Donegal confirm their place in final

Donegal confirmed their place in the Allianz Hurling League Division 3A final, while their were wins also for Tyrone and Fingal over a busy weekend.

A hat-trick of first half goals were key as Donegal ran out 3-13 to 0-10 winners over Louth at O'Donnell Park in Letterkenny this afternoon.

Donegal led by 3-7 to 0-3 at half-time, with two goals from Ronan McDermott and a third from Paddy Hannigan helping the hosts to a comfortable interval lead.

The sides were evenly matched on the restart, with Louth outscoring their opponents by 0-7 to 0-6 in the closing 35 minutes.

However, Donegal were not going to be overhauled and saw out their fourth straight victory of the campaign. Lee Henderson caught the eye with a six-point contribution, while Danny Cullen and Paul Sheridan were excellent at midfield.

Tyrone registered their first win of the league run courtesy of a 2-14 to 0-15 triumph over Monaghan this afternoon.

The game was moved from Inniskeen to St. Tiernach's Park in Clones due to poor weather conditions. Goals in either half from Kiefer Morgan and Gary Fox helped the visitors to victory, with the Red Hands leading by 1-8 to 0-7 at half-time.

Meanwhile, the Fingal hurlers made a winning debut at Croke Park as they got the better of Fermanagh on a 1-16 to 2-10 scoreline on Saturday evening. The game was played before the televised football clash between Dublin and Down.

JM Sheridan top scored for the north Dublin side with 0-9, and one of his point attempts led to David Smyth's seventh minute goal.

Sean Corrigan, one of Fermanagh's early point scorers, sent a sideline ball straight into the net to give the Ulstermen a 1-3 to 1-2 advantage.

But wing forward Sheridan got Fingal back on track with a five-point haul over the next quarter hour, giving them a three-point buffer at the break.

The margin was down to the minimum, 1-10 to 2-6, after Rory Porteous scrambled home a 47th minute goal and Fermanagh were back on level terms by the hour mark through Corrigan.

However, Fingal crucially produced the stronger finish at GAA headquarters with closing points from Dean Flood, Peter Daly, Sheridan and Smyth settling the issue.

The win has helped promotion chasing Fingal move above Louth into second place in the table. They have seven points and sit one behind Donegal ahead of the sides' meeting in the final round.