Down and Kildare look destined for Division 2 hurling final

Kildare scored 2-3 in the opening nine minutes against Donegal, including a goal from Gerry Keegan. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Down and Kildare still look destined for the Allianz Hurling League Division 2 final after they racked up big wins over the weekend, taking full advantage of Meath falling short in Tralee.

Kildare didn’t waste any time in crushing Donegal’s positive momentum on the back of their win over Kerry, hitting their Ulster opponents for 2-3 inside the opening nine minutes at Cedral St. Conleth’s Park before going on to win by 3-21 to 1-15.

Darragh Melville and Gerry Keegan struck two goals in two minutes, with James Dolan adding a third later in the half when he was first to react to the rebound from Liam White’s save of a Jack Sheridan shot.

Kildare eased off the gas after accumulating a 15-point half-time lead and a Ronan McDermott goal, as well as some good Liam McKinney points, meant that Donegal had something positive to focus on in advance of their final game of the campaign, a potential relegation decider against Derry.

Down were even more comfortable against Tyrone at Ballycran, slamming in nine goals in a 9-26 to 0-13 victory that cemented the two counties’ spots at the top and bottom of the table respectively.

Pearse Óg McCrickard (2-10), Donal Hughes (2-2), Chris Egan (1-2) and Tim Prenter (2-2) did most of the damage up front for the Mourne men.

In Division Three, Cavan gave their own survival chances a massive boost and simultaneously dealt Wicklow a hammer blow to their promotion aspirations at Kingspan Breffni Park, when they turned around a five-point deficit after Tommy Collins was sent off for the Garden County.

Wicklow led by 0-9 to 0-4 when Collins was dismissed but Cavan had threatened goals on a couple of occasions, hitting the post through Eamon Óg McAllister and seeing Conor McNally make a brilliant save to also deny the same player.

Those misses looked like they would be costly when there was still four points between the sides (0-15 to 0-11) with 57 minutes gone. Then Liam O’Brien, Cavan’s only scorer in the opening half, found the net and the Breffni men cut loose.

Dillon Mulligan found the net for a second goal, Seanie Keating brought his tally to 0-5 and late scores by Nicky Kenny and O’Brien sealed a memorable 2-20 to 1-18 win.

League leaders London weren’t in action so Mayo took a huge step forward towards joining the Exiles in the league final with a 3-25 to 1-12 win over Roscommon at Tooreen.

Cathal Kenny got an early goal for the Rossies in the border venue and it wasn’t until the 28th minute that Mayo took their first lead through Shane Boland. The second half was one-way traffic however with Cormac Phillips (2-8), Liam Lavin (1-3) and Joseph Burke (0-6) filling their boots on the way to a 19-point win.

In the basement battle between Sligo and Armagh at Markievicz Park, the visiting Orchard men gave themselves a fighting chance of beating the drop with a 3-15 to 1-19 win, their victory powered by two early goals from Stephen Keenan and Pauric McNaughton. Charlie McArdle hit a third goal for Armagh in the opening half and that gave them just about enough leeway to hold on.

In Division Four, Peter Fortune (0-4), Thomas McCreesh (0-4) and in particular Conor Murphy (0-7) were in outstanding form from open play in Abbotstown for Louth, who beat Lancashire by 0-30 to 2-10.

Leitrim also look destined for the league final after Joe Murray’s 1-10 tally, including a goal after 57 minutes, helped them to beat Monaghan by 1-18 to 0-16, while Fermanagh travelled to Birmingham and picked up an 0-18 to 1-12 win over Warwickshire.