ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE ROUND SIX
DIVISION ONE
KERRY were quick out of the traps at Austin Stack Park to ease any relegation fears with victory over Roscommon on Saturday evening.
An early point from Dara Moynihan was followed by a David Clifford goal in the fifth minute after he was played in by Tony Brosnan.
Kerry native Conor Cox get the Rossies off the mark with a 12th minute free and, though they battled hard throughout the half, they still went in at the break trailing by four, 1-7 to 0-6.
Two more points from Cox helped the visitors cut the margin after the restart, but the points of Paudie Clifford, Tom O’Sullivan and Sean O’Shea steadied the ship for Kerry as they established five-point lead.
Roscommon refused to give up and Cox and Donie Smith pointed to leave just three in it, but Jack O’Connor’s men ensured they didn’t get any closer.
DIVISION TWO
Meath 1-11 Dublin 2-19
DUBLIN are on the brink of a return to Division One following a comfortable victory over Meath in Navan.
The visitors were in charge for large portions of the opening half, establishing a 0-7 to 0-1 lead before Meath struck back through a Matthew Costello goal on 20 minutes.
Dublin reasserted their dominance with the next three points, before Killian O’Gara grabbed their first goal just before half-time to send them in with a 1-11 to 1-2 advantage.
Points from Lee Gannon, O’Gara, Con O’Callaghan and Brian Fenton kept the scoreboard ticking over after the break before Colm Basquel set up Cormac Costello for the icing on the cake.
Louth 1-10 Clare 0-10
A FIRST win over Cork in 66 years has set Louth up for a final-day promotion play-off with Dublin at Croke Park.
A Ryan Burns goal from a spot-kick five minutes before half-time proved the difference between the sides at Ardee as the sides were evenly matched for most of the game.
With star attacker Sam Mulroy out injured, Mickey Harte’s men weren’t expected to take anything from yesterday’s game, and they didn’t lead until Ciarán Downey’s edged them in front in the 62nd minute. Further points from Tommy Durnin and Downey (free) then closed out a famous win.
Limerick 2-7 Kildare 3-10
KILDARE secured their Division Two status for next year by seeing off Limerick by six points at the TUS Gaelic Grounds yesterday. In the process, the Lilywhites confirmed Limerick’s demotion to Division Three.
Glenn Ryan’s men were already 0-4 to 0-2 up when Kevin Flynn struck for their first major on 20 minutes. The visitors went in at half-time with a 1-6 to 0-4 advantage.
Cillian Fahy gave Limerick hope with a 55th-minute goal that made it a three-point game, but Jack Robinson responded in kind for Kildare, who went on to raise another green flag towards the end through Darragh Kirwan.
DIVISION THREE
Tipperary 0-13 Offaly 2-14
STILL mourning manager Liam Kearns, who died suddenly last Sunday, Offaly found the focus to defeat Tipperary in Thurles.
Kearns had previously managed Tipperary, leading them to the 2016 All-Ireland SFC semi-final, and an emotional tribute was paid to the Kerry man before throw-in at Semple Stadium.
Tipperary were the better team in the early stages and opened up a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after 13 minutes before Offaly found their feet via points from Bernard Allen, Ruairí McNamee and Nigel Dunne. By half-time, the Faithful county had established a 0-9 to 0-7 lead.
Tipperary, without a win to show in the League to date, continued to battle throughout the second half and points from Conor Cadell and Mark Russell helped them stay in contention. However, Offaly won it on the home straight with injury-time goals from Ruairí McNamee and Anton Sullivan.
Tipperary will be playing their football in Division Three next season.
DIVISION FOUR
A real “Super Sunday” is in store next weekend in Division Four of the Allianz Football League, with Sligo, Leitrim, Laois and Wicklow all still in the promotion hunt following the weekend’s results writes Kevin Egan.
Leitrim were the big winners of the weekend, as goals in either half from Keith Beirne and Pearse Dolan, as well as late points from Beirne – bringing his tally to 1-8 – and Mark Plunkett, meant they edged out Laois by 2-14 to 0-18 at Carrick-on-Shannon.
A serious injury to Laois forward Eoin Lowry caused a long stoppage at the end of the contest, while the midlanders also hit the Leitrim crossbar while chasing the game.
Sligo are in the driving seat after their 2-10 to 0-11 win over Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park in a much less entertaining tie.
Wind-assisted in the first half, Carlow started well with two early Darragh Foley points but matters went downhill from there as goals from Seán Carrabine and Niall Murphy helped Sligo to lead by 2-4 to 0-5 at the interval, and they cruised through a dull second half.
Wicklow are still very much in the promotion chase but their failure to hold out against Wexford at Chadwicks Wexford Park may yet prove very costly.
Eoin Darcy’s second goal of the game with 67 minutes gone seemed to put them in position to follow up their comeback win over Leitrim in the previous round with yet another victory from behind, but late scores from Mark Rossiter and a Ben Brosnan free – in the eighth minute of stoppage time – means it finished level.
Mathematically, Wexford are still in the hunt, but it would take an extraordinary sequence of results for the Model county to finish second.
Finally, Leamybrien was the venue where Waterford picked up their first win in 22 months, as Conor Ó Cuirrín’s late point confirmed a 2-9 to 2-5 win over London.
