Hurling

Round-up: Weekend's Ring, Rackard, Meagher Cups action

26 April 2026 - 6:38PM

Kerry's Pádraig Boyle scored 3-9 in their Christy Ring Cup victory over Roscommon.

Kerry continue to set the pace in the Christy Ring Cup after they saw off Roscommon in Ballyforan. Roscommon competed for much of the game, but Pádraig Boyle’s second consecutive hat-trick fired Kerry to their third win in a row.

An early goal from Michael Slattery helped Kerry lead by eight points midway through the first half, but a long ball from Adam Donnelly found its way into the net to spark a revival from Roscommon, who cut their deficit to two at one stage. Kerry regrouped to lead by 1-15 to 1-10 at half-time and with Boyle hitting the net three times en route to a personal tally of 3-9, the favourites stayed on course.

Derry returned to winning ways in a derby at home to Donegal.

Cormac O’Doherty and Déaglán Foley were among the scorers early on for Derry, who led by the minimum at the change of ends. Gerard Gilmore and Liam McKinney kept Donegal in the hunt, but goals by Foley and Rían Collins put the game effectively beyond their reach. Dan Donnelly hit 1-1 off the bench for Donegal, but Derry remained well clear in the end.

Meath joined Derry on four points each via an away win over Wicklow on Sunday.

Goals by Lorcan Byrne and Kyle Ennis helped Meath lead by 2-11 to 0-9 at the interval and they remained at least five points clear throughout the second half. Pádraig Doyle racked up 1-11 in total for Wicklow, but a dozen points from the in-form Tom Shine helped Meath stay in command.

Nickey Rackard Cup

Tyrone retained their 100% record in the Nickey Rackard Cup with a comeback win over Louth in Dowdallshill.

After hitting nine goals in their first two games, Tyrone added just one to that tally on Saturday, but their 22 points proved enough to secure a third win. Seaghán Conneely and Conor Murphy both hit the net early on to power Louth into a seven-point lead, but Tyrone were up by 1-14 to 2-9 by the break, with Seán Paul McKernan’s goal being supported by points from the likes of Ciaran Magill, Aidy Kelly, Kiefer Morgan and Michael Little. Louth played the entire second half with a numerical disadvantage and they were reduced to 13 men for the closing stages. Darren Geoghegan finished with nine points for the hosts, but Tyrone’s greater spread of scores saw them over the line.

Mayo got back to winning form with a prolific second-half performance away to Fermanagh on Sunday.

Ryan Duffy’s 21^st-minute goal separated the teams at the end of a tight first half as Mayo took a 1-10 to 0-10 lead into the dressing room. A Fionn Delaney major was quickly cancelled out by Seán Corrigan, but Cormac Phillips and the returning Seán Kenny led a free-scoring Mayo side to their second win from three games.

Sligo were in similarly productive form up front as they put Armagh to the sword.

A Charlie McArdle goal had Armagh on level terms approaching the end of the opening quarter, but Sligo established a dominant position between then and half-time, with majors from Paul O’Brien and Robert O’Kelly-Lynch making it double scores at 2-16 to 1-8. Jack Loughran netted after the restart to give Armagh hope, but with Andrew Kilcullen leading nine marksmen for Sligo and Patrick Walsh hitting the net for a second week in a row, they made it two comprehensive wins on the spin.

Lory Meagher Cup

Leitrim lead the way in the Lory Meagher Cup after they won a top-of-the-table clash with Longford on Sunday.

Longford had the edge at half-time (1-11 to 0-13), but a Gavin O’Hagan goal just after the restart set the foundations for Leitrim to turn things around. They went on to lead by five at one stage, with Colm Canning and Daniel Miller leading the scoring. Longford stayed in the hunt throughout, but Leitrim’s seventh win in a row sees them move clear at the top.

Cavan got their campaign back on track by coming from eight points down to see off Lancashire at Páirc na hÉireann.

Peter Boylan netted early on as Lancashire raced into a healthy head-start at 1-5 to 0-1, but a Mark Moffett major gave Cavan a lifeline, before further strikes from Shane Briody and Daniel Martin edged them ahead. Boylan and Pádraic Burke kept Lancashire within sight of their first win of the campaign, but Cavan did enough to boost their chances of qualifying for a second consecutive final.

Part two of the double-header saw Warwickshire get off the mark at the expense of Monaghan. The Exiles led by 2-11 to 0-10 and they held Monaghan at arm’s length from there as they repeated their league victory in this fixture. Warwickshire’s first win of the campaign means five of the six Lory Meagher teams have points on the board with two rounds to go in the group stage.

RESULTS:

Saturday, April 25

Christy Ring Cup Round 3

Roscommon 1-18 Kerry 4-22

Derry 2-23 Donegal 1-16

Nickey Rackard Cup Round 3

Louth 2-14 Tyrone 1-22

Sunday, April 26

Christy Ring Cup Round 3

Wicklow 1-19 Meath 2-24

Nickey Rackard Cup Round 3

Fermanagh 1-13 Mayo 2-34