Allianz National Hurling League Results:

Division 2A

Kerry 1-24 Meath 0-24

Offaly 2-25 Carlow 1-17

Down 3-26 Wicklow 0-14

Division 2B

Donegal 4-18 Mayo 0-13

Kildare 5-17 Derry 1-14

Division 3A

Sligo 2-24 Armagh 1-18

Longford 2-22 Tyrone 2-22

Division 3B

Fermanagh 1-19 Leitrim 1-11

Louth 0-19 Cavan 2-12

Down’s trip to Tullamore to take on Offaly in a fortnight’s time is shaping up to be a crucial league decider after these two counties picked up big wins in this afternoon’s games in Division 2A of the Allianz hurling league.

Down travelled to Wicklow in high spirits but they met with stern opposition from the home side, in a game where all bar a handful of the first half scores came from dead balls. Liam Savage and Paul Sheehan gave Down an 0-12 to 0-9 half time lead, and with the wind at their backs, Down moved through the gears after half time. Eoghan Sands shot two goals out of heavy traffic from close range in the space of four minutes to push Down ten clear all of a sudden, and they kept piling on the misery, scoring 2-10 in between Wicklow’s first and second score of the second half. A third goal from Oisín McManus confirmed a 21-point margin of victory for the Ulster County.

Carlow did well on both puckouts and in the battle for turnovers against Offaly at Netwatch Cullen Park, and trailed by just one at half time, with Oisín Kelly and John Michael Nolan finding the net at either end.

Offaly were a transformed side after the interval however and they dominated the second 35 minutes, with Eoghan Cahill (1-12), Kelly (1-4) and Liam Langton (0-4) their main scorers.

Kerry are still in the promotion hunt but they’ll need to win out their last two games and for Down to do them a favour by winning in Tullamore. They got off to a great start against Meath in Tralee with a Shane Nolan goal, and kept in front throughout before securing a 1-24 to 0-24 win, though at this stage scoring difference is unlikely to be kind to the Kingdom (-7 points after three games).

Goals from Ronan McDermott, Ritchie Ryan and two from Declan Coulter helped produce probably the biggest shock of the day in Letterkenny, where Donegal derailed an in-form Mayo side by 4-18 to 0-13 in Division 2B.

Kildare continue to look like they’re head and shoulders above every team in this division however, as they put Derry to the sword at Hawkfield. James Burke and Johnny Byrne got goals for the Lily Whites in the seven minutes spell before half time, and Byrne added two more before Conor Dowling also found the net in the third quarter to put a lopsided look on the scoreboard (5-17 to 1-14) that was somewhat unkind to a wholehearted Derry performance.

Joe McHugh (1-3) and Gerard O’Kelly Lynch (1-11, 0-10f) led the way in the Sligo attack as they piled on the pressure after half time at Markievicz Park against Armagh on Saturday, turning a one-point interval lead into a comfortable 2-24 to 1-18 win in their first game of the year in Division 3A.

There was plenty of drama down the N4 in Longford, where Tyrone’s Lorcan Devlin and Damien Casey (two) shot the last three points of the game to salvage a 2-22 each draw with the home side at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park. CJ McCourty scored two goals for Tyrone in the opening half while Cathal Mullane got both goals for Longford in an entertaining game that keeps Tyrone in the hunt for promotion.

The final round game in Division 3B between Fermanagh and Louth will be a league decider after these two counties prevailed over Leitrim and Cavan today.

Sean Corrigan was in exceptional form for Fermanagh, setting up Shea Curran’s goal in the first half and registering a string of superb points late in their 1-19 to 1-11 win in Carrick-on-Shannon, while Louth needed an injury time free from Darren Geoghegan to snatch an 0-19 to 2-12 win over Cavan, having conceded two goals to Caoimhín Carney in the first half of their contest at Darver.