Duignan and Ravenhill shine as Offaly put Laois to the sword

Duignan and Ravenhill combined to score 18 points.

Laois' Mark Dowling comes up against James Nally and David King of Offaly. Pic: Ben Brady/Inpho

Brian Duignan and Dan Ravenhill combined to score 18 points between them in Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Sunday afternoon as Offaly put Laois to the sword in the second half of their local derby contest, setting up a fascinating battle with Antrim in Tullamore next weekend.

Both goalkeepers, Mark Troy and Enda Rowland, were called into action in the first half and they delivered key saves in a contest that was otherwise very closely contested.

Cha Dwyer picked off a couple of fine points to help Laois lead by 0-11 to 0-9 at the break, but once the sides turned around and Offaly had the aid of the mild breeze, they powered on with Ravenhill (0-5) and Duignan (0-13, 0-10f) dominant. Both goals in Offaly’s 1-24 to 1-15 win came late, with David Nally coming off the bench to hit the net for the Faithful men before Rowland fired home a consolation penalty in stoppage time.

In Division Two, Donegal didn’t let their momentum from last week go to waste as they picked up a crucial ten-point win over Tyrone at O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny this afternoon, pushing clear of their neighbours in the second half.

There was a point between the sides at the break but Donegal kicked on with points from Ronan McDermott, Gerard Gilmore and Brian McIntyre, and they were looking good even before Conor Gartland’s goal on the hour mark pushed the lead out to double figures.

The game got scrappy at the end with Tyrone’s Ben Gormley and Cormac Munroe both sent off, as was Brian McIntyre of Donegal, while Luke White crowned a fine afternoon’s work for Donegal when he saved Michael Little’s penalty in stoppage time to leave it 1-20 to 0-13.

In Saturday’s games, Tom McGrattan shot 0-9 out of his eventual tally of 0-15 (0-7 from play) in the first half as Down racked up an 0-14 to 0-7 interval lead against Derry at Owenbeg, and second half goals from Tim Prenter and Eoghan Sands confirmed a comfortable 2-26 to 0-13 win. 

Roscommon were the eye-catchers in Division Three as they put Armagh to the sword with a devastating 1-22 to 0-10 victory at Dr. Hyde Park, bouncing back well from their defeat to London last week.

Cathal Kenny (0-5), Cian Murray (0-3) and James Hardiman (0-3) all scored well on an afternoon where 1-17 out of the Rossies’ tally was struck from open play, with Finn Killion striking their clinching goal midway through the second half.

This win puts them right back in the promotion mix, though it’s London who are in the driving seat after they overcame Wicklow by 1-18 to 1-17 in Aughrim.

Corner-forward Dylan Dawson popped up with the winning score four minutes into stoppage time at Echelon Park, confirming the Exiles’ place on top of the Division Three table tonight with two games played.

Warren Kavanagh and Seánie Germaine scored the first two points of the game for the home side but London went on a run of 1-3 unanswered in reply, with David Devine scoring their goal after nine minutes.

That was the only time there was ever more than a score between the teams as Pádraig Doyle hit back with Wicklow’s goal a minute later, and while London briefly moved three clear again, even that was short-lived. By the final quarter, the contest was point-for-point, with London taking the lead twice and then conceding the next score, only for Germaine to shoot Wicklow in front going into the last minute of normal time.

The other contest in this Division was at Kingspan Breffni, where Cavan beat Sligo by 1-17 to 1-12.

Shane Briody’s black card with 25 minutes played allowed Sligo to score a quickfire 1-1, their goal from Andrew Kilcullen, to level the game at 0-8 to 1-5 approaching half-time.

Three Liam O’Brien points restored Cavan’s advantage before the interval and when Canice Maher hit 1-1 for Cavan in the space of 60 seconds early in the second-half, the home side were in control.

In Division Four, Louth look to be head and shoulders above the pack after racking up a second big win. They beat Monaghan by 2-24 to 0-12 at Dowdallshill, despite missing two first-half penalties.

Darren Geoghegan put those misses behind him and went on to score 0-10 (0-4 from play) while Peter Fortune and Sam Phelan scored goals for the dominant home side.

Elsewhere, Caolan Duffy’s goal separated the sides at Kinawley where Fermanagh beat Longford by 1-14 to 0-14, and it was all square at Páirc na hÉireann, where Lancashire rattled off the last 1-4 without reply to reel in their neighbours from Warwickshire. Warwickshire 1-18 Lancashire 3-12 was the final score at the Birmingham venue.