Down manager, Conor Laverty.
ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
DOWN 3-15 CLARE 1-11
Down’s slight wobble in Mullingar last Sunday was well and truly put behind them at Páirc Esler in Newry this afternoon, where Conor Laverty’s side comprehensively outplayed an in-form Clare side, sealing their win with two goals in quick succession early in the second half.
Only Dublin scored more than the Mourne County across seven Allianz League games this Spring, and Down got out to a flier here too, scoring two early points and a goal from Ceilum Doherty.
Aaron Griffin’s sharp run and finish shook the twine of the Down net in response however, and Clare had their chance to build on that momentum when John Doherty received a black card and the Munster County were just two points in arrears and had ten minutes of play with an extra man.
Instead Down held firm to lead by 1-7 to 1-4 after half-time thanks to three points in a row from Danny Magill, Patrick Havern and Doherty, and they were out of sight when Odhran Murdock scored one goal from a penalty and then set up another for Danny Magill in the space of 60 seconds midway through the second half.
The sides traded points through the final quarter but Clare never looked like causing Down any sweat, and they will look back with regret at their one-point defeat in Mullingar as the crucial result in this league campaign.
SLIGO 1-14 WESTMEATH 0-11
Unlike Down, Westmeath will go into next Saturday’s evening’s Allianz League Division Three final at Croke Park against Down under something of a cloud, after they lost their way and were outplayed by Sligo in the final round of games at Markievicz Park today.
Dessie Dolan said afterwards that his team “lacked a spark”, though they started well, with two points from Luke Loughlin opening the scoring. Lee Deignan and Niall Murphy shot good scores for Sligo in response, but Ronan O’Toole and Loughlin hit the target to leave Westmeath 0-6 to 0-4 in front at half-time.
The midlanders needed a positive result to be sure of promotion, though as the afternoon progressed, Down’s dominance against Clare removed the urgency from the situation.
Whether that fed through to the Westmeath players in the second half is hard to tell, but it certainly looked that way as Sligo kicked the first four points of the second half. The home side were reeled in, in no small part due to John Heslin’s introduction for the first time this year, but then retook the lead through Alan McLoughlin and Niall Murphy, all before Seán Carrabine’s 70th minute goal ensured a positive finish for the Yeats County in advance of the Connacht Championship.
ANTRIM 1-14 WICKLOW 0-14
Ruairí McCann of Aghagallon crowned his return to the Antrim starting team after a long layoff with a crucial goal in what turned out to be a straight relegation shootout at Corrigan Park this afternoon. A win for Wicklow would have seen Oisín McConville’s side stay up, and while Antrim started well to move into a three-point lead, the Garden County grew into the game and were back within a point when McCann leapt highest to meet a Eunan Walsh delivery and find the net just before half time.
Wicklow again rallied with the first two points of the second half to make it 1-7 to 0-8, but Patrick McBride came up trumps for the home side, on his home club pitch, when he kicked three second half points from play to keep the Saffrons’ noses in front and ensure that they preserved their Division Three status, at the expense of their opponents.
OFFALY 1-10 LIMERICK 0-12
While that result in Belfast effectively made the meeting of Offaly and Limerick at Tullamore redundant, the Faithful County didn’t know that and still started off at Glenisk O’Connor Park knowing that they needed at least a draw to be sure of avoiding the drop.
They gave their supporters plenty of nervous moments in the first half on that front, producing a disjointed 35 minutes that was riddled with errors and wides, even though they enjoyed a decent share of possession.
Barry Coleman and Cathal Downes kicked the best scores of the half for Limerick, who were full value for their 0-6 to 0-4 interval lead.
It looked like Offaly turned the corner after half time when the impressive Dylan Hyland drew them level with his third of five points from play, and that was followed by Cathal Flynn dispossessing Limerick goalkeeper Josh Ryan and firing in the game’s only goal.
However Limerick rallied with the next three scores to level, before Hyland and Nathan Poland got the scores that saw Offaly through a tempestuous ten minutes of additional time in which Hyland and Nigel Dunne each received red cards.