Round-up: Allianz HL D3 action
Donegal senior hurling team manager Mickey McCann. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Allianz Hurling League Division Three
Donegal 3-20 Roscommon 0-19
Wicklow 3-27 Louth 0-11
Armagh 0-21 Fermanagh 1-18
Donegal’s surprise defeat to Wicklow in the penultimate round of games rendered the trip to King & Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park a de facto Allianz League semi-final clash, and the Tír Chonaill men stepped up to the mark with a greatly improved performance.
Wicklow were the side in the driving seat going into this afternoon, but they still had to take care of their own business and they did exactly that, easing past Louth to ensure promotion, and home advantage for their rematch with Donegal in the league final.
Roscommon enjoyed a strong start, scoring through Conor Morris and Cian Murray, but without taking their chances, Donegal still looked dangerous once they hit their straps, they struck 1-5 unanswered and never relinquished their lead from there.
A superb goal from Josh Cronolly McGee crowned that purple patch and if anything, Roscommon did well not to fall further behind as Donegal seemed to be able to break holes in their defence at will, such as when Kevin Kealy broke through to set up Richie Ryan for a second goal in the 12th minute.
Roscommon gave themselves a lifeline with five points in a row, inspired by Seán Canning who has thrived since his switch from the county senior football panel to Brian Hanley’s group.
Paddy Fallon also came back into the squad this year and his free reduced the gap to a single point at 0-12 to 2-7, only for Donegal to roar right back into the game.
Ryan’s second goal made it 3-10 to 0-12 at the change of ends, and that was still the balance after the first six points of the second half were equally shared.
An early injury to Gerry Gilmore will be a concern for the Donegal management but in this instance Liam McKinney took over the freetaking duties with ease, landing five dead balls one one point from play for a Donegal side that always had something to spare, in no small part because of some fine saves from Liam White to deny Conor Mulry and Adam Donnelly.
The gap in motivation for the two teams at Echelon Park in Aughrim was apparent right from the moment Ciarán O’Donovan threw the ball in, and Wicklow were in no mood to let the Wee County run the risk of spoiling their party. Fionn Darcy goaled inside 60 seconds, Brandon Ryan fired two from play from midfield as Wicklow went 1-7 to 0-0 ahead after 10 minutes, and a second goal from Eoin McCormack left no doubt about what way this game was headed. Darcy and Ryan had very productive outings, racking up 2-7 and 0-5 respectively, all from play, in a comprehensive win for the Garden County.
There was nothing at stake for Fermanagh and Armagh at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, where the two Ulster counties played out a 0-21 to 1-18 draw, meaning that both sides ended this campaign without a win, and they will meet again in Division Four in 2027.
