Carlow’s early blitz proves too much for London

NHL Divisional round-up: Carlow remain the front runners in Division 2A after they burst out of the blocks in Ruislip on Saturday, putting London to the sword.

Heavy underfoot conditions soon turned this contest into a mudbath. Carlow had made the best of the comparatively good ground in the early stages as Marty Kavanagh, Sean Murphy and Seamus Murphy all rattled the net. Carlow led by 3-7 to 0-1 at half-time and eased to a 3-12 to 0-7 victory.

Derry moved into third place, behind Kerry on scoring difference, thanks to a 2-15 to 3-10 win over Westmeath at Owenbeg. Alan Grant’s goal helped them into a 1-9 to 1-6 half-time lead and that gap was pushed out to five after the restart, but goals from Niall Dowdall and Alan Devine, as well as a string of Brendan Murtagh frees, edged Westmeath in front late on. However, Declan Foley delivered a crucial late goal for Derry.

Kildare remain overwhelming favourites in Division 2B after they overcame Down by 2-15 to 1-12 at Newbridge. James Coyle cancelled out Gerry Keegan’s early goal and helped push Down into a three-point lead. Kildare made a big surge shortly before half-time and went into the dressing rooms 2-9 to 1-8 in front, their second goal coming from Bernard Deay.

Down went 20 minutes without scoring until Conor Woods’ point after 48 minutes. With defences dominant in the final quarter, Down never really threatened.

Ryan Gaffney scored 13 points for Armagh as they got their season up and running with a 1-18 to 2-10 win over Donegal at the Athletic Grounds. Meath are also off the mark thanks to a 3-8 to 0-9 win over Mayo at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence in Bekan.

Monaghan blew Division 3A wide open in the shock result of the day, coming from four points down at half-time to record a 0-17 to 1-10 win over Roscommon at Castleblayney.

Gary and Gerry Fallon were in strong scoring form for the Rossies as the visitors built up a 1-8 to 0-7 half-time lead, their goal coming from free-taker Gerry Fallon.

However, Monaghan were dominant after the restart with Ronan Meegan accumulating a total of 0-9, while Fergal Rafter also picked off a couple of crucial scores.

Last-minute points from Damien Casey and Conor Grogan edged out Fingal as Tyrone recorded a 1-16 to 1-15 win at Artane, while Louth easily overcame Fermanagh by 4-17 to 3-7 in the meeting between the two sides that have been heavily tipped to fight it out in a bid to avoid relegation.