Waterford no match for unbeaten Louth
Though Karl O’Keeffe and Laurence Hurney gave Waterford an early lead, Louth took control midway through the opening half with goals from Mark Brennan and Christy Grimes for a six points interval lead (2-4 to 0-4).
Four minutes after the restart substitute Ronan Carroll breezed through for Louth’s third goal and, when Paul Foley tamely shot wide from a penalty six minutes later, the Waterford cause was lost.
They managed just one second-half point from a Brian Wall free, while Louth effortlessly added to their tally before Clarke goaled four minutes from time.
Louth scorers: D. Clarke(1-2); C. Grimes(1-2); M. Brennan (1-1); R.Carroll(1-0); A.Hoey(0-3); M. Farrelly, J. P. Rooney, P. Keenan (0-1) each.
Waterford: K. O’Keeffe(0-2); L. Hurney, J. Ryan, B. Wall(0-1) each.
LOUTH: S. Reynolds; D. Brennan, C. Goss, B. Reilly; J. O’Brien, P. McGinnity, J. Neary; M. Farrelly, P. Keenan; C. Grimes, M. Brennan, S. Lennon; J. P. Rooney, A. Hoey, D. Clarke; Subs: R. Carroll for Lennon; D. Finnegan for D. Brennan; S. P’Neill for Grimes; D. Bracken for M. Brennan; J. Doyle for Neary.
WATERFORD: T. Wall; E. Rockett, L. Hurney, S. Briggs; J. Phelan, M. Ahern, J. Hurney; P. Ogle, A. Ahearne; J. Ryan, K. O’Keeffe, S. Cunningham; B. Wall, G. Hurney, L. Ó Lionain.
Subs: P. Foley for Ogle; P. Power for Wall; A. Heffernan for Ryan.
Referee: M Meade, Limerick.
Cavan 0-12 Westmeath 0-7
Damien Maher
INSPIRED by brilliant wing-forward Larry Reilly, Cavan outgunned Westmeath to score a crucial victory at Cusack Park, Mullingar, yesterday.
The win leaves the Breffni men poised for promotion.
Cavan led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the interval and six wides at the start of the second half proved Westmeath’s undoing. While the Lakelanders were struggling with their shooting, Reilly was showing the way at the other end with sublime accuracy in the difficult playing conditions.
Westmeath had centre back Damien Healy sent off on a second yellow card 11 minutes from the end after he fouled Cavan’s Sean Johnston.
Substitute Dermot McCabe landed three precious points, two from frees.
Scorers for Cavan: L Reilly 0-4 (1f), F O’Reilly 0-3 (frees), D McCabe 0-3 (2f), M Brennan 0-1, S Johnston 0-1.
Scorers for Westmeath: D Dolan 0-3 (2f), A Mangan 0-2, P Bannon 0-1, PJ Ward 0-1.
WESTMEATH: G Connaughton; J Davitt, D O’Donoghue, J Keane; M Ennis, D Healy, D Heavin; D Duffy, D O’Shaughnessy; A Mangan, G Dolan, G Duffy; P Bannon, Denis Glennon, D Dolan.
Subs: G Glennon for Davitt (20), S Cleary for D Heavin (inj., 37), PJ Ward for G Duffy (h/t).
CAVAN: J Reilly; M Hannon, P Reilly, K Fannin; A Gaynor, C Collins, J Jordan; M Brennan, N Walsh; L Reilly, S Brady, F O’Reilly; J O’Reilly, E O’Reilly, S Johnston.
Subs: E O’Reilly for J O’Reilly (31), D McCabe for Brady (44), R Flanagan for E O’Reilly (58), G Pierson for R Reilly (75).
Referee: V Neary (Mayo).
Tipperary 1-10 Wicklow 0-7
Mark Kennedy
A GOAL after three minutes provided the platform for Tipperary to record an away victory in Arklow yesterday.
Brian Mulvihill found the net after Declan Browne had forced a save from Ray Daniels in the Wicklow goal. Mulvihill was just one of a live-wire full-forward line who accounted for all but a point of the winners’ total.
Scorers for Tipperary: B Mulvihill (1-3), D Browne (0-4), D O’Brien (0-2), B Hickey (0-1).
Scorers for Wicklow: J Daniels (0-2), N Mernagh, T Gill, A Nolan, P Dalton, W Callaghan (0-1 each).
TIPPERARY: P. Fitzgerald, P. O’Flaherty, P. King, A. Morrissey, M. Peters, R. Costigan, C. Maher, E. Hanrahan, A. Fitzgerald, P. Austin, B. Lacey, B. Hickey, B. Mulvihill, D Browne, D. O’Brien.
Subs: M. Phelan for P. O’Flaherty, S. Murphy for P. Austin, N. Kelly for D. O’Brien.
WICKLOW: R. Daniels, C. Hyland, D. Power, B. Daly, A. Foley, B. O’Donovan, C. Foley, J. Stafford, G. Duffy, N. Mernagh, L. Glynn, A. Ellis, T. Gill, P. Dalton, J. Daniels.
Subs: A. Nolan for L. Glynn, L. Glynn for A. Ellis, K. Kelly for N. Mernagh, W. Callaghan for B. O’Donovan, G. Doyle for T. Gill.
Referee: T Quigley, (Wexford).
Antrim 0-15 Sligo 1-13
John McGrath
ANTRIM fell to a late Sligo sucker punch at Casement Park to end hopes of promotion from NFL Division 2B.
The Saffrons looked to be heading for victory after Owen Doherty and Ciaran Close put over points to inch their side ahead near the end, but Mark Breheny score an excellent goal to edge Sligo home by a point with the last kick of the game.
ANTRIM: J Finucane; N Scullion, P Doherty, D Gault; S Devlin, T Convery, M McCann; J Quinn, B Herron (0-1); K Brady (0-2), M Magill, O Doherty (0-2); P Cunningham (0-4 frees), K McGourty (0-2), M Dougan.
Subs: S McVeigh for Devlin (26), K Niblock for Scullion (26), A Press for McVeigh (35); C Close (0-4, 0-3 frees) for Cunningham (46), C Lynch for Magill (65).
SLIGO: P Greene; C Harrison, N McGuire, R Donovan; B Kivlehan, P McGovern, J Davey; P Doohan (0-2), S Davey (0-6, 0-3 frees); B Curran (0-2), M Breheny (1-0), A Marren (0-2); B O’Reilly, J McPartland, K Sweeney.
Subs: E O’Hara (0-1) for Sweeney (h-t), P Taylor for McPartland (49), D McTernan for O’Reilly (64).
Referee: M Higgins (Fermanagh).
