning around a five-point deficit after Tommy Collins was sent off for the Garden County.
Wicklow led by 0-9 to 0-4 when Collis was dismissed, but Cavan had threatened goals on a couple of occasions, hitting the post through Eamon Óg McAllister and seeing Conor McNally make a brilliant save to also deny the same player.
Those misses looked like they would be costly when there was still four points between the sides (0-15 to 0-11) with 57 minutes gone. Then Liam O’Brien, Cavan’s only scorer in the opening half, found the net and the Breffni men cut loose.
Dillon Mulligan found the net for a second goal, Seanie Keating brought his tally to 0-5 and late scores by Nicky Kenny and O’Brien sealed a memorable win.
League leaders London weren’t in action so Mayo took a huge step forward towards joining the Exiles in the league final with a crushing win over Roscommon at Tooreen.
Cathal Kenny got an early goal for the Rossies in the border venue and it wasn’t until the 28th minute that Mayo took their first lead through Shane Boland. The second half was one-way traffic however with Cormac Phillips (2-8), Liam Lavin (1-3) and Joseph Burke (0-6) filling their boots on the way to a 19-point win.
In the basement battle between Sligo and Armagh at Markievicz Park, the visiting Orchard men gave themselves a fighting chance of beating the drop with a 3-15 to 1-19 win, their victory powered by two early goals from Stephen Keenan and Pauric McNaughton. Charlie McArdle hit a third goal for Armagh in the opening half and their 3-6 to 0-10 lead looked ominous for Sligo, with the diagonal breeze set to favour Armagh after half-time.
Points from Andrew Kilcullen and Gerard O’Kelly Lynch kept a game Sligo side in the contest and Peter O’Leary’s goal cut the lead to three points to really get the home crowd excited, but late scores from Shea Harvey and McNaughton proved crucial.
Allianz Hurling League Division Four
Louth 0-30 Lancashire 2-10
Fermanagh 0-18 Warwickshire 1-12
Leitrim 1-18 Monaghan 0-16
Louth and Leitrim have their fate in their own hands in Division Four as they continued their unbeaten run over the weekend. The Wee County were very comfortable in Abbotstown where Peter Fortune (0-4), Thomas McCreesh (0-4) and in particular Conor Murphy (0-7) were in outstanding form from open play against Lancashire.
With Leon Fox and Conor Quigley dominating the spine of the defence, they had a double figure lead by half-time and continued to pile up the points, barely breaking stride while Peter Boylan and Pádraic Burke hit the net for Lancashire.
Glennon Brothers Pearse Park was the venue for Leitrim’s battle with Monaghan, and while the Ulster County were somewhat one-dimensional up front, leaning heaving on Niall Arthur (0-11, 0-7f) and Niall Garland (0-3) for scores, they still led by 0-15 to 0-12 with 20 minutes to play and looked like they might upset the odds against their in-form opponents.
Joe Murray’s goal approaching the hour mark was the crucial score in the tie as it gave his team a shot in the arm. Murray shot 1-10 in total over the contest but his accuracy wasn’t matched by his colleagues, who missed several chances, only to find their range in the closing minutes.
Phillip Burgess brought his tally to 0-5 with two late points while Michael O’Brien also raised a flag as Leitrim recorded their third win of the season.
It was a repeat of last year’s Division 3B final pairing at Páirc na hÉireann in Brimingham, but the result went the other direction, where Fermanagh prevailed over Warwickshire by 0-18 to 1-12. Luke Hands goaled for Warwickshire after two minutes, but Fermanagh hit 10 of the next 12 points, only to be reeled in and have to pick off the last four points in a row to win.
