Hurling League round-up: Eoghan Sands and Eoghan Cahill on fire in Down and Offaly wins

Donegal derailed an in-form Mayo side to land the biggest shock of the day in Letterkenny

Down's Eoghan Sands. Picture: INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan

Down’s trip to Tullamore to take on Offaly in a fortnight’s time is shaping up to be a crucial Division 2A league decider after these two counties picked up big wins on Sunday.

Down travelled to Wicklow in high spirits after beating Carlow but their contest in Aughrim failed to catch fire early on, with all bar a handful of the first half scores coming from dead balls. 

The switch to playing with the wind brought about a transformation however - Eoghan Sands shot two goals out of heavy traffic from close range in the space of four minutes and they kept piling on the misery, scoring 2-10 in between Wicklow’s first and second score of the second half. 

A third goal from Oisín McManus confirmed a 21-point margin of victory for the Ulster county.

Carlow did well on both puckouts and in the battle for turnovers against Offaly at Netwatch Cullen Park, and trailed by just one at half time, with Oisín Kelly and John Michael Nolan finding the net at either end.

Offaly were a transformed side after the interval however and they dominated the second 35 minutes, with Eoghan Cahill (1-12), Kelly (1-4), and Liam Langton (0-4) their main scorers.

Goals from Ronan McDermott, Ritchie Ryan, and two from Declan Coulter helped produce probably the biggest shock of the day in Letterkenny, where Donegal derailed an in-form Mayo side by 4-18 to 0-13 in Division 2B.

Kildare continue to look like they’re head and shoulders above every team in this division, however, as they put Derry to the sword at Hawkfield. 

James Burke and Johnny Byrne got goals for the Lilywhites in the seven minutes spell before half-time, and Byrne added two more before Conor Dowling also found the net in the third quarter to put a lopsided look on the scoreboard (5-17 to 1-14) that was somewhat unkind to a wholehearted Derry performance.

Joe McHugh (1-3) and Gerard O’Kelly Lynch (1-11, 0-10 frees) led the way in the Sligo attack as they recorded a comfortable 2-24 to 1-18 win in their first game of the year in Division 3A against Armagh, while there was plenty of drama down the N4 in Longford, where Tyrone’s Lorcan Devlin and Damien Casey (two) shot the last three points of the game to salvage a 2-22 each draw with the home side at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.

CJ McCourty scored two goals for Tyrone in the opening half while Cathal Mullane got both goals for Longford in an entertaining game that keeps Tyrone in the hunt for promotion.

The final round game in Division 3B between Fermanagh and Louth will be a league decider after these two counties prevailed over Leitrim and Cavan.

Sean Corrigan was in exceptional form for Fermanagh, setting up Shea Curran’s goal in the first half and registering a string of superb points late in their 1-19 to 1-11 win in Carrick-on-Shannon, while Louth needed an injury time free from Darren Geoghegan to snatch an 0-19 to 2-12 win over Cavan, having conceded two goals to Caoimhín Carney in the first half of their contest at Darver.