Round-up: Allianz Hurling League D4 action

Allianz Hurling League Division Four

Monaghan 1-23 Lancashire 2-16

Sligo 2-20 Leitrim 0-18

Longford 1-14 Cavan 1-12

Sligo remain the pacesetters in Division Four of the Allianz Hurling League after a second consecutive win this afternoon, though they pushed all the way by a Leitrim side that has a mountain to climb after two close defeats.

Toomevara native Colm Canning opened the scoring for the home side at Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada and with seven minutes gone further scores from Seán O’Riordan and James McNabola increased Leitrim’s hopes even further.

A run of Sligo scores, five of them from the stick of Robert O’Kelly Lynch, gave Sligo a solid foothold, but the contest was still very much in the balance at half-time, with four points from Daniel Miller keeping the game tight at 0-8 to 0-9.

The contest started to creep away from Leitrim early in the second half when points from Rory McHugh, O’Kelly Lynch and a Gerard O’Kelly Lynch goal left them with a bit to find, but they continued to battle hard around the middle with Miller, Martin Feeney and Philip Burgess working hard.

There were four points between the teams approaching the hour mark, but Sligo’s greater experience playing at higher levels then took a toll and they finished much stronger, with Gerard O’Kelly Lynch adding a second goal to bring his tally to 2-2 and Paul Walsh and Eddie O’Donoghue coming off the bench to add to the scoresheet.

Abbotstown was the venue for Lancashire’s first game in this year’s Allianz League and they looked to be in a good position to sneak two points off Monaghan and effectively rule Monaghan out of contention for promotion when Conor Murphy netted with 15 minutes to play.

It was still Lancashire three points in front (2-16 to 0-19) with 67 minutes on the clock but the Farney men found an extra gear and finished in some style, Rowan McMahon rifling in a goal before Ethan Flynn and Niall Arthur hit a couple of points each. Shane Nugent also picked up a second yellow card for Leitrim, but by the time he was dismissed by referee Adam Kinahan, Monaghan were all but assured of their first win of this year’s campaign.

Peter Boylan hit 0-11 in all for Lancashire as he had a fine afternoon from placed balls, and it was when Patrick Dwane struck the game’s first goal on 50 minutes, the lead was as big as it had been at any stage in the contest. Monaghan rallied with three points in two minutes only to ship their second green flag, but once again they were able to dig deep and hit a vein of form when most needed.

At Michael Fay Park, Longford secured their second win of the season in what was a tight and physical battle with Cavan at the Longford Slashers club field.

Longford took control of the puckout battle and picked off some good scores from midfield and half-forward to lead by 0-6 to 0-2 after 20 minutes, with Dylan McKeever unlucky not to add a goal after he scythed through the Cavan defence and got off a wristy shot on the run. Cavan then came into their own and hit 1-6 without reply before half-time, aided by a slight breeze.

Sean Keating was their goalscorer on a day when he hit 1-4 in all, but the half-time break came at the wrong time and Longford reset very well, finding the net through Cathal Mullane and holding Cavan scoreless for 15 minutes.

It was still level going into the last five minutes of action before points from Ronan Courtney and Mullane saw Longford past the finish line.