Allianz Football League Division Three Results

ANTRIM 1-19 TIPPERARY 0-14

WESTMEATH 2-12 OFFALY 0-12

FERMANAGH 2-14 DOWN 3-10

CAVAN 1-19 LONGFORD 1-11

In both hurling and football, St. Joseph's Park in Ederney has been a very happy hunting ground for Fermanagh teams this season, and they continued that fine run this afternoon when Seán Quigley's punched goal in the 74th minute gave the Erne County a dramatic one-point win over Down, and catapulted them right back into the promotion hunt after their narrow defeat to Offaly last time out.

Daragh McGurn was in sensational form in the opening half with Ryan Lyons also chipping in with some good scores as Fermanagh took a 0-10 to 0-4 lead into the dressing room, having had the aid of a strong breeze in the first half.

Odhrán Murdock's penalty early in the second half put the game right back in the melting pot however, and in what turned out to be a thrilling second half, Pierce Laverty punched a goal to push Down in front, Ultan Kelm responded for Fermanagh by striking two points and setting up a Colm McGee goal, and then it looked like Down would have the last say when Conor Francis pounced on a rebound to edge Down in front going into stoppage time.

As he has done so many times in his career however, Quigley stepped up for Fermanagh to strike the match-winner, really teeing up next week's Ulster derby with a resurgent Antrim side in Corrigan Park.

In another provincial derby where the wind was a big factor, Offaly didn't rack up nearly enough of a lead in their wind-assisted first half in Mullingar, and for the second week in succession, Westmeath produced a big second half display to overcome their neighbours.

Dessie Dolan's troops got out to the perfect start when corner back Jack Smith was fouled inside the Offaly parallelogram in the third minute and goalkeeper Ian Duffy was black-carded. John Heslin converted the resultant penalty, and while some outstanding work from the Rhode duo of Anton Sullivan and Conor McNamee pushed Offaly back in front, with Dylan Hyland also scoring well, it felt like 0-7 to 1-2 at half-time wasn't nearly enough for the Faithful County.

Two frees from Hyland early in the second half doubled Offaly's lead but Westmeath grew in stature from then on, and their control of the kickout battle was a vital ingredient in their drawing level, then eventual taking the lead through a goal from Kieran Martin.

Martin also kicked a point and won a free which Heslin converted, as he crowned a hugely successful week personally, having also been heavily involved in TUS Midlands' successful Trench Cup campaign.

Finally today, Cavan were never in trouble in their local derby against Longford, as Oisín Brady's first half goal helped them to a 1-9 to 0-5 interval lead after playing into the wind at Kingspan Breffni Park, and they kicked on from there to ease to a 1-19 to 0-11 victory.

Pádraig Faulkner and Dara McVeety came forward to score fine points against the breeze in the first half, while Ger Smith (0-2), Brandon Boylan (0-2), Cian Madden (0-3) and substitutes Conor Madden (0-4) and Paddy Lynch (0-3) all enjoyed productive outings.

In the Saturday night contest, Antrim put a disappointing start to this year's league behind them in fine style at FBD Semple Stadium, as they overwhelmed Tipperary in a contest that was far more one-sided than the final margin of eight points might suggest.

The Saffrons were the stronger side in general play from start to finish, though their failure to convert a number of early chances allowed Tipperary to sneak into an early 0-2 to 0-1 lead. The momentum of the game changed decisively however when Conor Stewart seized a Tipp kickout and drove straight back down the throat of the Premier County defence, before driving a low shot inside Michael O’Reilly’s near post.

Tipperary stayed on contention for the next ten minutes thanks to impressive points from Jack Kennedy and Paudie Feehan, though both sides guilty of some poor handling and decision making in this phase, but a black card to team captain Shane O’Connell put them on the back foot leading up to half-time.

Antrim stretched their lead to five points by the break, 1-8 to 0-6, and it could have been ever more but for Rúairí McCann's failure to hit the target with a penalty. Even so, the extra energy expended on the Tipperary side was evident in the early stages of the second half, when a brace of long distance scores from Pat Shivers extended the lead even further, and ushered in a spell of complete dominance from Andy McEntee's men.

Donough Leahy’s first act after coming off the bench, a point in the third minute of the second half, was the home side’s last score before the 55th minute, by which time Antrim had extended their lead out to double figures.

Odhrán Eastwood’s three points off the bench, two from Dominic McEnhill and a third from play for Marc Jordan were among the highlights for the Antrim supporters and management, while late scores from Jack Kennedy, Martin Kehoe and Kevin Fahey masked the scale of Antrim's supremacy, and served only to undo some of the damage done to Tipperary's scoring difference, which may yet be a factor in what looks like an inevitable relegation battle.