Hurling league finals: Mayo hold off Sligo challenge, Warwickshire stun Fermanagh

Mayo overcame Sligo's challenge to claim Division 3A hurling final while Warwickshire took the Division 3B title after shocking Fermanagh. 

DIVISION 3A WINNERS:  Mayo players and staff celebrate defeating neighbour Sligo. Pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile

Derry’s remarkable win at Croke Park wasn’t the only league final thriller played out this afternoon, as supporters at MacHale Park watched Mayo hold off a strong Sligo challenge to secure the Division 3A title on a 3-19 to 3-16 scoreline.

The crucial stage of the game was towards the end of the first quarter, when Eoin Delaney and Shane Boland found the net five minutes apart.

Points from Michael Munnelly and Thomas Cawley, alongside some solid freetaking from Gerard O’Kelly Lynch, pulled Sligo back to within three points as they continued to build on their strong showing in the round robin games between these two counties. On that occasion Delaney struck a late goal to give Mayo a four-point win, but this time around Mayo offered much more of a threat up front, particularly through Boland (2-7), Delaney (1-2), Cormac Phillips (0-5) and Liam Lavin (0-3).

Mayo led by 2-10 to 0-10 at half-time and they responded well to Thomas Cawley’s goal on 49 minutes, settling themselves during an injury stoppage before moving eight clear through another Boland green flag.

Sligo did muster up a late surge with goals from Conor Hanniffy and Conor Griffin, but they left it too late to get within a single score, and the clock ultimately ran out on the Yeats County.

DIVISION 3B WINNERS: The Warwickshire team celebrate their side's victory. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

In Division 3B, there was something of a shock as Fermanagh, who racked up a comfortable 1-19 to 2-5 win over Warwickshire in the group stages, were undone by the Exiles this afternoon in Ederney.

Luke Hands’ goal after 55 minutes was met with ferocious protests from the home side and supporters as he was deemed to be in the small square in plenty of time to meet a high hanging delivery, but the score stood and it established a five point-lead for Warwickshire, the same margin as there was at the final whistle, with Warwickshire leading by 1-18 to 1-13.

This was a feisty encounter from start to finish, with a couple of heavy challenges in the first half that might have warranted stronger sanctions from referee Conor Daly, but the Kildare referee kept his red card in his pocket until late in the game, when Warwickshire full forward Ian Dwyer received a second yellow card.

Fermanagh started well into the breeze with Luca McCusker and Brian Teehan on the mark, but they were soon reeled in and a string of frees from David Devine made it 0-12 to 0-5 with half-time approaching.

Danánn McKeogh’s goal before the break suggested that Fermanagh had braved the storm, though this score too was tinged with controversy after Warwickshire suggested that a Fermanagh line ball had been struck twice, but scores from Kevin McKernan and Dan Lowry kept the visitors ahead throughout the third quarter, before Hands’ late strike effectively settled the contest, giving Warwickshire their first league win since beating Longford in the equivalent final of 2015.