ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE ROUND THREE
DIVISION ONE
Mayo 2-14 Kerry 1-10
MAYO kick-started their Division One campaign in some style on Saturday night, consigning a below par Kerry to a seven-point defeat in Castlebar.
After drawing their first two league games, Kevin McStay’s men were quickest out of the traps at MacHale Park, converting two early points before Ryan O’Donoghue broke through the Kerry defence on nine minutes for a major.
The Kingdom briefly steadied the ship with a couple of Darragh Roche points before James Carr capitalised on some sloppy defending to grab Mayo’s second goal. Diarmuid O’Connor and Jordan Flynn piled on the agony for Jack O’Connor as Mayo went in at the break 2-8 to 0-3 in front.
The emergence of David Clifford and Sean O’Shea had an immediate impact for the All-Ireland champions as their points whittled Mayo’s lead down to nine entering the final 10 minutes.
Points from Donnacha McHugh and Jack Carney kept Mayo comfortable, however, before a late Barry O’Sullivan goal took some of the sting off the final scoreline for Kerry.
DIVISION TWO
Cork 2-10 Dublin 0-18
JACK McCaffrey made his first appearance in a Dublin shirt for almost three years as the Leinster champions held off a determined effort from Cork to secure their third win from three played in Division Two.
Eoghan McSweeney’s goal had Cork leading by three late in the first-half prior to Cian Murphy, Con O’Callaghan, Dean Rock and Cormac Costello registering points to ensure Dessie Farrell’s side took a 0-10 to 1-6 lead in at the break.
The Dubs began the second-half as they had ended the first before the excellent Brian Hurley (0-8) stopped the rot for the Rebels on 48 minutes.
Six minutes later and the ball was in Dublin’s net again via Matthew Taylor’s cool finish, levelling the contest 2-8 to 0-14, but points from Brian Fenton and James McCarthy helped to ensure there wouldn’t be an upset as Hurley was denied a late goal by David O’Hanlon’s finger tips at the other end.
Five-time All-Ireland winner McCaffrey came off the bench for the last 12 minutes of play at Páirc Uí Chaoimh and was soon on the scoresheet to the delight of the travelling support.
Clare 0-15 Kildare 0-16
GLENN RYAN’S Kildare produced a stirring comeback in Ennis to come away with a first league win of the season, despite being reduced to 14 men for the final 20 minutes of yesterday’s game.
Led by captain Eoin Cleary, Clare had themselves 0-4 to 0-2 in front by the 15th minute and were far from deterred by the black carding of Alan Sweeney five minutes later.
The Banner kicked seven of the last 10 points of the half, four of them coming from Cleary, to take a 0-11 to 0-7 advantage in at the break.
Clare made light of facing into a strong wind early in the second-half, points from Emmet McMahon, Cleary and Gavin Cooney opening up a 0-14 to 0-8 lead by the 47th minute.
Kildare’s race looked run when Ben McCormack was sent packing for a second yellow card in the 50th minute appeared to be the death knell for Ryan’s side, but it instead ignited their challenge.
The Lilywhites kicked eight of the last nine points, with substitutes Neil (0-4) and Daniel Flynn (0-2) accounting for the majority of that remarkable rally – Neill Flynn snatching victory with the final kick.
Louth 1-15 Limerick 1-13
LOUTH picked up their first points of the league campaign at Ardee yesterday, with a battling victory over fellow strugglers Limerick.
It was the visitors who opened the scoring through Colm McSweeney and, not long after, the impressive Hugh Bourke and Cian Sheehan pushed the visitors into a three-point lead.
Louth got a foothold on the game when corner-back Donal O’Sullivan hit the back of the net after the ball had come back off the upright of the goal. However, with Iain Corbett and Adrian Enright landing impressive points for Limerick, it took two Sam Mulroy frees to drag Louth level at the break, 1-6 to 0-9.
Louth were a side transformed after the break, landing the first six points of the half, Mulroy striking three of those scores and Dáire McConnon grabbing a brace.
Limerick weren’t done yet, however, and after James Naughton got them off the mark in the second-half through a free, substitute Brian Donovan cut the gap to two points with a goal straight from the kick-out.
The Wee county were able to see the game out thanks to Tommy Durnin and Conal McCaul points.
DIVISION THREE
Westmeath 2-12 Offaly 0-12
WESTMEATH delivered a blow to Offaly’s promotion hopes in Mullingar yesterday, picking up the second win of their own campaign in the process.
John Heslin and Kieran Martin supplied the goals for the hosts, who had trailed at the halfway stage by 0-7 to 1-2.
Frees from Dylan Hyland would extend the Offaly lead to four after the turnaround, but Martin’s goal with 10 minutes to go turned the tide and Heslin, Ronan O’Toole and Stephen Smith shot late points to ensure a home victory for Dessie Dolan’s men.
DIVISION FOUR
Laois 1-17 Carlow 2-8
LAOIS will feel like they’re in the driving seat of the promotion race after an impressive second-half turned a five-point deficit into a six-point win at Netwatch Cullen Park.
This game was the most fractious of the day, with three red cards and a host of yellows issued by referee Jonathan Hayes.
Carlow made a strong start to both halves, with Colm Hulton’s early goal helping them into a lead, before Paul Kingston spearheaded a Laois revival to draw level by half-time at 1-5 to 0-8, with all eight points scored in the second quarter.
In the second half, Foley shot two points and Mikey Bambrick helped set up a goal for Eric Molloy, but Laois roared back, scoring eight points on the spin. Brian Byrne, Kingston, Evan O’Carroll and Mark Barry all found their range, with Kingston adding the Laois goal to bring his tally to 1-10 for the afternoon.
With tempers rising and plenty of flashpoints cropping up, Brian Byrne and Evan O’Carroll of Laois and Carlow’s Shane Buggy were all dismissed late in the game.
Sligo 0-21 Waterford 0-13
FIVE points from wing-back Dermot Ryan wasn’t enough for Waterford as they came away empty-handed from their long trip to the north west.
Ryan opened the scoring but Sligo, aided by the strong sea breeze, rallied to score seven out of the next eight points. Seán Carrabine was in sublime form for Tony McEntee’s side, who led by 0-9 to 0-4 at the interval.
Niall Murphy and Gerard O’Kelly Lynch added points after half-time as they extended their lead to nine by the 47th minute, leaving Waterford with far too much to do.
Wexford 0-19 Leitrim 0-15
WEXFORD struck five of the last six points of an otherwise even contest at Chadwicks Wexford Park yesterday to inflict a first defeat on Leitrim.
Evan Sweeney and Keith Beirne struck some excellent points for Leitrim in the first half, but indiscipline cost Andy Moran’s men throughout the tie, with Darragh Brooks and Mark Rossiter scoring nine frees between them.
At 0-14 each with six minutes to play, the tie was in the melting point but it was Wexford who came good to record their first win of the year, thanks to impressive midfielder Niall Hughes, Mark Rossiter (two), full-back Brian Molloy and substitute Cian Hughes grabbing late scores.
Wicklow 1-16 London 1-9
OISIN McConville’s Wicklow got their first win of 2023 in Aughrim. Their ability to keep tabs on London during a crucial 10-minute black card spell early in the second half set them up to finish strongly and record a seven-point win.
After a tight opening quarter, some clever work from Kevin Quinn led to the Blessington man registering a game-breaking goal, which helped Wicklow to lead by 1-6 to 0-6 at half-time.
The door was opened for London when they won a penalty early in the second half, which led to a Christopher Farley goal from the spot and a black card for Wicklow full-back Paul McLoughlin, but the home side managed the game brilliantly, restricting London to just one point from a Joseph McGill free.
Wicklow still led by 1-10 to 1-7 when they were brought back up to their full complement, and good scores from Kevin Quinn and Eoin Darcy ensured they eased to victory.
