Division 1B: Kerry 0-8 Dublin 2-14; Wexford 12-20 Antrim 0-4; Limerick 3-19 Down 0-6
THE weekend games in Division 1B were expected to result in fairly comfortable wins for Dublin, Limerick and Wexford, but few would have seen the Saffrons slump to a 52-points defeat by Wexford after picking up a win against Down in Attical last week.
In fairness less than half of last week’s starting team were in attendance and they struggled from the first attack that resulted in a goal for Shelly Kehoe.
By the time Caitrín Dobbin opened Antrim’s account with a point in the 10th minute, they were 2-3 adrift.
By half-time the gap was 6-11 to 0-1 with 2-9 coming from Ciara O’Connor and a goal each for Kate Kirwan, Linda Bulger and Emma Tompkins.
The home side almost doubled their half-time total during the second half and it will take a lot to lift spirits for the visit of Kerry this weekend.
Meanwhile, Down conceded injury time goals to Rebecca Deele and Mary O’Callaghan to make their outing in Rathkeele look a little worse than it really was.
They battled well, particularly in the first half in very difficult playing conditions and into a gale. Saoirse Sands and Clara Cowen were their standout players and a scoreline of 0-11 to 0-2 gave them a reasonable chance in the second half.
However ,the home team upped the ante after the break despite an early point from Aoife McDowell. They tagged on five points before Caoimhe Lyons scored the first goal while the two late green flags only rubbed salt into the wounds.
The performance of the round came from Kerry who gave Dublin a run for their money and ended up 2-14 to 0-8 behind at the end.
This weekend’s games have Wexford in Down and Limerick in Dublin as well as the Antrim v Kerry fixture
Scorers
Wexford: C O’Connor 3-11, E Tompkins 3-0, S Kehoe 1-4, S O’Connor, J Dillon and L Bolger 1-1 each, K Kirwan and A Neville 1-0 each, A Curran 0-2, C Foxe 0-1
Antrim: A McKillop 0-2, E Faloon and C Dobbin 0-1 each.
Limerick: R Deele 1-4, C Lyons 1-1, M O’Callaghan 1-0, C Costello 0-6, N Ryan 0-2, L Boylan, S O’Callaghan, L Fennelly, A Larkin and O Kelleher 0-1 each.
Down: A McDowell 0-4, C Cowan and A Murphy 0-1 each.
Division 2B: Clare 0-8 Kilkenny 1-8; Tipperary 0-10 Galway 0-6; Cork 2-8 Wexford 4-7
CORK were sitting on three successive wins in this division before Saturday’s round four, but came unstuck at home to Wexford.
Tipperary beat Galway and that moves them on to three wins with a derby against Kilkenny still to come.
Clare’s loss at home against Kilkenny means that they will drop straight back down to Division 3B unless they beat Cork next weekend and other results go their way as well.
Division 3A: Laois 3-12 Armagh 0-12 Roscommon 1-12 Kildare 2-7
A goal in the sixth minute from Rachel Keegan was a crucial score in this top of the table clash in Division 3A.
Not only was it the difference between the teams at half-time, but it also put Armagh on the back foot early in the game.
Rose Boden had opened the scoring with a point, but it wasn’t until the 17th minute that Armagh drew level at 1-1 to 0-4 with two points from Rachel Merry and another from Leanne Donnelly.
Aimee Collier, however, hit a point from a free and Laois dominated the second quarter to lead by 1-6 to 0-6 at the change of ends.
They continued to build on that with more points from Collier and led by 1-10 to 0-7 when Lucy O’Connor hit the Armagh net for the second time.
Before the visitors could recover, Susie Delaney had a third Laois goal and the win was sealed.
Armagh now have a home game against Kildare who lost narrowly for the second week running, going down by a single point to Roscommon
Laois scorers: R Keegan 1-1, L O’Connor and S Delaney 1-0 each, A Collier 0-8, L Fennell 0-2, A Walsh 0-1
Armagh scorers: R Merry 0-5, S Quinn 0-2, N Forker, R Boden, L Donnelly, C Geoghan and S McKinley 0-1 each
Division 3B: Down 0-3 Dublin 5-14; Antrim 1-5 Limerick 5-16
Down and Antrim both couldn’t convert home advantage into a winning score-line and both suffered heavy defeats
Down’s only scorer for the second week running was Niamh McGrath. She, Ellen Shields and Katie Morgan on her way back from a cruciate operation were Down’s best in their defeat in Castlewellan.
Antrim scored a goal and five in going Down to Limerick.
Brogan Crossan accounted for the goal and added two points while Cora Henderson (two) and Sophie Erskine were the other Saffron scorers.
Division 4: Tyrone 4-11 Wicklow 2-11 Mayo 3-13 Louth 1-1
TYRONE picked up their second successive victory in Division Four after a comfortable hour in Healy Park.
They now probably face two games in a row against Louth who fell to their second heavy defeat in the other game in the group.
Assuming they win the first encounter next weekend in Louth, the Red Hands will have home advantage in the semi-finals on March 22.
Tyrone’s best players on Saturday were Cara Little, Áine Cunningham and Gráinne McDonald while Lára Devlin, despite being very closely watched, managed to pop up for a goal and three points in the opening half.
They led at half time by 2-8 to 0-2 with the other goal coming from Lauren Fitzgerald midway through the opening half.
Cara Little increased the lead on the re-start with a goal and a point before the Tyrone management began to ring the changes. That gave Wicklow a chance to get back into the game and a goal from Nicole Curran and four points in a row brought them back to 3-9 to 1-6 and a hint that they might close the gap further.
Róisín McErlean responded with a free, but Nicole Curran added three points in a row. However Cara Little killed off the comeback with her second goal to seal the win.
In the other game, Mayo had a 3-13 to 1-1 win over Louth.
Tyrone: C Little 2-2, 0-1 free, L Devlin 1-4, L Fitzgerald 1-1, R McErlean 0-3 frees, O Farley 0-1.
Wicklow: N Curran 1-4, L Manley 1-1, K Tyrell 0-3, 0-1 free, S Goetelen, D Dunne and E Tyrell 0-1 each