When Pat Gallagher was pulled out of a job in an amusement park to become the San Francisco Giants marketing director by the club’s owner, Bob Lurie, he was faced with an almost impossible task — selling tickets to one of the worst baseball franchises in the US in one of the oldest and coldest stadiums.

Meath overturned an 11-point half-time deficit to beat London by a point, while there were wins also for Derry, Down and Wicklow in the Christy Ring Cup's opening round this weekend.

Kildare 3-13 Meath 1-12

IRELAND 2-9 SCOTLAND 1-11

The Leinster hurling sides were to the fore in Division 3A of the Allianz League as Wicklow, Kildare and Meath mustered wins this afternoon.

The Ireland senior and U-21 squads have been named for this Saturday's Hurling-Shinty international matches at Croke Park and Ratoath respectively.

Antrim 1-19 Kildare 2-07

Three players who starred for Clare in their Hurling U-21 All-Ireland final victory have been named in the shortlist for the Breaking Through Player of the Year award.

Carlow 1-16 Kildare 1-13

A late goal from Craig Doyle ensured Carlow's presence in the semi-finals of the Kehoe Cup after their 1-13 to 1-10 win over Dublin/Fingal in what was undoubtedly the tie of the day.

Hotels group De Vere said today it will trim staff numbers to cope with a fall in demand for corporate and conference facilities.