Football

Mayo beat Roscommon to stay top of Division One

Tommy Conroy impressed in Mayo's win over Roscommon
Tommy Conroy impressed in Mayo's win over Roscommon Tommy Conroy impressed in Mayo's win over Roscommon

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE ROUND FIVE

DIVISION ONE

Roscommon 2-11 Mayo 1-16

MAYO came out on the right side of the battle of the top-two in Dr Hyde Park to put themselves in pole position for a place in the Division One final.

Going into the Connacht derby with an unbeaten record, Mayo fired over the first seven points inside 18 minutes, with Cillian O’Connor, Tommy Conroy and James Carr all in fine shooting form.

Diarmuid Murtagh’s 20th-minute free finally got Davy Burke’s men off the mark and they went in at half-time trailing by 0-9 to 0-4.

Although Roscommon fought their way back into contention, the gap was at five again when man-of-the-match Jack Carney was gifted a goal by some lax defending.

However, the Rossies refused to throw in the towel and the difference was back down to three after Enda Smith’s goal and, while McStay’s men would push it out to five again, Conor Cox netted another for the Rossies that ensured a nail-biting finish.

A point separated the sides in injury-time when Matthew Ruane broke clear to convert the last score, sending Mayo two points clear at the top of the table.

DIVISION TWO

Clare 1-8 Cork 3-10

CORK produced a strong second-half performance against Clare in Ennis to move within two points of Dublin at the top end of Division Two.

A Keelan Sexton penalty helped Clare to take in a 1-4 to 1-3 lead at half-time after Sean Powter’s major had given Cork the perfect start.

The Rebels underlined their intent with the first two points of the second half before Matthew Taylor opened a up gap with a goal. Powter’s second goal entering the last 10 minutes left Clare with too much to do.

Limerick 0-17 Meath 2-11

MEATH and a winless Limerick played out a ding-dong draw at the Gaelic Grounds yesterday afternoon.

The Treaty were full value for their 0-10 to 0-6 half-time lead, but Meath were right back in it when Jordan Morris set up Matthew Costello for a major nine minutes after the restart.

The hosts had reasserted their dominance in the game when Donal Lenihan sprung to grab the Royals’ second goal, having just been introduced by Colm O’Rourke.

A Davy Lyons point got Limerick back on level terms before Morris nudged Meath back in front, only for Brian Donovan to rescue a point for Limerick in the final minute.

Louth 2-11 Kildare 0-12

LOUTH kept their promotion hopes alive thanks to a five-point victory over a poor Kildare outfit in Ardee.

Niall Sharkey hit the first point of the game for Louth after six minutes and, two minutes later, Tommy Durnin (left) had the ball in the back of the Kildare net.

The Wee county were dealt a blow on the half-hour mark when prolific marksman Sam Mulroy was forced off injured, but they netted again in the second minute of injury-time via Conor Grimes to take in a 2-6 to 0-7 lead at the break.

The Lilywhites couldn’t close the gap in the second half and, as a result, have just the one win after five games.

Division Three

Longford 1-16 Offaly 2-14

LONGFORD remain rooted to the bottom of Division Three after the narrowest of losses to Offaly at Pearse Park.

The sides were level six times in the first half and went in level at 1-9 apiece, but it was Longford who had built a three-point lead 10 minutes after the restart.

However, the momentum swung in Offaly’s direction when Jack Bryant grabbed a goal and points from Bernard Allen and Cian Farrell saw them over the line.

DIVISION FOUR

Laois 2-13 Waterford 0-5

EOIN Lowry guided Laois to an easy win in Portlaoise on Saturday. There were just five scorers overall, three Laois forwards and a wing-back and midfielder for Waterford. Among those five, Dermot Ryan put in another tireless shift for the Déise, shooting four points and causing Laois plenty of problems, while Paul Kingston fired two points late, and Mark Barry picked off one

immaculate score, but otherwise was all about kicking frees.

Lowry however, was sublime, scoring 2-6. He finished off his first goal from close range in the first half and then killed any hopes of a

Waterford revival with the first play of the second half when he ghosted in behind the full-back line to collect a long ball and beat Ben Kirwan from close range.

London 0-9 Carlow 0-13

SEVEN points from Darragh Foley helped Carlow to their second win of the campaign in Ruislip.

Sligo 1-20 Wexford 3-8

SLIGO had it all their own way at Markievicz Park, despite conceding a ninth-minute goal to John Tubritt. That made it 1-1 to 0-2 in Wexford’s favour, but they went on to outscore the Leinster county by 1-14 to 0-2 over the next 50 minutes or so, with Seán Carrabine (above) racking up seven points, Pat Spillane adding a goal, while Paul Kilcoyne, Niall Murphy and Mark Walsh all scored well for the home side too.

Wexford did bounce back well from losing Eoghan Nolan to a second bookable offence, and they rallied to score late goals from cousins Cian and Niall Hughes, but this still was a huge blow to the Model county in their bid to secure promotion.

Tony McEntee’s troops now have promotion in their own hands again, with four wins on the bounce after their opening defeat to Laois.

Wicklow 0-15 Leitrim 1-9

FOR the second time this year, Leitrim travelled to south Leinster and put themselves in a good position, only to lose out to a second-half surge from Wicklow, who are beginning to take shape under Oisín McConville.

For long stretches it looked like Leitrim were on course to turn over the home side, who were hoping to build on last weekend’s momentous victory in Portlaoise.

Keith Beirne, top scorer in the Allianz League so far, shot 1-4 for the visitors, who would have been the happier side at half-time.

They led by 0-6 to 0-5 with the wind to come, and would have been hugely grateful to goalkeeper Darren Maxwell for making two excellent saves.

They used that breeze to go long early and often, with Beirne taking advantage as he fielded a long delivery and rounded Mark Jackson to finish, and with 56 minutes, they were clear favourites, 1-9 to 0-9 in front.

Wicklow dominated from here on however, and points by Padraig O’Toole, Eoin D’Arcy (three) and Dean Healy (two) secured a victory.