U21 Football Championship round-up

There was a busy night's action in the Cadbury's Under-21 Football Championship with matches three of the four provinces.

In Pairc Tailteann in Navan, it took extra-time for Longford to dispose of Meath, while an extra 20 minutes was also required at the Gaelic Grounds before hosts Limerick overcame Munster neighbours Clare.

In Leinster, both Longford and Meath finished with 14 men as Longford claimed a 0-17 to 2-9 victory.

Meath had disposed of Dublin after extra-time in the previous round, but failed to inflict a similiar defeat on Longford. Longford led by 0-8 to 1-0 at half-time in normal time, with Mark Battersby scoring Meath's goal.

Meath stormed back into contention on the restart with the likes of Andrew Tormey, Mark O'Sullivan and Darren Smith impressing.

Five unanswered points, including two from Tormey, saw the Royals take a 1-8 to 0-10 lead late on, before a Robbie Smith point forced extra-time.

Longford led by 0-16 to 2-8 at half-time in extra-time, with Tormey netting Meath's goal from a penalty.

Meath's Ciaran Lenehan and Fergal Reilly of Longford were both shown red cards in the second period of extra-time as Longford held out for a narrow win.

Meanwhile, six points from Conor Lynam provied crucial for Westmeath in their 0-12 to 0-6 triumph over Offaly at Athlone.

The suspension of John Heslin hit the hosts but they burst into a 0-6 to 0-3 interval lead, and failed to let up in the second half.

A late Derek Butler point was vital as Wexford staved off a second half comeback from Kildare to take a 0-13 to 0-12 win at Enniscorthy.

Wexford led by 0-5 to 0-3 at half-time, with Michael O'Regan the standout player. The game was held up for almost 20 minutes at the interval due to floodlight failure at the Wexford venue.

Elsewhere in Leinster, Carlow powered to a facile 8-19 to 1-1 win over Kilkenny at IT Carlow. Robbie Power (2-3), Eddie Byrne (2-0), Cillian McCabe (1-3) and David Kehoe (1-2) were the main scorers for the hosts.

Carlow led by 3-10 to 0-1 at half-time with Conor Foley claiming Kilkenny's point. An Andrew Kavanagh goal was the Cats' lone score in the second half.

In Munster, reigning champions Tipperary advanced to meet Cork in the semi-finals on the back of a 1-14 to 1-4 win over Waterford at Fraher Field in Dungarvan.

Tipperary led by 1-7 to 1-3 at half-time with Conor Sweeney firing home an early goal for the visitors.

In the other quarter-final, Limerick emerged victorious after extra-time at the Gaelic Grounds, beating Clare on a 2-11 to 0-15 scoreline.

Clare led by 0-7 to 1-3 at half-time in normal time, but Limerick were dogged in the second half and forced extra-time thanks to an extra-time Jamesie Kelly goal.

In Ulster, Derry bounced back from an early Armagh hat-trick to claim a 2-10 to 3-3 win at Celtic Park.

Goals from Caolan Rafferty and Aidan Forker helped Armagh take an early 3-1 to 1-2 lead, but a Caolan O'Boyle goal got Derry firing on the restart.