The three English-based teams stole the headlines this weekend, with London, Warwickshire and Lancashire among the teams to book places in the Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher Cup Finals, respectively.

Christy Ring Cup

London are in their first Christy Ring Cup Final since their 2012 success after they ran out convincing winners against **Wicklow **in Carlow on Saturday.

There was little to choose between the teams in the early exchanges, with Andy O’Brien, Ronan Keddy and Danny Staunton among the Wicklow scorers and Aaron Sheehan leading the charge for London, who eventually gained the upper hand to move five points up by the half-hour mark. George O’Brien rattled the net before half-time, however, to help Wicklow stay within four (0-15 to 1-8).

Sheehan and Andy O’Brien continued to add to their tallies after the restart, before London took control of the game with two quick-fire goals around the three-quarter mark, both finished by Shane Lawless.

Sheehan went on to rack up 0-14 to rise up the competition’s scoring charts and with Henry Vaughan and Martin Duggan adding points, London weren’t going to be denied. Andy O’Brien notched a late consolation goal for Wicklow, but they exited on a 2-28 to 2-14 scoreline.

Meanwhile, Kildare are in the decider for the first time since they won it in 2014 after they proved too strong for Derry in a cracker at Inniskeen on Sunday.

A string of saves by goalkeeper Paddy McKenna helped Kildare get over the line in a game where they gained the upper hand in the second half. Derry started brightly with a goal from dual star Brendan Rogers, but with Barry Cormack on target from frees and Martin Fitzgerald rattling the net, Kildare rallied strongly.

Paul Divilly pushed Kildare four points up, but that cushion was short-lived, as Sé McGuigan found a way past the impressive McKenna to bring Derry right back into it. Derry were level at 1-9 to 2-6 at the interval, although had it not been for McKenna’s heroics in goals for Kildare, the score may have read very differently.

Kildare led by a point at the end of a tense third quarter and they then took a grip on the game when Jack Sheridan notched their second goal.

Sheridan had come off the bench to rack up 2-6 in Kildare’s previous win over Wicklow and he went on to add another goal here at the end of a surging run. McGuigan and Cormac O’Doherty hit some good points for Derry, but with substitute James Burke landing 0-4, Kildare went safely through on a 3-18 to 2-13 scoreline.

Nicky Rackard Cup

Donegal are through to the Nicky Rackard Cup Final for the first time since they went all the way in 2013 after they powered past Monaghan at Owenbeg to knock their fellow Ulster side out for the fourth time in five years.

Goals by Davin Flynn and Kevin Campbell saw Donegal make an explosive start and although Mark Treanor responded for Monaghan, the Group 1 winners continued to dominate, with Flynn converting a series of frees. Donegal were 2-12 to 1-3 clear at half-time and even after Monaghan hit the first three points of the second half, Flynn quickly netted his second goal (en route to a personal tally of 2-11).

Danny Cullen and Declan Coulter were also prominent as Donegal surged further ahead and they finished with a flourish by hitting 1-2 in added time. Substitute Caolán McDermott added goal number four to seal a 4-22 to 1-10 win for Donegal.

Donegal’s opponents at Croke Park on June 23 will be fellow Group winners Warwickshire, who finished strongly to pull away from Tyrone at Dowdallshill, Dundalk.

The teams evenly shared the first six points, but Shane Caufield and Niall McKenna were among the scorers as Warwickshire Tyrone made a spirited finish to the first half, however, with a brace from Damian Casey seeing them cut the gap to a goal (1-8 to 0-8). Another couple of scores by Casey and a Seán Óg Grogan goal kept Tyrone in touch after the restart, but the latter proved to be their last score, as Warwickshire finished with seven straight points.

McKenna, Kelvin Magee, Paul Uniacke and Garry Lennon helped the Exiles secure a 1-25 to 1-14 win that stretches their impressive unbeaten run to 16 games. The 2017 Lory Meagher champions are now through to their first Nicky Rackard Cup decider.

Louth retained their Nicky Rackard status with a 2-22 to 2-10 win over Leitrim in Mullingar. Paddy Lynch, Ronan Byrne and Gerard Smyth were to the fore as Louth led from start to finish in this relegation play-off. Louth had raced into a 0-9 to 0-1 lead and despite Leitrim rallying with a brace of goals during the second quarter, the Wee County rallied to go in ahead by 1-13 to 2-6. There was no way back from there for Leitrim, who are bound for a return to the Lory Meagher Cup.

Lory Meagher Cup

Completing a landmark day for the overseas teams, **Lancashire **qualified for their first Lory Meagher Cup Final appearance via a 1-19 to 0-9 win over Fermanagh in Enniskillen. Ronan Crowley and Nathan Unwin helped lead the Exiles to a commanding win that saw them secure a top-two place in the group and a clash with Sligo in a fortnight’s time.

Sligo had already claimed their berth in the final, even though they fell to a 4-15 to 0-15 defeat at home to Cavan in round three. Sligo led by 0-9 to 0-6 at the end of an evenly-matched first half, but Cavan notched four goals in the second period to finish the campaign on a high, even if it wasn’t enough to advance to what would have been their first final appearance.

John Sheanon, Kevin Conneely and Seán Keating helped Cavan claim the win on the day, but Sligo are still bound for Croke Park for the third time in four years.

RESULTS:

Saturday, June 9

Christy Ring Cup Semi-Final**

London 2-28 Wicklow 2-14

Nicky Rackard Cup Semi-Finals

Donegal 4-22 Monaghan 1-10

Warwickshire 1-25 Tyrone 1-14

Nicky Rackard Cup Relegation Play-Off

Louth 2-22 Leitrim 2-10

Lory Meagher Cup Round 3

Fermanagh 0-10 Lancashire 1-19

Sligo 0-15 Cavan 4-15

Sunday, June 10

Christy Ring Cup Semi-Final

Kildare 3-18 Derry 2-13