Hurling wrap: Odhrán McKeever inspires Derry to convincing win over Wicklow

Derry were subsequently paired up against the winner of the Roscommon vs Sligo play-off for the semi-final of the Ring Cup, with Wicklow now facing a much more daunting contest against Offaly

Odhrán McKeever fired in a brace of goals for Derry at Owenbeg on Saturday afternoon to help the Oak Leaf county to a 2-23 to 0-18 win over Wicklow, which in turn ensured they finished top of their Christy Ring group.

Derry were subsequently paired up against the winner of the Roscommon vs Sligo play-off for the semi-final of the Ring Cup, with Wicklow now facing a much more daunting contest against Offaly.

The home side came into this game on the back of a real scare against Roscommon a week ago, but they were vastly improved here, notwithstanding a slow start where they fell 0-4 to 0-2 behind.

Cormac O'Doherty, Gerald Bradley, Brian Cassidy and Mark McGuigan were all on the mark as Derry shot the next six points in succession, but Wicklow rallied to trail by just a single point at half time.

Points from Bradley and Sé McGuigan shifted momentum back towards Derry after half-time, and once McKeever fired in his first goal just before the ten minute mark in the half, it was plain sailing from then on, even more so once Wicklow’s Daniel Staunton was red carded.

Donegal scored just one goal and conceded four but were still comfortable in their Nickey Rackard Cup tie against Leitrim, as they secured a 1-27 to 4-10 win in Carrick-on-Shannon. Two goals from Diarmuid Kelleher and one from James McNabola gave Leitrim a 3-5 to 0-10 interval lead, and with Ronan McDermott sent off early in the second quarter, the favourites were under immense pressure.

The new penalty rule again came to the fore for the key turning point after half-time as Martin Feeney was shown a second yellow card for a foul that was deemed to deny Ritchie Ryan a goal-scoring opportunity, and once Declan Coulter drilled the ball to the net, Donegal were level in personnel and right back in the game.

Coulter (1-10), Ryan (0-7), Gerry Gilmore (0-5) and Bernard Lafferty (0-3) all racked up the scores as Donegal opened up to dominate the second half and set up a semi-final clash against Tyrone in Omagh, while Leitrim now face Armagh in a quarter-final that will double up as a relegation playoff.

In the Lory Meaghar Cup, Joe O’Brien fired over an equalising free to bring his tally to 1-10 and salvage a 1-16 to 0-19 draw for Longford against Monaghan at Inniskeen.

Monaghan will now play Fermanagh in a quarter-final tie, with the winners taking on Longford, while Cavan and Louth will face off on the other side of the draw.