Kildare hurler, Jack Sheridan, helped his team to a vital victory over Meath that secured their place in the Allianz Hurling League Division 2 Final.
ALLIANZ NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE ROUNDUP
DIVISION TWO RESULTS
DONEGAL 0-9 DERRY 2-23
MEATH 1-14 KILDARE 1-24
TYRONE 1-13 KERRY 1-19
Coming into this afternoon’s crucial fixture in Trim, Kildare had eight Allianz League points from five games, and a scoring difference of +72. Meath, in contrast, had six points and were +6, but the head to head rule meant that a home win would have sent the Royal County leapfrogging over their neighbours into a league final.
It never looked like happening as Kildare led from pillar to post to ensure that they will take on Down next weekend, and more importantly, that they will get big games against Dublin, Antrim, Wexford and Clare next year.
Jack Regan’s fifth point of the game in the 20th minute left it finely poised at 0-8 to 0-6 in Kildare’s favour, but his freetaking counterpart David Qualter shot five before half-time and three more immediately afterwards, by which time there was a nine-point margin.
Meath enjoyed a purple patch for the next ten minutes to get back to within five, but Jack Sheridan’s goal in the 52nd minute removed any lingering doubt about the result and by the time Regan got Meath’s only goal with ten to play, Kildare still had plenty of leeway. Regan finished with 1-10 while Qualter hit 0-13 on an afternoon when freetaking was particularly important.
The 2025 Allianz League has been an historic one for the Donegal hurlers, the highlight their home win over Kerry at O’Donnell Park, but it still ended in relegation this afternoon as Derry, who have found their form in recent weeks, made the short trip to Letterkenny and racked up a comprehensive win.
It was 0-15 to 0-3 at half-time and Shea Cassidy compounded Donegal’s misery with a goal immediately after the break. Richie Mullan lorded matters from centre back, scoring 0-3, while Eamon Conway shot four points and Thomas Brady chipped in with a late goal for the resurgent Oak Leaf men.
That result meant that Kerry needed to get at least a draw in Garvaghy to stay in this division but they never gave Donegal supporters any cause for hope, and were much more dominant than a six-point margin of victory would suggest.
Tyrone goalkeeper Conor McElhatton pulled off five brilliant saves over the course of the contest, but he couldn’t prevent Niall Mulcahy from setting up Shane Nolan for a goal after four minutes. Paudie O’Connor’s dismissal for a second bookable offence after 24 minutes gave Tyrone a window of opportunity but they didn’t have the scoring power, with Kiefer Morgan’s goal coming far too late to have an impact.
DIVISION THREE
WICKLOW 2-15 MAYO 4-15
ARMAGH 0-10 LONDON 2-15
ROSCOMMON 2-15 SLIGO 2-13
Mayo secured their place alongside London in next week’s Allianz League Division Three final when Seán Kenny’s goal with eight minutes to play effectively sealed their six-point win over Wicklow in Aughrim, in what was effectively a league semi-final.
A home win for the Garden County would have tied the teams on eight points and thus pushed them through to the final on the back of their head-to-head victory, but they received an early setback when midfielder John Toomey received a straight red card with just four minutes played.
Mayo didn’t waste any time taking advantage, rattling off six of the first seven points of the game and then taking a firm grip on proceedings through a Joseph Burke goal in the 20th minute.
Pádraig Doyle and Seánie Germaine pointed in the lead up to half-time to prevent the gap growing too wide, but it was still Mayo’s game to lose at the interval, with the scoreboard reading 1-9 to 0-6. A Shane Boland point and Liam Lavin’s goal in the first minute of the second half only exacerbated matters, but what followed was Wicklow’s best hurling of the year, as they overcame their numerical disadvantage to fight their way back into contention.
Doyle ignited their rally with a goal, Pádraig Doran took control of the game from centre back, and when Luke Evans came forward to find the net with 15 minutes to play, there was a point between the sides and the miracle comeback was on.
Cormac Phillips’ goal gave Mayo a little bit of breathing room but they really could only settle when Kenny found the net in between points from Phillips and Eoin Delaney, leaving Wicklow with too much to do.
The weather forced Roscommon to give up home comforts at King & Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park and travel down the road to more neutral surroundings at the Connacht Centre of Excellence, where veteran forward Cathal Kenny scored a late goal that clinched a two-point win and so eliminated the prospect of relegation.
Sligo were already assured of making the drop to the bottom tier next year but they certainly started as if they intended to bring their neighbours along for the ride, going 1-6 to 0-1 in front when Paul O’Leary found the net in the 26th minute.
Even allowing for the strong breeze, Roscommon were desperately poor during that phase of the game, but they exploded into life in the five minutes before half-time. Conor Mulry was their goalscorer as they drew level at 1-7 each, scoring 1-4 in that period.
Gerard O’Kelly Lynch goaled for Sligo within 60 seconds of the restart but Roscommon cancelled that score out with an Eoin Fitzgerald point and two Ben McGahon frees, and it was a nip and tuck contest from then on.
Level on the hour mark, Gerard O’Kelly Lynch and Conor Hanniffy pointed to put Sligo two up with three minutes to play, but Kenny’s goal and long-range Conor Cosgrove effort saw Roscommon home.
Armagh struggled to find scores this afternoon as they succumbed to a 2-15 to 0-10 defeat to London at the Box-It Athletic Grounds, so if Sligo had held on, they would have made the drop to Division Four on scoring difference.
Instead however it’s Cavan who make the drop, alongside Sligo. The Breffni men had their programme of games completed before today, but their head-to-head defeat to Armagh last week means they slip back to the bottom tier.
DIVISION FOUR
LEITRIM 0-7 WARWICKSHIRE 4-14
LONGFORD 3-15 MONAGHAN 2-13
LANCASHIRE 1-10 FERMANAGH 2-21
Fermanagh took care of business at the National Centre of Excellence in Abbotstown today, obtaining the win they needed against Lancashire to secure their place in an Allianz League Division Four final against Louth next weekend.
Two Conor Levingstone frees for Lancashire put the sides on level terms after six minutes, but Fermanagh turned on the heat and shot 10 out of the next 11 points to alleviate any tension or nervousness they might have felt in advance of this fixture.
Francis McBrien shot five of those ten points with Jimmy Tormey and Seán Corrigan hitting a brace each.
A pair of Eoghan Clifford scores got Lancashire into the game and they briefly pulled the lead back to four points early in the second half, but a goal from Corrigan set Fermanagh back on the road to victory and promotion, with McBrien finishing the day with 0-10.
Even if the Erne County had slipped up, a disastrous showing from Leitrim at the Connacht COE in Bekan meant that their western neighbours wouldn’t have taken advantage.
Jordan Conway fired 0-7 in a completely one-sided first half, where goals from Eoghan O’Sullivan, Miley Connors and John Collins pushed Warwickshire into what was effectively an unassailable 3-9 to 0-2 half-time lead.
Joe Murray got three points as Leitrim were marginally improved after half-time, though they were still 19 adrift at the end when Luke Hands despatched a fourth goal for Warwickshire.
There was nothing but pride and a little bit of momentum in advance of the championship on offer at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, where Longford had it all their own way against fellow Lory Meaghar cup contenders Monaghan.
Centre forward Martin Farrell shot three of his five points in the early exchanges as Longford put distance between the sides, and goals from Killian Courtney and Evan Tully shortly before half-time made it a 13-point game at the break.
David Buckley added his name to the goalscorers’ list early in the second half as the gap moved to 16 points before late goals from Niall Garland and Rowan McMahon took the one-sided look off the scoreboard.
